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Nissan 1.8L OHC engin broken cam shaft

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 10:00 pm
by lokka
Gday all im after some nissan engin info its not 4X4 related ..
A friends N13 pulsar had broken down so i go have a look see and it has no spark so i take off the oil cap to see if the cam is turning and what do i see just next to the first lobe the cam has sheared clean off ....
Has anyone seen this before in the 1.8 OHC nissan engins ive played with plenty of old L series engins and never seen this before can anyone tell me is this a common problem or what would have caused it as it has me stuffed how its happened ....

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 1:58 am
by Reddo
timing belt still intact?

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 3:11 am
by lokka
Reddo wrote:timing belt still intact?
yep T belt was appently only just done and it looked to have a new dizzy on the other end my thinking is the valve timing was set wrong and put strain on the cam but FMD how its broken the cam ..
When i took off the oil cap and looked to see if there was movement at the cam i seen it straight away was hard to miss were the break is ...

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 11:10 am
by patrol man
cams can snap if the head is warped, if it has had a head gasket issue in the past (as they all do) and the head was warped, a cheep fix at a machine shop is to just shave the head, leaving the cam bearing alignment to be out, all goes back together ok and down the track what do you know the cam shaft brakes
other causes could be cam belt has jumped and valve hit pistons causing cam shaft failure, ( I didnt think these motors hit the valves on the pistons but),.
other issue could be seized cam shaft on the bearing due to an oil supply issue!
cheers.

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 11:15 am
by lokka
patrol man wrote:cams can snap if the head is warped, if it has had a head gasket issue in the past (as they all do) and the head was warped, a cheep fix at a machine shop is to just shave the head, leaving the cam bearing alignment to be out, all goes back together ok and down the track what do you know the cam shaft brakes
other causes could be cam belt has jumped and valve hit pistons causing cam shaft failure, ( I didnt think these motors hit the valves on the pistons but),.
other issue could be seized cam shaft on the bearing due to an oil supply issue!
cheers.
Ok cheers for the advice the seized cam could be the problem as there was no oil reading on the dipstick and im not sure how long it had been run this way she had only had the car 5 days and it was supose to be in good shape no issues or oil leaks but id say she has brought a POS ...

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:32 pm
by dave_str
There a Holden motor, the 1.6 is the Nissan GA16S and the 1.8L motor is the same engine used in the Camira's.

Stuffed bearings can cause that issue and a warped head as stated.

If your friend wants to keep the car and has the time drop a CA18DE in it or a SR18DE ect.

Good luck.

Dave.

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:54 pm
by hulsty
Low oil is most probably the culplrit. They are a holden engine based around a camira engine. The cam and cam box with bearings is a reamovable assemlbly, but the head bolts are what holds it down. New head bolts, gasket, cam and cam box should see it on the road again. Camshaft and cam box are readily available from wreckers cheap as chips. Allow a lazy day for the reapair its pretty easy.

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:17 pm
by chunks
dave_str wrote:There a Holden motor, the 1.6 is the Nissan GA16S and the 1.8L motor is the same engine used in the Camira's.

Stuffed bearings can cause that issue and a warped head as stated.

If your friend wants to keep the car and has the time drop a CA18DE in it or a SR18DE ect.

Good luck.

Dave.
I think you mean SR20, never heard of an SR18.

Pretty common for these things to seize cams from lack of maintenance or no oil. You should be able to buy a cam box without having to buy a complete head.

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:26 pm
by patrol man
SR18's are out there, more common to see CA18 in N13's but,
SR's are a much better motor, but there is not to many N13's around that I would bother doing an engine conversion like this on, they are getting on now!
to remove the cam box you need to remove the head bolts so if this is all you plan on doing don't crack the head of the block when the bolts are removed.
check the top face of the head with a strait edge when you remove the cam box, to see if the head is bent.

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 12:21 am
by lokka
Thanks forall the great advice guys il see what she wants to do with the POS first before i suggest whats best done with it a cheap engin replacement may well be tha go as it has plenty of rego :D

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:04 am
by chunks
patrol man wrote:SR18's are out there, more common to see CA18 in N13's but,
SR's are a much better motor, but there is not to many N13's around that I would bother doing an engine conversion like this on, they are getting on now!
to remove the cam box you need to remove the head bolts so if this is all you plan on doing don't crack the head of the block when the bolts are removed.
check the top face of the head with a strait edge when you remove the cam box, to see if the head is bent.
Well you learn something new everyday, I've been around jap turbo cars for years and never heard of an SR18!

As said if you don't want to fork out for a new head gasket, surface grind etc don't break the seal of the head to the block. You should also use new headbolts on these motors.

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:54 pm
by Yom
dave_str wrote:There a Holden motor, the 1.6 is the Nissan GA16S and the 1.8L motor is the same engine used in the Camira's.

Stuffed bearings can cause that issue and a warped head as stated.

If your friend wants to keep the car and has the time drop a CA18DE in it or a SR18DE ect.

Good luck.

Dave.
no its not the N13 in australia only had the GM Family II engines fitted. 16LF (1.6 single point injection/carby type thing) and 18LE (1.8 efi).

So don't even bother going to nissan for parts...to repco and the wreckers!

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:46 am
by hulsty
Holden dealerships are pretty cheap, they were the cheapest when I sourced head bolts and the like

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:14 am
by dave_str
If your keen for a bit of stuffing around drop a SR16VE in it.

Nissan's answer to Toyota's 20 valve 4AGE.

They came out in JDM N15's in the top model. From memory there 140kw non turbo.

Dave.