Trojan Boat Forum

Well the post says it all, I need a new camshaft.

Mercruiser 233, it's a Ford 351. I was quoted a price of $3,500 parts And labor. He would install new camshaft, lifters, rockers, timing chain.

The gears where the distributer meets the camshaft are non-exsistant on the camshaft.

I would appreciate any thoughts, thanks.

Run Forest, run! Any other questions?

On the Ford engines, the oil pump drive shaft runs off the cam gear as well. If this pump ever locked up, it could have stripped the gear, I've seen most of the pump drives snap first though...

That price seems a bit high though. You can almost get a reman engine installed for that price, especially if you're willing to do some of the work.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I don't want to have to switch engines and can't find any Ford short or long blocks locally, and don't want to wait. The season is short and there is fishing to do.

At the very least I would change the oil pump also .Something caused the gears to go . But remeber the metal from the gears went somewhere .

That price seems high for what you listed .

Absolutely consider where the material from the teeth went. Not fun to think about, but I lost a cam on break in on a dyno. That afternoon the engine came apart and went back in the tank. That stuff goes everywhere. Don't forget to break that new cam in properly too! Is this standard rotation or reverse on this one?

Standard rotation, he said he would flush the engine and make sure any metal gets flushed out. Ill take your advice on the oil pump.

I don't know what else to do, the cost of an engine replacement is to much to deal with right now. And if I was to go Chevy or something else I would do both engines and that's out of the question.

He has to lift the engine to get the cam out. I suggested moving the fridge out from the galley and cutting a hole in the bulkhead and then fiberglassing it back in but he said he would rather lift the engine.

Here is what it looked like

So the question is - what locked up the oil pump?

Diverted Income wrote:So the question is - what locked up the oil pump?

Ditto on the real question.

larryeddington wrote:

Diverted Income wrote:So the question is - what locked up the oil pump?

Ditto on the real question.

Well here's one issue and a probable cause...

"Excessive distributor gear wear can be a problem with Ford engines. Most of the time, the problem is a result from the use of a high volume oil pump. High volume oil pumps put a lot of stress on the distributor and cam gears. A high volume oil pump is not necessary on a street driven engine that turns no more than 7000 rpms. Only extreme racing engines require the high volume pump. If you use the high volume oil pump the following precautions will save your distributor gear from early destruction.(1) Drill a .030″ hole in the lifter/oil galley plug behind the distributor. This will allow additional lubrication on the distributor and cam gears.
(2) Install a deeper oil pan. High volume pumps will pull all of the oil out of a stock pan creating a lack of lubrication.
(3) Ford oil pump mounting brackets have elongated holes. Due to this, the distributor shaft and oil pump shaft should be aligned so that the distributor turns freely before tightening the mounting bracket bolts. Failure to do this will cause a binding situation, thus damaging the gear.
(4) Stock Ford hex oil pump drive shafts are known to vary in length which could cause a bottoming or binding situation.
(5) Brass distributor gears can be used to avoid damaging the cam gear. Brass gears are softer and can wear out quicker than the cast gear, but will not cause damage to the cam gear. If using a brass gear, check it occasionally for wear."

http://performancedistributors.com/professional-tips/

Ahh yes. I do remember checking the dizzy gear mesh and pump drive for clearance. Not much stock in my BBF in the jet. Bronze dizzy gear would be sacrificial and save the cam. Still wondering what happened in this case. Need to manually drive the oil pump and see how it turns. Would hate to see an engine buttoned back up just to do it again.

Well the engine is back in and running good. We did heed everyones advice and installed a new oil pump, the pump was fine but there was a high volume pump installed and we switched it back to a stock oil pump.

As for the camshaft we are chalking it up to being a cheap camshaft, the new one is American made and the best you can get.

Thanks again for all your input, this forum is the single best source for everything Trojan.

Great! I would pull the oil filter after a short run in period and cut open to have peace of mind. Glad you are running again!