Importedpower

Yesterday after the Florence, SC meet, I checked my oil, added about 1/4 a quart and then hit the road. set my cruise control at 72 MPH and just kept rolling. I made it about 40 minutes on the road, i felt a shudder, i looked around, it shuddered again, and then the motor died. I opened the hood and inspected everything, and we noticed that the bolt on the front of the motor that holds the top gear of the timing chain in place was GONE.

I sat on the side of the road for 5 1/2 hours! I had plenty of friends come out and help thank god, but i got the car home around 1 in the morning.

So i took the valve cover off, and several of the bolts wouldnt come loose, they came out the block, (threaded out, not stripped or anything). I found the top parts that hold your camshafts in place had broken in two places, the intake cam, closest to the firewall, the last two were both cracked completely in half. the bolts closest to it came out with my BARE HAND. I found several that seemed to be very loose as well. The top part of the chain seems to have spun that gear until it cut through the bolt, half the bolt is still in the block. I am not currently home but i will get pics up later tonight.

What could be the cause of this? My local shop installed my valve springs and retainers and did a compression test around 2400 miles ago. Thats all i can think of, i am going to talk to the owner tomorrow. Input appreciated.

Also, what options do i have for sourcing a new head? I work at an Autozone but i don't know the quality of the Moore's or Surefire complete heads i can buy.

zeroptzero

I feel your pain, sorry to hear what you had to go through to get home.

It would be very rare for that bolt to come out on it's own unless it wasn't installed properly after the head work you had done. Too much of a coincidence , I suspect they didn't torque it in place, once that bolt comes out the entire top end is susceptible to damage. I hope the shop steps up and cooperates but who knows what they will do for you. Good luck. You will want to check for any piston damage if you had contact between the pistons and valves.

Lots of good used heads being sold on this site, maybe post up in the WTB forum. I've never heard of any aftremarket head suppliers but I can't say that I've ever looked for them, I've only known of Honda heads and that is all I would use.

Importedpower

The bolt on the front of the motor looks like it was cut in half, not loose. The parts that cracked are two of the 5 pieces that hold the cams down. The bolts to those were very loose.

Opinions on what could cause this?

Also, i am going to look for a new head and rebuild this one to keep on hand.

Are the camshaft holders "matched sets" or could i replace those and all the broken pieces of my current head once i verify the rest is ok?

Lastly, anyone know what happened to that s2000 manual that was floating around in PDF format a while ago? Last thing i wanna do is spend 400$ from the stealership.

Tegiwa Imports

I have it, send me an email and I will reply with it, matt@tegiwaimports.com

Importedpower

First thing i found ^ Two full plug tunnels... i love oil!

Oh snap, it decided to chew into my block real nice like. awesome.

F*$%ING REALLY!? and several of the bolts on these came out with my bare hand, one i could visibly see was actually raised up and wiggly. I stopped here to go talk to the shop today.

OemEF

Dammmnnn. Hopefully the shop will take responsibility. That's just too much of a coincidence.

Billman250

Your tubes seals were cut when putting the VC back on. While pathetic, this did not cause any of your issues at hand.

billios996

Did you ever have the cyl head off the car?

Importedpower

Nope, cylinder head was never off the car. They put some valve springs and retainers in. I dont know why they would have touched that bolt. but this is pissing me off. I called and they said the owner was busy so i am going to stop by today after classes.

Have you ever heard of this bolt "just coming off" billman?

EDIT:
The bolt didnt come loose i dont think, it looks like it was worn in half, the one on the front of the motor, part of it is still in the hole holding the timing gear up...

Billman250

That is 100% the fault of the last guy that touched that bolt.

When that bolt comes loose, a major internal oil pressure leak occurs. The cams run without oil until they become red hot and melt the cam caps.

It also starves the low end. Had a car come in with this issue last year. All I could salvage were the VTEC rocker assemblies. The thrust bearing shredded the engine and all was lost.

Your cam cap bolts were not left loose. The caps melted from underneath them like a snowman under his hat.

Undertorqued cam wheel bolt is the 100% cause, all else followed.

1-loose bolt allows camwheel to walk forward
2-there is a major oil gallery just behind the camwheel that allows the camwheel to be pressure fed
3-once camwheel walks away from head, oil pressure is lost and oil volume just pours into chain case
4-engine continues to run on 13 lbs oil pressure. It takes 10 or less to activate the oil light so you will have no warning
5-cams run bone dry, and heat up cam caps to a point where they become molten
6-cam caps melt, allowing cam cap bolts to become loose
7-addition pressure is lost under TWO specific cam cap bolts, specifically the TWO used in the VTEC oil pressure test
8-engine lower end suffers pressure loss, and lower end shreds

PRINT this and bring it to the guy who worked on your engine, so he has an exact explanation of where he dropped the ball.