Hey all Can you guys please give your opinions on the pics attached. This is the story, our 2009 336D started making a popping noise one day in the yard we removed the rocker cover and discovered 2 bent push rods...... So after some digging we found out this is a known problem with the C9 engine so decided to send it in to finnings for repair. They removed the engine stripped it removed the cam shaft which is ****ed as expected, so I got a call from said dealership on Friday afternoon from service manager telling me that the block is damaged beyond repair. Giving the job some thought over the weekend I decided to pay them an unscheduled visit this morning to give the block the once over, I discovered (as per pics) very very very minor damage to the port where the push rod operates up and down. The dealer is saying I need a new short motor, I have told them to ***k off and put a new cam shaft, bearings , pushrods, followers, clips etc etc and get the thing back together ASAP. Opinions Please ointhead ointhead: Please note the damage is hard to see on the pictures as it is so minimal but if you look close at around 9 o'clock in the hole the edge has been slightly flattened by the push rod as it jumped out.
Yes, it is very difficult to see and also hard for pic to do it justice in that spot for sure. Does the cam follower travel right up to the top of the bore where the damage has occurred ? Was the follower damaged ? Does the follower travel smoothly in the bore ? If you happy reusing tell them to clean it up the best they can. But if you have a failure down the road due to that follower sticking then I guess no warranty
I'm thinking the problem was caused by the spring clips that hold the lifter in alignment with the came had failed? Like Big Ben says hard to tell from picture but it does not look that bad. I'd be a little worried if this was an engine with hydraulic lifters. That said I would be trying to make it as nice and smooth as possible, maybe a light hone job with a brake cylinder hone and clean it real good. Then like you say new cam, lifters and clips and put it back together. I'm sure you will have to sign off on it but if it is a good looking in person as you say I would not have too much worries about it. Maybe TCtractor will chime in on it with his wisdom?
I just felt that condemning the block due to such a minor mark in the bore was overkill. Especially when they tried to tell me the best way forward was to fit a complete new short motor at a cost of £10'000, I guess that's how Finnings got so rich. But I think it's worth taking the chance on it, like you guys say as long as it's honed out and cleaned up it should work fine.
Steve, you're right, but put yourself in the position of the dealer's service manager. If he says it's no problem and fixes it and then it fails the job comes back to bite him big style to the tune of 10 big ones. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place. You know what would be really good? A photo of an undamaged cylinder in the same area to illustrate the wear that has taken place. It's awfully difficult to quantify something unless you have a photo of a good one to compare it to.
Nige your right I understand he can't win. I emailed them today and basically said if it goes bad again it's on my head.
While like I said I would be very tempted to clean it up and run it I can also understand the point of the dealer. That's why I did say customer would have to sign off on the repair, but I would want something in that "sign off" to only include a failure that could be directly related to the "damaged area". I mean if the flywheel was to fall off I would be hard pressed to think that was from a slightly damaged cam follower bore. This kind of thing is why I think a company that does their own repairs can make out good as long as those doing the work are able to use some good judgement on what can and what can not be done. It's like I was just telling someone about a small engine I have that broke a rod that then snapped the camshaft causing one of the cam bearing supports to crack. This crack was on the top side of the bearing area and as the loads on the bearing are all in the down direction I decided to let it go. Four or Five years latter that engine is still running just fine blowing the snow off my drive. Now if I was doing this repair for a paying customer I probably would have suggested either finding a good used engine or installing a new short block.
If it's rough you could always make a steel sleeve and shrink it in there, should do.