Engine dead 😭

[Daveyboy20]

Camshaft pulley has fallen apart on one side and it's skipped 4 teeth. Happened on the motorway. What would you say my options are going to be? 

[ste42]

is it seized ? have you tried turning it by hand via the crank

 

[Happy Jim]

I’m going to say that you need a new Camshaft pulley and belt! And that’s about it.  I’m assuming that the 400 has the non-interference engine (ie Valves don’t hit the pistons when this happens).

 

Rgds

Jim

[Daveyboy20]

I'm reading that it's interference (98).

 

It's not seized - spun over which leads me to assume bent valves. 

[ste42]

its only the earlier engines that are non interface the mk4 are not in that category

 

[The-Acre]

Sad to say the above is correct and only the early ones would survive what has happened.  

[ambermarine]

Unless you have an expert engine builder the engine is a write off ,there are plenty of these engines available but you need the ecu included when buying .Try Paul frost he will have one.

[Daveyboy20]

Wouldn't want to lose power and mpg by going to a mk3. 

Valves are bent. Just weighing up the best options now. 2nd hand head? 

 

What could've caused this?! 😞

[Malc]

13 hours ago, Daveyboy20 said:

Wouldn't want to lose power and mpg by going to a mk3. 

your car's got plenty of power then ? sounds dead to me

the Mk3 is a fabulous car   Try one, you'd be pleasantly surprised ....  mine's on 224k miles right now

Malc

[Tulpen]

I've NEVER needed to use all the power available in either of my LS models. If you regularly use all the power in your Mk4, it might be one of the reasons your camshaft pulley has had the problem.

[Malc]

0 - 60 in 6.9 secs and still performing I guess, and up too 150mph is it ?

and she pulls away from boy racers with a willing smile in her jaws, leaving all and sundry dead in their tracks

................... and she has the roar of,  sounds like,  a flock of sheep munching grass at 50 paces too  

I've never thought either, to use full power on any of my  3  Ls400s over these past 19 years

Malc

[Daveyboy20]

 

The mk3 looks great and is a great car. The mk4 is a better car. 

[Daveyboy20]

On 10/5/2019 at 10:13 AM, Malc said:

your car's got plenty of power then ? sounds dead to me

the Mk3 is a fabulous car   Try one, you'd be pleasantly surprised ....  mine's on 224k miles right now

 

I see

[Daveyboy20]

Why does every thread on here descend into people getting upset about modifications or moaning about never using power. You fellas know what a v8 is at all? 

I've looked after this car impeccably and regardless of whether or not it receives a battering (it doesn't) it should be able to cope with no issues. 

[ambermarine]

There was a post on here sometime back regarding the failure of the cam control on a 98 mark 4 it related to the rebuild of the pulley and bolts coming loose this resulted in much the same ending yours had.

The prognosis was the bolts holding the mechanism together had not been fastened up to the correct torque and when taken to high revs the unit failed.

As your engine had any work done on it apart from cambelt change?

[Malc]

18 hours ago, Daveyboy20 said:

You fellas know what a v8 is at all?

yes for certain, a Ls400 V8 is a wolf in sheeps clothing, ready to pounce at a nano-seconds notice into a wimperingly quiet lion with the force of a titan

Malc

[Cotswold Pete]

My only real thing against the Mk3 I had for 5 years was engine noise at around 75-80mph seemed to peak in the cabin.  At 65 really quite, then it just intruded a little bit too much as you ramped up to 80.  Having said that compared to any other car it was still a darned quiet motor.

Must say I would prefer not to go back to Mk3, but in terms of power, I did not notice any difference, and I dropped off my Mk3 and gotstraight into the Mk4, so did spend first hour or so of driving, just checking out driveability and oomph.

Mk4 with traction control is a must where I live, given the country lanes with wet leaves at thsi  time of year.

[runsgrateasanut]

On 10/3/2019 at 10:12 PM, Daveyboy20 said:

I'm reading that it's interference (98).

 

It's not seized - spun over which leads me to assume bent valves. 

Real shame and not heard of this before.  If intereference engine then not only could you have bent valves but damaged pistons and maybe the cylinder lining. The bent valves are as a result of hitting the Piston.  If it cranked over I imagine this will have added damage and you would have heard a rather unpleasant noise.  I'm no mechanic but I imagine that its going to be more costly than say buying a s/h engine for £500 and having it installed, albeit you may not know that engines history.    

[Daveyboy20]

21 hours ago, ambermarine said:

There was a post on here sometime back regarding the failure of the cam control on a 98 mark 4 it related to the rebuild of the pulley and bolts coming loose this resulted in much the same ending yours had.

The prognosis was the bolts holding the mechanism together had not been fastened up to the correct torque and when taken to high revs the unit failed.

As your engine had any work done on it apart from cambelt change?

Not in my ownership - but there was an intermittent rev issue when I bought it which cleared up after an oil change and few miles of driving. I had the cambelt off twice as the first waterpump was faulty but that's only thing that's been done. 

[Daveyboy20]

8 hours ago, Malc said:

yes for certain, a Ls400 V8 is a wolf in sheeps clothing, ready to pounce at a nano-seconds notice into a wimperingly quiet lion with the force of a titan

Malc

Unless you remove the backboxes in which case it pounces at a nano-second into a suitably roaring lion. And so on. 

 

I think some of the slipper and pipe brigade on here should be buying themselves electric cars. They're very quiet in case you weren't aware. You can leave the v8s to those that appreciate them then. 😂👍

 

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OGC.d028ce216f6b11b46240b449fbbbd6af&pid=Api&rurl=https%3a%2f%2fmedia.giphy.com%2fmedia%2f3ohjV9dp72oWsOP3mo%2fgiphy.gif&ehk=RGxvmFeKjzlC7tu4tCQYdA

[runsgrateasanut]

Confess I don't rag mine. Guess I must have grown up!

Now wheres that Black Cherry Tobacco and my Pipe. Oh forgot, now called No.2 as can't use the word Cherry for Tobacco.

[Daveyboy20]

53 minutes ago, Greer said:

What country are you in? most UK cites (maybe all) now have a 20mph speed limit, m/ways & some others have a 70mph limit, you write as if your in Germany, are you?

***** almighty. Using power isn't the same as going over the speed limit. You can get a 1.0 micra to break the speed limit. You write as if your engine is full of carbon deposits, is it? 

[Daveyboy20]

21 hours ago, Greer said:

No, what is it?

I honestly feel like this might not even be sarcasm at this point. Anyway, it's a vegetable drink. You should try it sometime.

[The-Acre]

29 minutes ago, Greer said:

I don't know, where will be likely to find them, glove box? boot? please give me some of your guidance & a description so I can check

Whatever you're both looking for it sounds like it's in your play pens. Too much of this goes on, it's not helpful.

[Daveyboy20]

8 hours ago, The-Acre said:

Whatever you're both looking for it sounds like it's in your play pens. Too much of this goes on, it's not helpful.

Agreed. I normally stay out of it but given recent circumstances I'm a bit ticked off. Apologies. Over and out.