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Hey everyone, I'm relatively new to the forum as I just purchased my S2000 just under a year ago. Was hoping I could get some insight on a situation I encountered.
Decided to perform a valve adjustment and while I was rotating the engine I noticed that the intake cam lobes for cylinder #1 was black and scorched. I assume this is from overheating due to lack of lubrication. However, all of the other cam lobes seem fine (intake and exhaust). It seems to just be isolated to cylinder #1.... Anyone has any ideas on how this could have occurred and if I risk losing the motor soon?
-MY001 with 103 xxxKM non-modified
-4th owner (believe)
-No CEL lights
-Vehicle still pulls strong
I would agree with Noodels, the car most likely sat in storage for quite a while at one point. This section of the head is right where the valve cover vent tube leads to the intake tube.
There was a thread a month or so ago where the entire cam area looked like your "burned" area. Was rust. I believe consensus said to change the oil and just run it and pull the cover after a couple thousand miles. Seemed to clean up nicely. All recollection from a guy whose wife claims he has the memory of a chipmunk, so check the thread yourself. But it was a happy ending.
Pheww. Such a relief to hear that it could be just rust! At first I found it hard to believe it was scorching because the valve cover had no signs of leaking oil and had no weird noises while it was running.
Finished the valve adjustment with fingers crossed firing her up again
Okay, now you have me going here looking at your pictures. The thing that jumps out to me is the fact both cam shafts are completely coated with shellac and the rest of the engine is relatively spotless. How can this be unless those shafts were lifted from another engine and placed in the “clean” one?
looks like a combination of sludge/varnish/corrosion, it is still stuck in the non-contact area of the cam lobes but worn off the other areas. It can clean up slowly if you run a high quality synthetic. I'd do some short oil change intervals , make sure the pcv system is operating properly and the pcv valve is funcitioning or in need of replacement.
Are they OEM cam shafts?
To me the engine looks good generally and only the cam shafts look a little different - darker - than I remember mine looking. But, I'm going on memory and they could well look 100% normal. Of course there is that discoloration on the Cyl. #1 intake lobe. Does the discoloration on the lobe feel rough to the touch? Could we see a pic of the pointy side of the intake lobe on #1 where it makes contact with the valve stem top?
Did you measure the existing valve gaps? How were they?
Is there any sign of scorching to any of the other bits around those intakes?
I tend to agree with the others that it looks like a bit of corrosion - and minor at that.
Its not hard to do a compression test to set your mind at ease a bit. If it were me, I would do a compression test for peace of mind.
Burnt Cam lobes??
But it was a happy ending.
