new cams and stalled. now won't start?

[mikesim]

well, it's been a fiasco getting my HKS 256 and 264 cams in. i bought them a while ago from here on NICO for a steal of a deal. since i didn't want to raise the redline, i stuck with stock springs and retainers and stock cam gears.

i had a tech do the job for me using the FSM. once it was back together, he took the car down from his garage to the dealership to get an alignment (had a master bushing set pressed in). the car was running a bit rough he said, but that was the timing. when he timed it, it was running about 5 degrees BTDC (or the 3rd mark on the crank pulley), and the CAS was maxed out.

he figured that the belt may be off a tooth on the crank, so he went back and checked the cam timing. it turned out fine. 48 and 39 teeth. so he put the crank pulley, waterpump pulley etc back together and tried to fire it up again. this time it wouldn't start, and seemed like it was totally out of time. I searched for another CAS for the weekend, as the old CAS seemed to be giving us the grief.

yesterday, he put on the new CAS and it started fine. he timed it right to 15 degrees, warmed the car up and took it for a test drive. going through a corner, he downshifted and the car stumbled, gave a big puff of black smoke and came to a stop. he tried to re-start it, but nothing. he had to leave it for a few hours and we came back to it in the evening. we pulled the plugs believing they were fouled, and put in new ones. the car still didn't start, and the plugs again were filled with fuel. we tested for spark (coil pack off and close to a ground) and for timing (timing light and spark plug wire), and they seem fine. it was getting pretty dark, so we left the car and left the plugs out for the night.

today he went back to the car and put in the plugs and tried to start it. i don't know what else could be wrong with it, as it was running fine. i said to disconnect the MAF to see if it'll start. as well as coolant temp sensor. maybe try disconnecting the O2 as well? i have been through the FSM with the troubleshooting section. also, the car isn't throwing any codes. i get code 55 all the time.

any ideas? could it be the ignitor? or power transistor?

[pulsarca18det]

perhaps the pt, but isnt there a code for that ?

[boost_boy]

Check the cog for the crank angle sensor to make sure it wasn't damaged or broken. Check the codes on the computer to see what it says.

Dee

[mikesim]

hey. we put in another power transistor and that didn't solve it. Jason wanted to try out his brand new CAS and so we put it on.

the car started and ran perfectly. we let her warm up as we tightened the bolts and as we jumped back into the car to a test drive, it just jumped in RPM then died. i was kind of shocked, and we tried to crank it over and it wouldn't start again. we thought the worst and took off the CAS. and it was SNAPPED! the CAS shaft had snapped off! so we pulled tbe broken piece from inside the cam. it was a clean snap inside the base of the CAS housing.

so i figure the cam cover is on wonky, and it needs to be straightened before we throw another CAS in there. is there any other suggestions that it may be breaking CAS's? it litterally snapped one so im thinking it isn't fitting properly.

[boost_boy]

hey. we put in another power transistor and that didn't solve it. Jason wanted to try out his brand new CAS and so we put it on.

the car started and ran perfectly. we let her warm up as we tightened the bolts and as we jumped back into the car to a test drive, it just jumped in RPM then died. i was kind of shocked, and we tried to crank it over and it wouldn't start again. we thought the worst and took off the CAS. and it was SNAPPED! the CAS shaft had snapped off! so we pulled tbe broken piece from inside the cam. it was a clean snap inside the base of the CAS housing.

so i figure the cam cover is on wonky, and it needs to be straightened before we throw another CAS in there. is there any other suggestions that it may be breaking CAS's? it litterally snapped one so im thinking it isn't fitting properly.

If the cam cover is not on properly or someone is not fitting the CAS's cam key into the camshafts cog and key properly. It cannot be jammed in. It must go in naturally or you are going to break the key on the camshaft and then it only gets more interesting from there.

Dee

[mikesim]

the last tech i fired HAMMERED the CAS onto the cam. they broke the cam key on my stock cams. i know how that is. long story short, that guy never touched my car again.

i figure it's the cover not fitting properly. if the cam were wobbling, or bent or whatever, the cam key would be damaged inside the cas. and since the stress fracture was at the base of the shaft, i think the cover is shifted over. i'll go investigate more tomorrow when it's light out.

[boost_boy]

the last tech i fired HAMMERED the CAS onto the cam. they broke the cam key on my stock cams. i know how that is. long story short, that guy never touched my car again.

i figure it's the cover not fitting properly. if the cam were wobbling, or bent or whatever, the cam key would be damaged inside the cas. and since the stress fracture was at the base of the shaft, i think the cover is shifted over. i'll go investigate more tomorrow when it's light out.

The key inside the camshaft is weaker and will break before the shaft of CAS unless something else is wrong like a misaligned cover. Definitely check that out and let us know how it goes.

Dee