135 stalled on the highway. She cranks, but won't star up.

[edisapimp]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

Crank pulley bolt?

Hey at least the belt didn't snap and get sucked through the main seal.

What a crazy problem!

HOly shit..

OP you lucked out my friend. I mean, in an unlucky sorta way.

[SabreE82]

Right? Well kind of hahaha

Replacement bolts are en route and expected Wednesday.

I'm literally on pins and needles until I get timed and started come Sunday (hopefully) and can be certain that I didn't cause any damage to the valves etc.!!!

[SabreE82]

Haven't updated in a while, and seeing as I'm stuck, what better place to start? So... I started the car up after replacing the crank bolt. Car ran like crap. No unusual ticking or metal clanking under the engine.

Sure enough, I was out of time. So I got my hands on the proper tool and got the car timed to spec. While doing this i realized that I had a hard time repositioning the exhaust side cam. Went to remove the crankshaft bearing ledges to manually position the cam. Midway through I realized I did not have to, so I re torqued the screws and proceeded with putting things back together.

Before placing the valve cover back on I realized that my cyl 3 and 5 rockers had fallen out. Took out the cam for real this time, seated the rockers, and tightens things to spec. Re-timed and started.

No more camshaft correlation codes! Hurray... NOT. the car is still running like crap. Misfiring on cylinder 3 and 5.

Take the valve cover off again, those dang rockers again fell off... This time they damged the cam slightly.

So at this point, what in the world is going on???

I suspect:

A - bent/crushed/worn rockers since they did a fiasco to the cam, likely from the get go. (I do doubt that rockers would just fall off, thoughof course I can't say for sure they were not already damaged from getting off track originally.
b - cam bearing ledges? May be bent, not properly seating things down?
C - bent valves.

I will state again, all the times I have started the engine, it has run rough, but it has never made a noise similar to what I have heard bent valves make, but then valves do seem like the most feasible root cause.

What should I do? What should I test??

I had considered doing a leak down test. But 1 I dunno how accurate they are and 2 I dunno if I can trust the test. Input here would be appreciated, as I don't want to buy a new cam and rockers, run the engine only to damage them again.

I'm also considering taking off the head and verifying. The issue I have is roving the exhaust manifold bolts. The top row is easily accessible but the center bolts on the second row seem straight up possible to turn as there is littery no space to even fit a wrench.

So here I am, unsure what to do, unsure what to check. What would you guys suggest I do?

[135Pats]

Let’s make sure compression is there before pulling anything or replacing anything. Get that sorted so we know 100% it’s not a bottom end or sealing issue, though I doubt it is.
I’m inclined to go with an overly warn cam ledge, just because it’s SO rare to see valve issues on this motor. We can’t really mess with the redline so lift isn’t much of an issue, the OE retainers and springs are very nice. And if the valve was seriously bent, you’d hear it I’d think.

Sucks to see this happen OP. Pretty bizarre, rare to see issues with N54 heads.

[SabreE82]

Thanks 135Pats. I'll buy the leak down tester tomorrow. I can't check the compression per se since the exhaust cam is already off.

Would you say that if the cylinder retains the air pressure it's safe for me to say my valves are fine?

[SabreE82]

So as I had suspected I had indeed bent valves. Pulling the head was relatively easy and straight forward, though I did end up needing a second set of hands. The front turbo exhaust manifold bolts, in particular the front bottom one was a bitch!! Enjoy!


--- the dent on piston# 5 is honestly less than a millimeter, although the pic makes it look worse than it is. I'm planning on leaving it as is. Anyone have any input against this?