Hello Everyone! Seized cam/oil starvation

Wak

Member
Hi, I stumbled into this forum whilst researching the problem I'm having with my car... Nice place (y)

Anyway, on Monday I noticed a rattle in the engine, after a bit of research I decided the cam chain was the prime suspect and I was on my way to a VX dealer for a second opinion when the car died on me - engine seized and wouldn't turn over.

Tonight I've whipped the top off it and found one of the cams had been running dry and it looks like the journals have partially melted! So, I've done a little searching on here and it doesn't seem like too common a problem? If it's been experienced before, are there any other related problems I should look out for? What were the causes of any other cases?

I'll take the head off tomorrow for a better look but at the moment I think that at least a couple of valves may be seized because they're not touching the bottom of the cam lobe. I suppose that the extra strain on the engine may have stretched/jumped the chain and caused a piston/valve clash, I'll have to see if the marks still line up. Does anyone know the length of a new chain so I can compare it with mine to see if it's stretched?

Cheers
 

Wak

Member
In the first pic is a close up of number 2. See the ragedy metal sticking out from the journal? Looks like it melted! :eek:

In the second pic you can see a close up of number 4. It's not easy to see but there's a gap of about 5mm between the cam and the followers.

In the Third picture you can see the overall view, Look at the difference in colour between the exhaust and inlet cams.

The marks on the chain all line up ok, what's everyone think? Replace it anyway or will it be ok? I'd quite like to save the 100 quid or so for a cam chain since I'm going to have to shell out about 600 for a recon head! (n)

Incidentally it's an 04 Vectra with 48000 miles.
 

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Wak

Member
Now I've taken the cams out you can see all of the journals on the exhaust cam except for the left hand one are ruined, and the last but one on the right of the inlet cam. The last one (which is part of the fuel pump housing) seems fine.

This is strange because none of the oil feeds seem to be blocked when I poke a wire down there, and if the main gallery that feeds the individual ones is blocked you wouldn't expect what happened on the inlet cam where the last one is fine. Unless it has it's own oil supply of course.
 

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Wak

Member
ace-media said:
New head for that one then! I'd stick an oil pump in aswell just as a precaution...

(y) I'm definitely going to check it. I used to design them for a living so should be able to figure out if it's worn or not.

The bores are in excellent condition though, can still see the honing marks over most of the bore. Well, in cylinders 2 and 3 anyway.
 

vocky

Staff
I've seen this a couple of times on a z22se, yours is the first z22yh I've seen, the oilway seems to block on the exhaust cam. The head is scrap :(

I would recommend a new oil pump just in case.
 

acresd

Member
I have had exactly the same happen twice now to my wifes 2.2 zafira. First time i thought she was just driving everywhere in first gear but she said it was my fault for not checking the oil every 10 miles. The second time I know that the oil level never ran low. I checked it every week. There is no warning light or noise before this occurs. The first thing you hear is a squeal like the fan belt, but by then it is too late. The exhaust cam will be trashed. Don't know why it happens, but it must be a common fault to have happened twice now. If anyone has any clues or has investigated this further then I would love to know if there is anything I can do to stop it happening again, other than get another car. (And don't suggest a new wife).
 

matty071

Member
Hi Just dropped the head of my vectra with the same problem and was caused by the hole in
the head gasket for the oil way being blocked with a fiberous mass.
 

sdbutler10

Senior Member
i persoanlly think this engine should have a sort of warning on it to have the oil and filter changed every 3k max tbh, things just seem to block up so easy and kill the whole engine.
 

francav

Member
as anyone got anywere with this problem, im having same problem, im going to take head off this weekend to get to bottom of it, new head gasket chain the works, just hope its ok when put bk together.
 

SriSte

Regular Member
from the pictures it looks like lack of service, thats very brown for a sub 50k mile engine dont you think?
 

cavaddict

Senior Member
Believe K&N do an oil filter for this engine now....might be worth looking at. Not sure if they are the same as the paper type we're using now? dunno..
 

francav

Member
just took head off mine and it looks like its something off head gasket that as caused the block, damaged the head now, new head needed but lucky for me ive got 1 (y)
 
Hello everyone ! I am new on this forum and i hope no one will get angry if i write in this topic my problem !

I have a Vectra with the Z22YH engine, and it has a rattle in the engine when it's cold ... especially in the morning ! But that rattle stops when the engine gets warm. Can it be a start of the problem in this topic? ... Thank you for your responses!

Cheers !
 
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