This weekend I started looking over an s52 that blew its head gasket a few months ago. While performing a leak down test with the valve cover off I noticed what appeared to be metal shaving inside the intake cam. I stuck a telescopic magnet inside, and sure enough a shit load of metal shavings were stuck to the magnet when I pulled it out.
Expecting the worst I proceeded to pull the oil pan. To my surprise it was spotless, not even a spec of metal. I was able to catch a peak of the cylinder walls with a flashlight, and crosshatching was still profound, so I can only assume that the metal never made it into the bottom end.
What has me baffled is that there are NO metal shavings anywhere in this engine other than the inside of the cam. Not even in the bottom of the cylinder head. Are the camshafts magnetized?
Has anyone encountered something like this before? What should I be looking for during the teardown?
Edit: The cam lobes do look worn, but honestly I am not sure if the wear is consistent with the mileage of the engine, or if the wear is due to oil starvation issues in the head.
Expecting the worst I proceeded to pull the oil pan. To my surprise it was spotless, not even a spec of metal. I was able to catch a peak of the cylinder walls with a flashlight, and crosshatching was still profound, so I can only assume that the metal never made it into the bottom end.
What has me baffled is that there are NO metal shavings anywhere in this engine other than the inside of the cam. Not even in the bottom of the cylinder head. Are the camshafts magnetized?
Has anyone encountered something like this before? What should I be looking for during the teardown?
Edit: The cam lobes do look worn, but honestly I am not sure if the wear is consistent with the mileage of the engine, or if the wear is due to oil starvation issues in the head.