Long story... a short time ago I scratched a cam journal removing the intake cam. I posted on here and a few other places and I was told to just sand it down lightly to remove any burrs and it would be fine.

I did that and slapped it all back together hoping I wouldn't have any further issues.

Well today I pulled it apart to adjust valves and check the journal and I found something concerning to me. I have driven it about 2-300 miles since slapping it all back together. When I pulled the journal it all looked fine until I notices a small metal flake wedged in between the head and cam inside the journal.

I found 2 - 3 little flakes (pictured bellow on cloth, it's that small flake on the oil spot) and when I tightened the cap back on metallic oil was pushed out from where the bolt is (also pictured).







What does everyone think? Could these metallic specs just be some kind of result of the used cam I put it breaking into the head? Or could the metallic flakes just be the previous journal damage wearing off and it will go away and not cause an issue once worn? Or am I SOL and need a new head/machine work? P.S. I know this is the civic forum and this is an integra but I didn't get much attention on integra forum and this is an interchangeable issue.

Here are pictures in order of the initial damage, and then what it looked like after I sanded it.

 

Here is what the cam looks like:


It looks the exact same as when I installed it and neither the cam nor the cap have any scratches that catch my finger nail. It does seem that possibly the cam cap has worn down a bit where the initial damage was.

 

Here is a photo of the cam cap journal after removing it today:

 

Do you feel any groove in the cam with your fingernail?

I suspect you didn't get the burs as much as you thought and it's been worn away by the cam. If the cam itself is feeling fine with no gouges, then it may have righted itself as over sanding would cause a high spot which allows to much oil in the area causing other issues. If the cam feel smooth to the fingernail and there is no burs you catch with your nail in the cap, you are likely just getting residue and it maybe fine. You could put it back together, run it another 100-200 miles and check it again to see if it repeats the issue.

 

That's the thing, I cant really tell any noticeable difference in the journal on the cam or the cap. I spun the cam around and there isn't a single groove that I can feel with my fingernail. It's perfectly smooth. The same thing goes for the cap I pulled. I am really hoping the issue just worked itself out. I will probably do an oil and filter change with T5 soon here and check for wear in a little like you said.

 

Bump

 

If your doing an oil change soon and like the T5 shell stuff i know it sounds odd but. After watching some testing online i switched from Mobil 1 and have been using the "Shell Rotella Gas Truck" 5w30 and it seems like good stuff. Its a Full syth with a heavy additive package and it does say on the back it fine for cars aswell lol.

 

If there is no noise associated with the cam movement when the engine is running, and there is no loss in oil pressure... put it back together and send it. The pictures do not show any serious wear. It is likely that the few aluminum particles that you have discovered are merely residual shavings from the initial damage. You might check this cap again in another thousand miles or so just to make sure that the damage isn't getting worse.

 

Fair enough. I was more attracted by the high ZDDP content of diesel oils due to it being a really good high friction buffer. Enough though I don't have pushrods or heavy valve springs I thought it might help any journal wear issues too.

 

That's what I was hoping to hear. No noise and no loss of oil pressure as far as I can tell (no lights/noises anyway). I will probably hook up my mechanical test gauge to confirm but it sounds and runs as good as ever.