This head was running fine. I was only taking it apart to clean it since it happened to be off for other reasons (smog). But as soon as I pulled it apart, I noticed that everything is ******* ruined.

What the hell happened? The cam is a Zex 105300. The head has Skunk2 springs/retainers. The lash was meticulously set/maintained, because I'm **** about stuff like that. I have no idea WTF went wrong.

Every single one of the vtec lobes has completely flat-spotted. I couldn't get a good pic of it, but it's SEVERE flat-spotting. You can see how badly it destroyed the rocker pads.






**EDIT**

After a more thorough inspection, here is exactly what I'm looking at.

Vtec lobes: All 4 are completely flatspotted. All 4 rocker pads are also destroyed.

Exhaust lobes: Also showing severe wear, but not flat-spotting. They are just worn down. The rockers show corresponding wear.

Intake lobes: They are absolutely perfect. The intake rocker pads are also absolutely perfect. They even have a mirror shine.


Modified by Semtec at 9:18 PM 7/26/2007

 

holy cow...never seen that before.

looks like there was some severe coil bind, or something. thats some wild self-clearancing. sheesh

 

I should add that the cam always turned fine with a ratchet. No binding or anything. Valve lash was perfect.

 

what was the bottom end setup? oiling problem maybe?

 

Bottom end still looks fine. Cylinder walls still show honing crosshatch. Also, my oil pressure was always monitored and was always stable. The motor was running fine when I removed the head.

 

Come to think of it, I had noticed that vtec wasn't hitting as hard anymore. Now it makes sense - that divot was eating up all the additional lift. I was essentially running without vtec

Are the skunk2 springs too stiff or what?

 

what bottom end

 

I'm not sure what you want to know? It has CP pistons, Crower rods, Benson balanced/micro-polished crank, ACL bearings, new oil pump...

The entire setup has 12,000 miles on it.

 

Well what the f uck . I don't want to blow another $200 on a Zex cam if this is just going to happen again.

 

weird, same thing happened on my H series. I still don't know why.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by H22_TURBO &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">weird, same thing happened on my H series. I still don't know why. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Did it ever happen again? Were you using super stiff springs?

 

I had the same problem with Comp cams. 2 sets and various spring rates.?? Roller rocker setup now.

 

In for answers.....

 

that same crap happened to me too about two years ago..

all 4 vtec lobes on the exhaust side only wore out exactly like that..

the intake side was perfect, with nothing wrong with it.

the setup was h22 built block
pauter rods, cp pistons, acl bearings

built head
Supertech valves
dual valve springs
Ti retainers
Oem cams
oem cam gears
oem timing belt

i dont know why it did that, but i talked with Tom from port flow, and Earl from laskey racing.. and they both think that it is an oiling issue.. their reason for it is because the intake side has the same springs, and if it was because of spring pressure, both the intake and exhaust side should be worn out.. not just the exhaust side.

it kinda makes sense because the exhaust side gets the oil last, in the head.. so oil pressure maybe low especially when in vtec..

i wish i knew why it does it.. it still boggles me to this day.. i can only theorize to why it happens

 

Something is wrong with the LMAs. They were probably binding up causing exssesive wear on the cam lobes.


That sux. Sorry mang.

 

So how are you supposed to check for oiling issues? I don't see what can go wrong.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Semtec &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So how are you supposed to check for oiling issues? I don't see what can go wrong.</TD></TR></TABLE>

do you have a oil pressure gauge?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mykizism &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

do you have a oil pressure gauge?</TD></TR></TABLE>


Yes, and pressure has always been fine. It was mentioned that it could be an oiling issue in the head, which is why I'm confused. There isn't anything I can think of that can go wrong in the head. It's not like any of the passages were blocked.

 

Its not that uncommon.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Blind-Fashion &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Its not that uncommon.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Meaning what? That something is wrong, or that I should just shell out another $230 for a new cam and accept the fact that it will only last another 10k miles?

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2008331

and its true its not uncommon...

 

I know, I'm in the hole $230 for the cam, plus $100 because I have to buy a new head to pick apart the valve train. I can't afford to be spending $330 every year to replace this ****. Plus it would kill me to know that I'm losing a bit of lift every day because the rockers are being eaten away.

I guess I have no choice but to order the new cam. I'll try loosening up the valves a bit. Last time I ran my lash at .06/.08. Maybe .07/.09 would make it last a little longer. It sucks because Zex recommends tighter lash to keep the noise down. They didn't mention the fact that it kills the cam

For what it's worth, here's the only other thread I found with the same issue. Looks like it was never resolved either.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1761075

 

So is it an oiling issue (lack of oil on the exhaust cam)? Or an issue with lash?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris Tune &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2008331

and its true its not uncommon...

</TD></TR></TABLE>


Good info. Hopefully the combination of looser valves + better oil/additives will make this next one last a bit longer.

Live and learn I guess .

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by herecomesboost &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So is it an oiling issue (lack of oil on the exhaust cam)? Or an issue with lash?</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's really hard to say. My exhaust side was destroyed and my intake side was fine, but the vtec lobes were also destroyed (intake side). So it looks like the side isn't a factor.

Also, the exhaust side had a larger lash (.08 vs. .06 intake) which doesn't make sense either. Seems like the intake side should be under more stress than the exhaust side.