Cam Follower Damage - Root Cause?

Hi All, I 'rolled the dice' and bought a 'Spares or Repair' 200 tdi engine as a bit of a project. The chap had advertised it as having broken piston rings, but on opening her up I discovered damage to 4 of the cam followers and sleeves. The push rods that came out weren't bent or anything, but I cant guarantee they were the original ones in the engine when the damage occurred.

I'm conducting a full rebuild and will be replacing the cam and followers / sleeves etc, but wanted to try and understand the root cause of this issue to avoid having a repeat of it when I reassemble the engine. Can anyone advise on what might have caused this damage to 4 of the followers/sleeves? Thank you

LarryLandy93 said:

Hi All, I 'rolled the dice' and bought a 'Spares or Repair' 200 tdi engine as a bit of project. The chap had advertised is it as having broken piston rings, but on opening her up I discovered damage to 4 of the cam followers and sleeves. The push rods that cam out weren't bent or anything but I cant guarantee they were the original ones in the engine when the damage occurred.
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'm conducting a full rebuild and will be replacing the cam and followers / sleeves etc, but wanted to try and understand the root cause of this issue to avoid having a repeat of it when I reassemble the engine. Can anyone advise on what might have caused this damage to 4 of the followers/sleeves?
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Broken timing belt.

Turboman said:

Broken timing belt.

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Thank you - I assume that the push rods etc aren't the originals then? I intend to replace cam shaft and followers etc, but are there other key areas I need to be careful to ensure they are all serviceable. The rocker arms and valve stems look ok, but I have yet to strip these to inspect properly.

I would hazard a guess just old age, the newest 200 engines are 28 yrs old, oldest 32.
Add in general neglect ie no oil changes/extended oil changes/wrong oil, and its amazing they last so well.

LarryLandy93 said:

Thank you - I assume that the push rods etc aren't the originals then? I intend to replace cam shaft and followers etc, but are there other key areas I need to be careful to ensure they are all serviceable. The rocker arms and valve stems look ok, but I have yet to strip these to inspect properly.

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Either they have put it back together with new push rods, or, like he says^^^^, just worn out.

Turboman said:

Either they have put it back together with new push rods, or, like he says^^^^, just worn out.

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Thank you