[firefish]

....... and I am happy.

I have been pushing this of for quite some time (yes I know - stupid) bit I finally got around to pull the cam cover. I had all new gaskets so there wasn't really anything to think about.

The car is a '95 CS with 80k on in (or so the counter says...). Most of the documentation is missing and it has been smashed to so hard that the roof has been replaced (lost the sunroof - good). I do not mind the crash, it has been thoroughly checked and the repair was made by the book. Most likely the car was bought from the insurance company and repaired by someone who did it for himself. That is what my friend who runs a repair shop thinks anyway considering the quality of the work.
It is worse with the documentation. The magazine I work for has owned this car for four years and these years are well documented. Anything before that is like a walk in the dark.
I know for a fact that the variocam setup has not been checked by the magazine (belts replaced though) and hence I have to assume the worst, ie the cams are shot and total failure is imminent.

But, to my amazement, when I lift the cover the sprockets looks like new, the chain is tight and there aren't even any grooves visible on the pads. It is also remarkably clean under the cover, I would suspect it to look worse after 14 years. Maybe this car already suffered a variocam failure and got the cams replaced? I am assuming that the car has had at least one neglectful owner (Mr Missing Documentation) and probably more. Regardless of what I am happy [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]
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And this is how it looks like. Quite blue.
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[jlm968]

It's the bottom pad that gets the most wear, in my experience.

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[Scott Collins]

<!--quoteo(post=71220:date=May 2 2009, 05:49 AM:name=jlm968)-->QUOTE (jlm968 @ May 2 2009, 05:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->It's the bottom pad that gets the most wear, in my experience.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


+1 on the bottom pad getting the most wear - that was my experience. The problem, obviously, is that you can't see to inspect the bottom pad and have to make an assumption based on the wear of the upper pad.

RS Barn did my pads and chain and retimed the car at about 71K and it was a good thing. The chain was fine, but both pads were worn and pitted, with the lower pad being the most pitted and grooved where it and the chain make contact.

In my case, since we could see the upper pad worn and pitted, it was assumed the lower pad was equally worn or worse, and that turned out to be the case.

Best of luck with that cool blue 68.

-scott

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[ds968]

[quote name='firefish' date='May 1 2009, 11:39 PM' post='71217']
But, to my amazement, when I lift the cover the sprockets looks like new, the chain is tight and there aren't even any grooves visible on the pads. It is also remarkably clean under the cover, I would suspect it to look worse after 14 years. Maybe this car already suffered a variocam failure and got the cams replaced? I am assuming that the car has had at least one neglectful owner (Mr Missing Documentation) and probably more. Regardless of what I am happy [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

Not at all unusual, in fact I would argue this is the more common discovery on inspections - granted, there are many that see grooved and pitted pads at half that mileage but I think those are the exception, not the rule ( unless you have a track car, or, maybe the POs have been running it on cheap oil ..) I have 100k miles on mine, I first inspected it at about 70k miles at which time everything ( pads, teeth, chain ) looked out-of-the-factory new, and just a few weeks ago again at 100k with not a lot of changes showing ; the upper pad has merely superficial traces of where the chain runs but no depth to the tracks/grooves. The bottom one may indeed be a bit more worn but based on the looks of the top pad I think it's likely to be more than acceptable. Chain was perfect, all the teeth were intact, though no telling if they're thinner than they were many years and miles ago, because without a new cam by side to compare it's hard to tell..

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[Cloud9...68]

DS- Your experience is virtually to the most minute detail a carbon copy of mine. Except that I foolishly had mine replaced without checking them first - I became paranoid after hearing all the horror stories, and just assumed that with about 85K on the clock, especially given that the previous owner did some DEs with the car, my chain and pads were surely hanging on for dear life. Horsefeathers! I was horrified to find that they were utterly indistinguishable from brand new, out-of-the-box parts. $600 completely wasted.

The moral of the story is to be aware that the chain and pads are a weak link (sorry, I couldn't resist [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] ) in SOME of these cars, but take the time to do a thorough inspection before assuming that you have a problem, because as DS968 says, this appears to be more the exception than the rule.

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[firefish]

Well, maybe I have been overly anxious thanks to all the stories but at least now I know. The lower pad was hard to see but since the top one was mint I guess the lower one is too (at least it looked ok as far as I could see).

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[Cloud9...68]

Have you tried using a small mirror to look at the condition of the bottom pad? I seem to remember reading in the DIY (which I wish I had followed) that the bottom pad can be seen with a small mirror turned at just the right angle.

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[ds968]

<!--quoteo(post=71282:date=May 3 2009, 08:18 AM:name=Cloud9...68)-->QUOTE (Cloud9...68 @ May 3 2009, 08:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Have you tried using a small mirror to look at the condition of the bottom pad? I seem to remember reading in the DIY (which I wish I had followed) that the bottom pad can be seen with a small mirror turned at just the right angle.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Tried a few different telescope-type small / micro mirrors, round ones as well as rectangular ones, and one with a 3X magnification ( they're all very cheap so I bought every mirror I could find before the first vario inspection and used the best one of them at the most recent inspection ) but no matter at how many positions and angles you turn them the part and portions of the pad you can see are so small and obscured the process gives you is of little or no indication of the condition. I think only if the bottom pad was almost completely shot, with very deep grooves, pits, and cracks on its top as well as its sides then you would definitely notice enough to warn you, but otherwise not much to detect. So worth checking just for that possibility.

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[Cloud9...68]

Well, at least you were smart (unlike me) for doing the inspection and trying to get a look at both pads. In your case, since the top pad showed no sign of wear, it's a safe bet that the bottom one was in decent shape as well.

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