[Rakk3187]

Hi guys first time posting on here have found a few threads that seem similar but not quite.
Installed TSP VVT-2 cam kit/ DOD delete etc. Fired the car up after to check coolant it idled fine would turn of if you touched the throttle at all and let off the usual. Received my base tune for the cam and other mods (long tube headers, no cats and or emissions) this was not my doing these were the things done prior to me owning the car.
The car ran fine except fans, the fans are still running warp speed making me think the coolant hasn’t burped yet and also it would stumble some and make check engine light flash. Drove it down the road and noticed an exhaust leak after the headers sound. Figured I’ll go fix that real quick that pfft pfft sound bothers me. Pull it back on to ramps turn car off.
Now it will not restart. Pulled the plugs after cranking on it over and over trying to get it to start, they are all fouled. I pulled the intake manifold off again and checked all my connections underneath for injectors etc.. everything looked good, fuel lines tight. Assemble everything try to start with brand new plugs and it barely starts with out messing with gas pedal it backfires, misses, maybe running on a few cylinders at best. Pull the plugs again 3 of 4 on passenger side are black, all other plugs don’t look to bad but do look like they got a lil wet with fuel, not as bad as the first set. Could this be just plug wires? I’ve replaced cam position sensor as well. With MAF plugged in or not it still does the same. I’m at a loss on it now. My brains everywhere and I’m not thinking straight looking for some help. Also it’s a manual car.
Thanks

[laynlo15]

Did you contact the tuner to see what he says? If the plugs are that wet sounds very rich, did you log your drive time with HP Tuners and do you have a wide band on the car to read the Air Fuel Ratio?

[Rakk3187]

The car only has the two front O2 sensors. I replaced the bank 2 sensor as it threw a code. I still get no start. Just thumps and every now and then a backfire while cranking. Tuner said if the front O2 sensor isn’t reading it will make sense why that bank is so rich. I literally drove it maybe a quarter mile just down to next street and turned around did not data log anything yet. Now I’m thinking battery may be low I’ve put a charger on it but it only charges to maybe 50% is what the charger is saying.

[Rakk3187]

Not sure yet gonna tear it all back down but pulled valve covers entire 2nd bank all springs are not compressed at all, 1 trunnion bearing material laying at bottom, can hand crank motor over, probably all valves bent who knows, it’ll sit while I collect my thoughts. I’ve had the car 1 week before lifter failure and now it’s a $36k pile of junk basically right now.

[Aaron07]

Originally Posted by Rakk3187

Not sure yet gonna tear it all back down but pulled valve covers entire 2nd bank all springs are not compressed at all, 1 trunnion bearing material laying at bottom, can hand crank motor over, probably all valves bent who knows, it’ll sit while I collect my thoughts. I’ve had the car 1 week before lifter failure and now it’s a $36k pile of junk basically right now.

What do you think happened?

[Chrome383Z]

Damn that sucks

[GTO_Gregory]

I'm guessing you left the heads on and did not do any Piston to Valve clearance checking. You may not hear anything if there's mild P/V interference. I wouldn't think the TSP VVT-2 cam would cause problems, unless something is indexed incorrectly.

Everything is good and oily, yes? There's no reason for trunnion bearings go bad so quickly.

Have you performed a compression test?

Both the cam position sensor and MAF will throw codes, but they can self-correct if the problem is fixed.

If you have HPTuners, or if your tuner has it he can turn off the O2 sensors in the headers. They typically throw codes. Most handheld tuners can read whatever codes you have.

As long as you didn't hear banging noises, and you haven't punched a hole in the piston, most everything is replaceable.

I always pray in times like this.

[Rakk3187]

Haven’t torn it all down yet I’ll pull the heads again this week tried to enjoy the weekend as much as I could. Everything was oily and I got the entire cam kit from Texas speed it did not say anything on having p/v clearance issues, just had the selections for each part in the kit on upgraded parts etc… just weird it was only the passenger side. Only things I’ve been thinking was cam shaft pin sheared off possibly. Once I get it apart again I’m hoping no piston damage. I’ve literally owned the car a week before the original lifter failure happened. The dealer did not disclose there was any tune or no emissions until after I took it to a Chevy dealer and they said it was tuned etc… and the warranty they sold wouldn’t cover anything. So may have a case against them because they did know about these things. Only thing they do say was it had headers no cats and was straight piped yet it has a viral exhaust on it. Anyways I’ll try to update once I get the heads pulled again. Thanks for everyone’s input.

[L78toLT1]

It's possible, given that you don't know your car's history, that the heads may have been milled and/or the block decked, apparently more on one bank than the other. I'm reasonably sure that the Texas Speed VV2 cam would not have clearance issues with uncut parts.

[Rakk3187]

So the timing has to be off, all I have to remove now is the balancer and front cover again and see, heads need to go to machine shop, removed drivers side head and valves are definitely bent compared to passenger side kissing pistons so they are probably bent too, luckily pistons just need a little light sanding to smooth out any sharp edges. Only thing I can think of was my slack in timing chain was not on the tensioner side possibly. I’m going to go fishing and relax a bit this weekend. I need a few days of relaxation I’ve been worrying myself consistently with this car time for a mental break. Thanks for everyone’s input yet again and hope you have a good weekend.

[Evansa22]

Good luck, gremlins like this get frustrating. In the end when Its dialed in, it will be worth the troubles

[95 imp]

You should roll the crank over by hand 360 after the timing chain is on to make sure your marks line up before you put the cover on.

[cmitchell17]

I don't think the TSP VVT2 cam PTV is that close to where tension in the timing gear would cause that. I am running about 60 thousandths PTV.

Seems like you would have had the timing way off to hit the pistons even with a VVT2 cam.

[Rakk3187]

So I got the cover off today and everything is still lined up arrow at 6 o’clock on cam phaser, cylinder 1 TDC. Every time I crank rotate it it lines right back up. Only other thing that I can think of is if I mixed up the valves from other cylinders would the wear on each one differentiate enough? Although when I lapped the valves they all stayed with that correct cylinder. Should I still pull the phaser back off the cam and see if anything’s wrong there? I wouldn’t think if the pin sheared I’d still be in time. It’s just weird it ran for over twenty minutes perfectly fine and then I turn it off and no start. Anyways I got plenty of time I got new valves on the way, heads need to get machined. Gonna keep digging.