agnum camshaft fails
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by Charles Young II A London haulier drove a Renault Magnum for more than three years with a camshaft that could have fractured at any time—only for it to break two months outside its warranty.
Allen Cray, of Craytrans Services, says the failure occurred when his son Mark was driving the 200,000km Magnum 420 which was loaded with five tonnes of bread.
"There was a loud bang as if an airline had burst," says Cray, "but the vehicle didn't stop. He managed to pull over and have a look around but couldn't find anything wrong."
Alan Broadbridge, aftersales manager for Renault Trucks Essex, says the camshaft had a flaw when it was built and would normally have broken as soon as the engine was started. It was unusual for it not to have happened, he adds; this was probably thanks to low stresses on the engine.
A technical report seen by CM says the camshaft had a clean fracture. There was also damage to the rockers and valves on the first cylinder but the rest of the engine was in perfect condition. Cray now faces a repair bill of more than E2,000 for work carried out when the camshaft was replaced, including a new chargecooler and exhaust manifold.
The bill for the new camshaft has been covered by Renault VI.