Camshaft wear `no secret'
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HAVING read Mr Bowling's letter "Camshaft plan a Catch 22" (CM August 23) I regret very much that this customer has found it necessary to write into Commercial Motor but, since he has, I must put one or two facts straight for the record.
Volvo has never made a secret out of the fact that a problem of premature camshaft wear existed on the TD1006 engine. A full article on the subject was published in July 1978. In reply to Mr Bowling's question "Why did Volvo not call in all Volvo 290's for examination", we were confident that not all engines would suffer a camshaft failure before a satisfactory service life had been reached and this has subsequently proved to be the case.
We were also confident that failures would occur within 200,000 miles/three years in which case the engine would be repaired free of charge within this period. Again this has proved to be the case with one or two exceptions, these being, low annual mileage vehicles, However, even in these cases as with Mr Bowling, we have made contributions.
F88 Chassis No. 52857 suffered an oil pump failure and it was during the course of repair that the camshaft was found to be displaying premature wear. Despite the vehicle being 38 months old we offered Mr Bowling a generous contribution towards the cost of the camshaft, pistons, liners and valves, as well as associated labour. Mr Bowling came back to us asking if we would still maintain this offer if he decided to fit a replacement engine rather than repair. We not only agreed but improved our contribution.
,,—.The second F88 Chassis No. 5 0 8 7 8 started to display symptoms of premature camshaft wear at a mileage of 138,000 miles (not 110,000 miles) and when the vehicle was 41 months' old. We again offered a contribution towards the cost of repair compatible with the age of the vehicle. Once more Mr Bowling decided to fit a replacement engine rather than repair and as in the previous case this did not affect our contribution. As far as the problem of camshaft premature wear is concerned, this has been completely resolved in the TD100B engine fitted to the F10 with the introduction of a new camshaft, together with other improvements.