Camshaft Failure in 6.0L

A few times a month, we see destroyed engines from camshaft failures. Lifted and tuned trucks seem to be particularly susceptible because of the breakdown in lubrication.
This truck looked like the oil hadn’t been changed in 20,000 miles. We had the lubricant tested and it was garbage. When the lubrication breaks down, the harden surface of the camshaft gets destroyed. A roller camshaft features lifters that are equipped with a roller bearing that rolls against the camshaft lobe. More often than not, the roller will be destroyed or broken from a valve strike against the piston like a floating valve. When the truck is over revved the intake valve will hit the piston and it will break the roller. In this truck, there has been a true breakdown in the lubricant under high load. You can see scuffing on all of the lobes. This happens to be the first one where it broke through the harden surface causing catastrophic failure that requires replacement of the engine. Debris fell down on the engine and passed through the oil pump and damaged the oil pump. The debris continued through the rest of the engine and destroyed the crankshaft requiring a complete rebuild. This is a 157K mile truck that shouldn’t have had this type of failure.

If you are going to be pulling heavy loads and/or off-roading, you really have to take care of the truck; keep up with the maintenance and use the best quality products. I know you hate it when I bring up Archoil, but Archoil probably would have saved this engine. Archoil AR9100 is a super lubricant that is added to the oil at the oil change. Day after day I see engine failures, component failures, and injector failures that are either fuel related, oil related or from poor maintenance. These trucks are expensive and it is worth every dime for the cost of the Archoil to keep it going. ~Bill Hewitt