Cam Sprocket Carnage

[NKau]

Have a friend that has an '02 F150 pickup with a 5.4 and about 130K miles on it. Somehow, one of the cam gears sheared/spun off the cam. With the valve cover removed, you can see it just hanging off the edge of the cam. Is this at all a common issue with mod motors? Any ideas what would cause this to happen? I know very little about mod motors, and he knows NOTHING about them. Just want to do what's right to get this thing fixed properly. Thanks for any help.

 

[Superhereaux]

this is not all that common as this is the first i hear of that kind of failure without someone previously being in there

i assume all the valves on that head are bent?

 

[Greenbird]

Maybe not all, but at least 3 of 8 is a good bet.

 

[NKau]

We didn't even bother to pull a head, but I'm pretty sure it's a safe bet that some valves crunched. Valvecovers had not been off it up until this point. The motor is going to go to a local machine shop for a rebuild if it's worth saving (none of us have time/mod motor knowledge) so we'll see what they have to say about it once they get it apart. I'll post back with some pics and info once I learn more.