cam wear

[yevgenievich]

Had a chance to look at couple of lobes on the stock cam(98 ls1). To me looks like I might need to get ready for a cam swap. Wondering if I am overthinking it and can just leave it alone. If anybody have some better thoughs.

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[Derrick]

if it was me i would cam swap it. just for the fact of a little power gain and i love working on my truck to see gains in hp. practical read this and if you dont need to swap it. it will be cheaper and less hassel.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forum...what-are-the-symptoms-of-a-worn-cam-lobe.html (this seamed to have good info on what happens when your cam is worn) pictures are kinda hard to look at the lobe wear with out seeing it in person. at least for me.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

X2 cam swap... That would worry me too much.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Looks okay to me.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[Blue Ox]

It's hard to tell from pics, but I don't see anything that calls for panic. Is there something specific that I can't see?

 

[bucket]

I don't see anything wrong either. Looks like perfectly normal wear.

 

[yevgenievich]

I thought I was seeing light scoring if zooming in on the picture. Also have faint ticking at idle that is either exhaust leak or lifter( i was assuming it is exhaust leak so far). Swaping a cam means taking heads off(to change lifters), and with the miles do not really want to go inside the motor just to possibly loose the bottom end shortly after.

 

[Derrick]

I thought I was seeing light scoring if zooming in on the picture. Also have faint ticking at idle that is either exhaust leak or lifter( i was assuming it is exhaust leak so far). Swaping a cam means taking heads off(to change lifters), and with the miles do not really want to go inside the motor just to possibly loose the bottom end shortly after.

then don't replace it try changing the exhaust gasket see if the ticking goes away.

 

[bucket]

Even zoomed in, it all looks fine to me.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

That’s what I saw, but if that’s normal, that’s a good image to put in the bank for later.

 

[Derrick]

my eyes suck, so It is hard for me to tell. it's kinda like this for me when i keep missing small text on a computer or cant see a picture good.

 

[yevgenievich]

I am rolling with it. I know it is still good just on how motor is running but was a bit worried that it is going to turn not that great soon

 

[Rusty Nail]

One way to find out!!

 

[84c10Tony]

Looks good and maybe halfway done or so, for your piece of mind, toss in some Marvel mystery oil for the top end, you are already on the exhaust gasket, how did that turn out?
If the ticking continues or any worries pop up, feel free to stop by, I have an old can of STP sitting by the front door and we can just toss that in too no charge... ; )

If any stress continues, look into some Valerian root, it won't help the engine, but you would be a lot more mellow ; P

 

[crazy4offroad]

My eyes detect cam wear with a dial indicator lol. Or if the bottom of the lifters are bowl-shaped. They look good to me though, I thought this was a roller cam, the 1st pic looks like it has a flat tappet lifter near the top unless that's the fuel pump rod. If it is a roller I heard there was a recall on some of the early vortec factory lifters because of lifter noise. If one collapses it would definitely feel like a wiped lobe. If it is a flat tappet you need to run a quart of Lucas ZDDP zinc additive in your oil.