Hi Everyone - Some of you may be following my 3.8L rebuild thread where I touched on this, but I thought I'd ready out to a larger audience for those that might not be interested in another rebuild story. FWIW, I believe the motor has 114K on it and it was rebuilt at 70K with a 3.8L upgrade. I recently disassembled my motor after a dropped valve seat. One of the things that struck me as odd was the wear on all of the intake cam lobes on both sides of the motor. I've looked at a lot of pictures on the web for not only 996s, but all other makes and models as well, but have not seen this type of wear. So my two questions are: 1.) What would cause this sort of wear? I though that the cam lobe makes flat contact to the lifter and can't understand how this angled and offset wear would be caused. 2.) Are these still usable or repairable, or do I need two new cams.
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHUnusual Cam Lobe Wear - Are These Trash?
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What do the Variocam Plus lifters/caps look like?
If this is a VarioCam engine that started out as a 3.4 I have a set of cams.
This is normal. I can�t remember exactly why the camshafts are machined like that, but those marks are completely normal and not wear.
Quotes source post: 16708676
I will get some pictures and post them shortly.
Quotes source post: 16708731
Hi Doug, these are out of a 2002, 3.6L C4S.
Quotes source post: 16709049
Wow - that's interesting. I've looked at photos of new cams and can't find any with the angled cuts on them anywhere. Does anyone know why these are like this? Do all 3.6L engines have these?
Quotes source post: 16708676
Here are a few shots. The tops and bottoms all look good. The perimeter show some wear. What do you think?
Hard call,, I'm in the camp that followers/lifters are disposable. Cost is part of the choice, but by the time you are apart and back together,, how much will a set of lifters hurt??
they hurt a lot. Variocam plus lifters are pricey as hell
LOL Yea,, I meant to the poster,, when I look at the general cost of a full tear-down and rebuild,, the lifters are just another jab.. Like getting a tattoo..
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