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Is this a normal camshaft looking?

16K views 27 replies 12 participants last post by  Milpol 
#1 ·
So today I was topping up oil for my R56 Cooper S and noticed my camshaft for the first time through the oil adding hole
And it looked like this
It almost looks like there are tons of dents on the surface of the lobe. But it feels smooth to the touch with my finger and I've had no issues with the engine

I've googled some images about camshaft lobe wear and did not see any similar photos. Can you guys comment on this with your thoughts and knowledge? Thanks!
 

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#3 ·
Certainly not looking good to me and the shaft between the lobes looks like its covered in grunge, I would pop the rocker cover off and see how dirty it is as well as any marks/damage to the other lobes. Infrequent oil changes or run low on oil at some time is a strong possibility from the photo's you have posted. It might feel smooth but its certainly had something to cause abnormal wear in there and one would wonder what the cam bearing surface would look like to.
 
#5 ·
Thanks guys I will definitely keep an eye on it. Checked the oil level, its fine and I changed oil 9000km ago. Could be from the last owner I'm not sure. I'm currently on 5w30, do you suggest a thicker 0w40 will be better for this case? I normally dont run the engine too hard though.
 
#6 ·
If your very lucky, its the top end only and I would be saving for a new or rebuilt head and Cam. If your unlucky, you could have damage to the crank and big end bearings ! you wont stop further wear on the Cam so stick with the same oil and do a change and filter every 7-9k km. If its currently running OK, your looking at keeping the oil and filter as clean as practical but as Sean mentioned, expect a top end rebuild sooner than later as the hardening to the face of the lobes is damaged and any wear will only accelerate.

p.s. I had similar damage to Cams on a GSX 750 many years ago and whilst I had the cams reground and a phosphorous coating, it was never the same. Cause was from a tiny bit of metal from an accident that had blocked an oil port which was never discovered until I had the rocker off and saw the damage to the cams.
 
#9 ·
How about this?

I have a similar question?

Recently bought a Paceman from a dealer that bought the car from BMW/Mini where it was a leasing car before. How urgent does this look to you guys? It is a 2013 and has about 100000 km already on it...

Do you think there is any chance to get BMW to do anything about it since it was a lease and is only three years old??
 

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#13 ·
This is the condition of the engine if you follow service intervals of 30.000 km very nice !!!!. You have pitting on white metal surface of camshaft and the next step should be checking the thickness and clearance of camshaft and compare it with factory measurements.
 
#17 ·
I don't know any leased car that isn't thrashed buddy. Our works cars are all leased and I can assure you that they are screwed to within an inch of their life. I'm on holiday in 2 weeks and I know for a fact that when I return then my car is gonna be funked because the muppet who covers for me can't drive a nail in to a piece of wood!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 
#22 ·
Pitted Cam lobes, how bad is this?

So I've been getting some clacking coming from the engine, timing chains been changed 6000 miles ago so I needed to change my pants. get the rocker off and see these cams, I didn't notice them to look like this when I changed the timing chain, however perhaps my attention was elsewhere.

Cams look pretty dayum pitted to me.. however Im no cam lobe pitting expert and would love some 2nd opinions. Ive done a bit of reading some say keep running the engine, others say this warrants a top end rebuild. whats everyones thoughts?

if it does need a rebuild, any one know a good place to source a reconditioned cylinder head with all the bells and whistles installed for exchange of my one?
 

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#24 ·
So I've been getting some clacking coming from the engine, timing chains been changed 6000 miles ago so I needed to change my pants. get the rocker off and see these cams, I didn't notice them to look like this when I changed the timing chain, however perhaps my attention was elsewhere.

Cams look pretty dayum pitted to me.. however Im no cam lobe pitting expert and would love some 2nd opinions. Ive done a bit of reading some say keep running the engine, others say this warrants a top end rebuild. whats everyones thoughts?

if it does need a rebuild, any one know a good place to source a reconditioned cylinder head with all the bells and whistles installed for exchange of my one?
see this all the time on them its the tip of the cam lobe ie the part that cam follower rolls over that just needs to be unworn,, unworn is where the lobe has not got a 0.5mm plus wear ridges in them.. my theory to this is some cars are not driven much come from wet areas or have had a lot of short start stop journeys where moisture builds up in the crankcase and causes corrosion on the cam lobes that are made of metal that will rust very fast when damp, some have had head gasket issues water in the oil.. others have been running very hot this burns off the oil protection and allows rust to start ie engine switched off after a good kicking and not allowed to cool down first,
if running ok and not making loads of cam noise i would not worry about it, ,
 
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