driversdomainuk 8 Posted December 5, 2005 Hi From a previous post, you may know i am currently enjoying a clacking from the top of the rocker area nr the dizzy - probably the tappets. I took the rocker cover off on Saturday to have a look at the cam. For a 15 year old car the cam appeared to look very clean and unworn, the only wear was very slight scoring on the odd cam lobe which could not be felt by touch alone - only visual. How can I tell if the previous owner has put a new and or uprated cam in it..? as surely a 15 yr old cam which has done 124,000 miles would look rather tired..?? Do Piper, etc have any distinct markings to show it is not the standard..? Cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony 1,003 Posted December 5, 2005 So long as the holes in the spray bar aren't blocked, I generally find that most GTi cams look to be in pretty good shape. Slightly "polished" on the end of the lobes, but that's about it. If the spray bar becomes blocked however from infrequent oil changes sludging it up, then the cam will deteriorate fairly quickly and will show fairly high wear. Most aftermarket cams that have been ground from a blank should have some form of marking on the end of the cam. I'm not sure if regrinds have the same or not however. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob_the_Sparky 9 Posted December 5, 2005 (edited) Trouble is that to an untrained eye a cam can look "clean" but be badly worn. There was a thead on here recently where a piccy was posted and it looked fine until you knew what to look for, then you realised it was fooked (tip of a cam lobe was very badly worn). My cam has its number stamped into the end of the cam where the dizzy connects. I think this is generally true for afterarket cams but AFAIK standard cams are not marked like this. Rob Edited December 5, 2005 by Rob_the_Sparky Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Higgy 0 Posted December 5, 2005 the cam surface on my 129k miler mi look mint. you could measure using a vernier the lobe height, is there a dimension anywhere to check it against? that would tell you if the tip is worn i guess. at uni i used a 'dial gauge' while rotating a cam (Honda CBR600) to produce a profile 'picture' of the lobe shape to input into a engine simulation program. i found there was a dip in the cam lobe that was impossible to see and feel, only fine measurement of dial gauge picked it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pug_ham 244 3 Cars Posted December 5, 2005 Aftermarket cams, even regrinds, from Piper & Kent have the cam number stamped on afaik on the distributor end (dizzy needs removing to see), Piper is BP & Kent PT iirc. Graham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GLENF 0 Posted February 9, 2006 (edited) Graham, what if it says GPA1 ? Edited February 9, 2006 by GLENF Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Craigb 2 Posted February 9, 2006 GPA2 is a piper cam if thats any help Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GLENF 0 Posted February 9, 2006 GPA2 is a piper cam if thats any helpCheers, just rang Piper & its there 280 cam. P16GPA1 cam Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MartinR 0 Posted February 13, 2006 Here is an example of a fooked one... albeit a 1.6 cam Fooked Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
returnofjim 0 Posted February 13, 2006 Here is an example of a fooked one... albeit a 1.6 cam Fooked I have a 1.9 Cam thats worse than that, its almost round on one of the lobes That came out of a 90k mile engine which had full service history upto 80k Ill get a pic of it in a bit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest downsy Posted February 13, 2006 (edited) Heres a 1.9 cam after about 98,000 miles http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y275/pugk...06_02130073.jpg http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y275/pugk...06_02130069.jpg Going to be replaced Mark Edited February 13, 2006 by downsy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
