are there any? Do they wear down? etc.?

 

I'm also interested in this

 

me too..need feedback

 

pop off your valvecover, look at your stock cams. If your car has gets proper oil change intervals, you`ll notice very very minimal wear on the lobes.

The cams on my old accord with 180K miles looked pretty damn new.

 

There are few things you need to watch out for:

- were they dropped? ...might have minute internal fractures...
- were they properly run-in when new? ...the first 15-20 minutes of run-in time after installation is the most important part of a proper installed procedure...

 

project X, could you explain the break in of new cams? Thanks.

 

Yes, please elaborate!!

 

is their any way to test their strength before installing them. Also, when buying cams off ebay or something, I don't think u can see like hairline fractures, or poor maintance of the cams. SO would that make buying used cams off something like Ebay be unsafe?

 

you can get them magnafluxed (I think thats wats its called) from most competant machine shops and they will be able to tell you the condition of it, but most of the time, just by looking at it, you can pretty much tell. The first few minutes for a new cam is critical as when you first install them, there will be no oil on them. Metal to metal contact doesnt usually work well. Most cam manufacturers include some kind of oil lubricant, and if the cams come with it, make sure u lube it up good. If that is not available, just oil it before installing it. After it runs and idles after the first minute and there is good oil pressure, then the cams are pretty much broken in already. Its just that first few seconds when the head gets 0 oil pressure @ startup is when the cams are most vulnarable.

 

thanks for the reply, good info.

 

mingchi96 had listed the reasons. These are the summary of steps.
For Crower cams and I believe all others as well.

1) After installation, lube the lopes with the supplied lubes.
2) Adjust valve clearance as instructed.
3) Start engine and hold 2500-3000 RPM for first 15-20 mins (in neutral).
4) Listen for unusual sound and check if necessary
5) Do the regular run-in procedure (~500 - 1000 miles)