austinramsay

So i took my head off to change the head gasket, took the head to get machined and they told me i need a new cam. They said the rocker arms are a little damaged too. The cam isnt like deep huge scratches or anything just looks like small scratches. Firstly, how does this happen? Someone running it low on oil? Second, why do the lobes and arms need to be smooth? Like how would that affect their operation? I dont see why youd need a new cam from some small scratches it still does its job. Thanks!

1998GsRIntegra

Would you want to go down a waterslide made of sandpaper? Just think about that for a little bit in relation to your question about why the camshaft and rockers need to be smooth.

Are the scratches deep enough to catch your fingernail?

austinramsay

Haha no just trying to understand what will happen? Will it just make noise or what? Will it just start destroying the cam? And no, i mean you can feel them but its not like your nail gets stuck in them. Just very small surface ones. Also, how does this even happen in the first place?

DCFIVER

Post pics.

austinramsay

austinramsay

austinramsay

And can someone tell me what will happen if you use bad cams? Will they make noise? Will they wear out really quick? What happens if you use damaged rocker arms? Like the rocker arms have scratches just like the cam i mean. Someone please explain im curious haha. I wanna know why you cant use them. And how does this happen anyways?

DCFIVER

Little hard to tell,but from those pics Id say normal wear(little heavy) that most likely occurs during cold starts.

austinramsay

Oh okay. Well say if they were really bad, what would be wrong with using them?

DCFIVER

They'd possibly make noise and eventually eat up the cam caps/rocker pads and seize.