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[portomega]

just had a call from the mechanic doing my HG and hes said the tapping noise i've been hearing when the engine was running is due to my Cams being "excessively worn" he said i could probably get another 6months to a year our of them if i dont drive like an idiot ( which i dont  ) anyone know what kind of prices id be looking at for replacing the cams? how much are a new set?

[Kevin Wood]

Very unusual for cams to wear significantly. How many miles has it got on it?

Could you post a picture of them?

I'd be looking for oil supply issues if they have genuinely failed in sub-Apollo 11 mileage.

Regarding replacing them. I'd say new cams will be prohibitively expensive but because they rarely fail you should find a decent set from a scrapped vehicle relatively easily.

It might be worth getting the lifters as well, just in case these have worn as badly as the cams.

Kevin

[portomega]

its only got 85,000 on it, which is pretty low for an omega i think lol would too much oil in the engine cause them to be worn or is it genrally lack of oil?
Not sure is having a completely blocked breather system would affect it also? as the mechanic said when he took the breather pipes off while doing the HG they were completely clogged with crap 

[Kevin Wood]

85K is just run in.

I would have thought lack of oil, blocked breathers, etc. are all faults that would have manifested themselves in other areas before failure of a cam, tbh. The loads on the camshaft are not huge so the bottom end will normally suffer first if an engine is starved of oil.

It would be really good to see a picture of the damage. Maybe that would give us some clues as to the cause.

It's possible that the hardening of the camshaft surface was defective from new and it has just worn much more rapidly as a result, I guess. :-/

Kevin

[Ghost]

Or the machanic is trying to pull a fastone. better go to the garage and take a couple of pics mate. or if a member lives in your area take them along for a look.

[portomega]

my Hg has failed would that add to the wearing of the cams? hes not changed them for me or anything just advised me that they would need doing at some point in the future. No pics avail as the car is off being fixed  and i dont get it back until tomorrow when it will be all back together ( hopefully)

[unlucky alf]

ive just done a HG on my sis in laws astra, when i fired it up after doing it it was clacky, i drained the oil & filled with cheap stuff & ran it around for a while,i then drained & filled with good oil & new filter & the noise went totally, so i would say the mixture of oil & water in the lifters is more the problem rather than cams

[portomega]

Well the mechanic said if i change the oil and filter a few times now over the next sort of 1000 miles it should quieten down the noise 

[ffcgary1]

I have never seen any wear to the cams that i have been in contact with, but if you do have worn cams then i would say that the problem would be a lack of regular oil changes or an oil pressure issue, if you can get to the garage and ask to see the cams and take some pics and post them up on here. I have a set of cams from a car that that 120,000 miles on it and the cams and lobes are almost like new. Very strange to be honest. The garage could be pulling a fast one on you hoping that you will say ok do em while you got the top off.  Gary.

[ffcgary1]

Just one other thing the fault could be lazy lifters making the noise and a treatment of lifter clean might help the noise to shut up, but more frequent oil changes will do the same thing.

[portomega]

To be honest after seeing the absolute bodge job he did on putting my engine back together after the HG i wouldnt be suprised if he wasnt trying to rip me off on the cam thing 
Theres definately a tappety noise when the engine is running though.... i found this product on halfords site is it worth giving it a go then? im always worried about adding the products to cars just incase they do more damage than good

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_203145_langId_-1_categoryId_165750#dtab

[Marks DTM Calib]

I struggle to see how worn cam would make a noise......unless they are very worn in which case you would REALLY know.

I suspect he knows not what hes talking about!

When you conside cams are only  bit of pig iron, ground to shape and then nitrile hardened, if they are worn then the hardened coating (only being a few microns thick) would have been lost at which piint they wear VERY quickly!

So, yet again, sounds like a 'pro' who really does not know what hes talking about!

[portomega]

A guy that leaves two!!!  cam cover bolts off, swops my new header tank cap  and dipstick for his worn and broken ones from his astra and then says " oh dont worry its fine" if definately not worth listening too i think.

[jonathanh]

sad to say it but given the noise you are getting and the quality of workmanship so far I would suspect that there could be something more fundamental wrong with it.

for anyone to swap parts like you describe, at best is dishonest and worst is theft.  If you have the energy, I really think you should be trying to recover money from him.  He has ripped you off.

[portomega]

the tapping noise was there before he did my HG,so i dont think its anything hes actually done but he said it was down to the worn cams, but like people have been saying that probabyl isnt likely