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A bad cam?
- Thread starter Morris
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aeronca65t
Great Pumpkin
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Basically, it helps distinquish between bad rings and some other problem.
If you have a low or under-spec cylinder cold and it goes way up when hot, it's often bad rings.
If you have low cylinder and it doesn't improve much with a hot test, it's usually valves or head gasket.
And don't kill yourself..it's only a car!
(I've been sledge-hammering leaf springs all day with about 100% humidity and heat index of 100....and I'm still smiling /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif )
If you have a low or under-spec cylinder cold and it goes way up when hot, it's often bad rings.
If you have low cylinder and it doesn't improve much with a hot test, it's usually valves or head gasket.
And don't kill yourself..it's only a car!
(I've been sledge-hammering leaf springs all day with about 100% humidity and heat index of 100....and I'm still smiling /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif )
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It's really not hard to check the cam condition in place. Since it is unlikely that all cam lobes are worn exactly the same, all you are looking for is lift variations from valve to valve of probably .005" or more.
Buy, borrow, or rent a cheap 0 to 1" or 0 to .5" dial indicator & magnetic base/stand. Set the indicator up on the pushrod end of each rocker arm, turn the engine over & record the maximum indicator readings for each valve. A flat cam lobe or two will quickly show up. If the lifts are all fairly uniform, no cam problems. If not, bummer. At least you will know.
D
Buy, borrow, or rent a cheap 0 to 1" or 0 to .5" dial indicator & magnetic base/stand. Set the indicator up on the pushrod end of each rocker arm, turn the engine over & record the maximum indicator readings for each valve. A flat cam lobe or two will quickly show up. If the lifts are all fairly uniform, no cam problems. If not, bummer. At least you will know.
D