How does under my valve cover look? [PHOTOS]

[Hokiefyd]

The wear on the cam lobes on our Honda 2.4L look exactly the same as the ones on this Focus' engine. The base circle has very little wear while the ramp up and ramp down show clearly where the follower rides. The wear pattern on my cam lobes has a blue tint to it.

I used the tip of a plastic straw to "scrape" across the lobe to feel if it was actually scored or if the wear is really just visual, and it's really just visual, at least on mine. I could feel absolutely no change in the cam lobe as I scraped the straw tip across mine.

 

[jegs]

Your cam looks fine. As does the rest of your fill hole. Whatever you're doing keep it up.

 

[donnyj08]

it has been my experience that the area around the fill hole will be a little different color than under the opposite side of the cover. My guess would be that some fill caps don't seal 100% of air out, which would cause the varnish to be slightly darker on the fill hole side.

in my experience If its clean through the fill hole it will be clean under the rest of the cover.

 

[Hyde244]

^ I was wondering if air exposure/closer to the cap would have any visual bearing.

Obviously the fill cap is only a fraction of the visual valve assembly, but I would imagine being able to see the cam lobe and shaft can act as an indicator for the rest of the engine.

I deferred to you guys as honestly I don't know what a "good" one looks like!

The oil has only been Motorcraft 5w20 Syn Blend. The engine has seen some heavier service as well - I was working in the San Bernardino Mountains for a year and a half, including many trips up and down the mountain.

 

[Clevy]

I've seen many cams such as the one pictured. The pics tend to be worse than the reality. It's more that it just looks bad,not that there is an actual wear groove. I've seen it fairly often in mustangs using Mobil. There is a visible wear scar but nothing you can actually feel

 

[KCJeep]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
I've seen it fairly often in mustangs using Mobil. There is a visible wear scar but nothing you can actually feel


Uh oh NOW you've done it!

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
I've seen many cams such as the one pictured. The pics tend to be worse than the reality. It's more that it just looks bad,not that there is an actual wear groove. I've seen it fairly often in mustangs using Mobil. There is a visible wear scar but nothing you can actually feel


I wouldn't call the tracks that the roller leaves on the cam lobe a "scar", as a scar denotes wear. The Seq IVA photos clearly show that the track is normal.

But that's a roller valvetrain, this is cam-over-bucket like my BMW's. You'll always see this type of pattern in this application due to the nature of the lobe sliding on the bucket.

 

[Noobie]

Isn't that a BMW M54 engine?
Typical, when the Crankcase oil separator/ventilator screws up and you run long OCI's you will end up with something like this.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Noobie
Isn't that a BMW M54 engine?
Typical, when the Crankcase oil separator/ventilator screws up and you run long OCI's you will end up with something like this.



The pic I posted? Yes, it is. Car had an unknown maintenance history when I bought it, but it was cheap so I picked it up as a project and something for my wife to drive that was a bit easier on gas than the Expedition.

 

[Noobie]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Noobie
Isn't that a BMW M54 engine?
Typical, when the Crankcase oil separator/ventilator screws up and you run long OCI's you will end up with something like this.



The pic I posted? Yes, it is. Car had an unknown maintenance history when I bought it, but it was cheap so I picked it up as a project and something for my wife to drive that was a bit easier on gas than the Expedition.

One of the things i hate of the M54 is that cover right below the fill hole.

 

[midnightlaundry]

That motor is clean.