M30 heavy wear #1 ex. cam lobe Lash cap help?

[Gene in NC]

M30 heavy wear #1 ex. cam lobe Lash cap help? Lobe surface is not smooth. Would lash cap help to, at least very, provide clean opposite bearing surface?

[Scott H]

chances are that it's worn too. Can you hook up a gauge to see what your oil pressure is at idle? wear on the tip lobe indicates it's wearing at idle b/c at medium to high rpm the rocker actually jumps the lobe and lands on the other side.....wear at the very tip on cyl #1 and cyl #6 indicates low oil supply at low rpms....

what does #6 look like?


M30 heavy wear #1 ex. cam lobe Lash cap help? Lobe surface is not smooth. Would lash cap help to, at least very, provide clean opposite bearing surface?

[Gene in NC]

Scott H, where have you been while I've been whining and bleeding over this ruined cam. I sadly suspect that you have it exactly right re low oil pressure that would have been associated with the low idle that I have so stupidly tolerated.

My trucks have oil pressure guages OPG) that have saved me from major problems more than once.

Net, anyone who runs any kind of vehicle without an OPG is taking a big risk. Anyone (me) who runs w/o OPG on an engine with suspicious indications

[Gene in NC]

Sott H, where have you been while I've been whining and bleeding on this bad cam problem. Suspect that you are exactly right in your analysis.

Idle has been as low as 500 for a couple of years and I just let it go. No oil light off idle but that dosen't mean crap. Low oil pressure at idle and wear pattern on cam fit your analysis. Could still be the bar plus low pressure though because only #1 exhaust shows any wear at all.

Estimate yesterday for cam and head rebuild was $1,400. That would have paid for a Helluva lot of oil pressure guages (OPG).

My trucks all have OPG that have saved me from trouble more than once. Net, running w/o OPG is taking a big risk. Running a suspect engine w/o OPG IS DAMN STUPID.

[Gene in NC]

Sorry for the double post. Reply suddenly went away so I thought I'd lost it.

[Scott H]

but that is pretty low. Before I rebuilt my M30, I saw 8-10psi at idle (normal idle at 650rpm). When I rebuilt my M30 I installed a new oil pump. I see 20psi at idle now and feel much more comfortable. I also replaced my old slightly worn cam (at #1 and #6) with a stock one.

[Kalevera]

Shucks, I know you can get a better price than that, because if it's flat, I'd build it with a new cam for a grand. Or, if you want to build it yourself, I found a pretty good deal on an aftermarket factory replacement cam.

best, whit