Premature Cam Lobe Wear?

[philjw90SHO]

I have a 1992 MTX with 107,000 and I don't know if the 60k has been done so I have all the parts lined up to do it myself. But I'm not too enthusiastic about doing the valve lash adjustment.

I don't drive the car hard but the previous owner could have had. What I was wondering is do the cam lobes wear jsut form normal driving or do they wear from hard driving and high revving.

My car only has 107k and I don't drive it that much, just to school, where for example sdpatt has 268k on a car only one year older then mine. Should I do the valve adjustment no questions asked or should I wait.

I am 16 years old and I will be going off to college in two years and I DO NOT plan on taking the car with me so it will just sit for four years in the garage with my mom occasionally driving it and me occasionally when I get home. I plan on keeping the car as long as I can because it only cost me $2500. I want to modify when I have the money. Should I hold off or jsut get it over with.

Any input is appreciated. THANKS

 

[shojuan]

It would be nice to adjust the valves now. I had a bit of wear on some of my cam lobes at 148,000 miles (first time the valves were adjusted) but I think it could have been because of corrosion from a few neglected oil changes. The car was not driven hard until recently. I drive the crap out of it now and wear or not the valves still do their job. I have another set of cams I picked up that are also worn. I'm going to use them for cores for stage 1 cams at some point in the future, but those are expensive ($525!).

If you do the valves now, you can have peace of mind. If you do find wear, just getting new valve shims in there will probably by you many trouble free miles anyways.

Rick

 

[revhardSHO]

get that valve lash adustment done ASAP or you will be paying for a new set of camshafts eventually. If its not drivin hard and regular oil changes it should be okay. Just get it done or do it yourself. You got a good car there!!

silas

 

[gosho89]

philjw90SHO,

I would reccommend you have the valve adjustment and timing belt changed if it has never been done. (along with the other 60K service) I live across the river from you (Camas, WA) and can help you out with the valve adjustment if you decide to have it done. I have the tools and a complete stock of new shims. If your interested you can join the local SHO club, and learn more about the maintance of your car. you can find us at yahoo e-groups under SHOLIST its for Northwest SHO owners (NWSHOC) and most of the members are located in the Portland, OR area. In fact we had a meeting last Sunday in Battleground, WA

You can drop me an e-mail if you have any questions, glad to help.

<small>[ November 26, 2002, 01:06 AM: Message edited by: gosho89 ]</small>

 

[FordLover]

You're probably ok if you knew what kinda maintaince had been done before you bought the car. My 92 had obviously been taken care of, because at 90K miles, none of the valve clearances even needed to be touched.
-Martin

 

[shojuan]

philjw90SHO:
Should I hold off or jsut get it over with.

Any input is appreciated. THANKS

I think Kerry made you an offer you can't refuse.

Rick

 

[philjw90SHO]

I hope Kerry T repsonds because i e-mailed him and I let him know that i was not going to pass up his offer. Thanks again Kerry T.

 

[sdpatt]

Cam wear depends more on the oil history than the way the engine was used. I don't baby mine and have had no visible cam lobe wear at 225,000 miles (last time they were touched).

 

[billh]

Kerry did my valve adjustment. He did a very good job, very meticulous. Don’t tell him I said that, he might raise his prices and get a fat head! wink

 

[gosho89]

I heard that billh, you know fat heads run in the family ' Heh I'll be back to Yakima next spring and I expect a ride in the GT350 this time. Maybe we can get those subframe connectors to you. Currently one of our club members is making some design changes for a cleaner installation.

sdpatt is there anything I can send you from the gorge? I'm planing on a little wine tasting over the weekend.

See ya Dec 7th philjw90SHO e-mail time and directions

 

[sdpatt]

sdpatt is there anything I can send you from the gorge? I'm planing on a little wine tasting over the weekend.

How about some of those famous Gorge winds down at South Padre Island around the first week of June next year? I'll be down at the timeshare for a week of fun, sun and hauling ass on the bay.