Cam Bearing Wear Question
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From: Junction City, Kansas
Cam Bearing Wear Question I have 60,000 miles on the car now. Cam miles are about 8000. I pulled the heads and cam out today for the swap and saw cam bearing wear. Pics are attached. Can anyone tell me if this is more than moderate aging bearing wear? If it is, can they be replaced with the block in the car?
Those look like mine did. I would say get that motor rebuilt or replaced. From what I was told, you need to pull the motor out and basically take everything out to get to the cam bearings.
Did you have an aftermarket cam in there? Is the cam scratched up as well, what about the lifters?
Did you have an aftermarket cam in there? Is the cam scratched up as well, what about the lifters?
Mine look the same way also when I sold my cam 2 weeks ago don't know what really causes it but this is like the 3rd motor i have seen with this problem all had stock factory cam bearings.I will be pulling the motor this weekend to get them replaced.The motor has to be disassembled for them to knock in the new bearings but its a good time to upgrade a few things while you have it out,rod bolts,oil pump,etc.
Joe
2001 SS Convertible
Joe
2001 SS Convertible
I have heard that the cam bearings are mostly copper colored and that the grey color wears off quickly but is relatively normal. Im pretty sure you have to pull the whole engine apart to replace the cam bearings. Only the first bearing is replaceable with the motor in the car. Id do some more research to find out is its actually bad wear, or if the discoloration is normal and it just looks a lot worse than it is.
I "heard" that new blocks from the factory show the copper color because they are line bored from the factory. I had concern with mine too. I stuck feeler guages in with my cam and could get in the neighborhood of .002 to .0025 clearance. I went on Clevite's site and they seemd to say that .002 to .003 was normal, more towards .003 for hi-po, and .004 for race. Check out their site....as I'm doing this from memory. Final decision for me was, bearings are worn smooth, doesn't look like anything passed through them, and the clearance isn't bad.....not pulling motor to change them. Hope that isn't a decision I regret. 
I would think that if you see any noticeable pitting or warping in the bearing surface itself, or if the cam seems to be damaged, then you may have something to be concerned about. But, if not, don't worry about it.
As long as they arn't gouged I think you'll be ok. Alot of people report seeing the coating gone off the cam bearings, mine where worse that yours at only 15,000 miles. Motor has been through some serious abuse since then and my last oil analysis came back pretty good.
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Mine were shot after 22K. Motor has seen rough times, but when I pulled the TR224 out the front bearing looked fine. After 2K with a F13 they were shot. All of them were gone. I guess that explains why the cam whistled! 
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From: BFE
For those that have had this problem, how many used double roller T-chains??
I have 60K on my block with single J-wiss chain and no copper showing.
From what I've seen around this has to do with T-chain being too tight (especially on front bearing)
I have 60K on my block with single J-wiss chain and no copper showing.
From what I've seen around this has to do with T-chain being too tight (especially on front bearing)
Mine is a J-wiss chain with about 15k street and 4k track miles. After mic'ing the bearing, they seemed ok. I felt better after I heard they are line-bored from the factory and the new ones "all show copper/bronze color".
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Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Portland Oregon
That looks bad, check the size or replace them. I had oil pressure problems because a new set of cam bearings had .005-.006 clearance. Just like main bearings, if there is too much clearance, you will not have oil pressure when the motor warms up.
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TECH Apprentice
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From: Junction City, Kansas
After researching the site for other threads, the wear seems to be fairly normal and common. I don't have the money to have the motor pulled and bearings replaced. So, I went ahead and put it all back together and will take my chances. If it blows, I am just going to get an LS6 or LS2 and swap cams and drive on. Thanks for the input.
Launching!
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Guatemala City.
uffff! your bearings are much LESS weared than mine.
my ex-engine (is ex because I blew a rod ON STARTUP!)
that particular engine had about 80K Km very hard and the bearings are absolutelly RED, very brigthly polished like mirror, absolutelly no scratches, mics ok. the oem cam turned like butter all 360deg.
unlike the new block had bearings installed from factory. in the joint part of the bearings appear to be as line honned, the gray metal is almost transparent, (dohh!) and the copper color shows thru... the rest of the bearing is matte in color and the texture is (was, Ive installed already) like a latthe finish (hence my suspicion of line bore).
although the new cam was difficult to slide in (pretty tight; my first cam swap), and in about 100 deg of rotation (of the cam) you had to really exert force with one hand, the rest of the rotation feels normal, although tighter that OEM. of course this was the first 5-6 turns of the cam...
I personally did not consider the cam bearing as important like main or rod bearings (double DOHHHH! again) because many engines DO NOT use cam bearings at all, the cam rides on the very aluminium of the head.....
again this will be a first in this forum to read about (if ever) a cam that is wobling due to oblong holes....
GREETINGS FROM SUNNY GUATEMALA!!!!!!!
my ex-engine (is ex because I blew a rod ON STARTUP!)
that particular engine had about 80K Km very hard and the bearings are absolutelly RED, very brigthly polished like mirror, absolutelly no scratches, mics ok. the oem cam turned like butter all 360deg.
unlike the new block had bearings installed from factory. in the joint part of the bearings appear to be as line honned, the gray metal is almost transparent, (dohh!) and the copper color shows thru... the rest of the bearing is matte in color and the texture is (was, Ive installed already) like a latthe finish (hence my suspicion of line bore).
although the new cam was difficult to slide in (pretty tight; my first cam swap), and in about 100 deg of rotation (of the cam) you had to really exert force with one hand, the rest of the rotation feels normal, although tighter that OEM. of course this was the first 5-6 turns of the cam...
I personally did not consider the cam bearing as important like main or rod bearings (double DOHHHH! again) because many engines DO NOT use cam bearings at all, the cam rides on the very aluminium of the head.....
again this will be a first in this forum to read about (if ever) a cam that is wobling due to oblong holes....
GREETINGS FROM SUNNY GUATEMALA!!!!!!!
My cam bearings were showing some copper (about as much as in that 2nd pic) at 12k miles when I had my cam swap done at a shop 4 years ago. This was an all stock, never touched motor, had seen a total of about 7 passes at the time and was babied. Seems to be a common issue with LS1s now. The shop replaced the first 2 bearings (and also bent me over severely for the cost of a cam install along the way - wasn't a sponser or anything). I can't believe it to be a big problem, I think what some have suggested about the color difference just being a coating wear is probably true.
