Cam lobe spalling?

[Rich]

Roger,

 

Have you looked at the cam lobe on the ROAN 4 stroke forum?

No one has answered the question. Thought you might take a look and comment.

 

Looks like the top layer of the lobe is pealing off.

 

I tried to copy and paste the pix here but no luck.

[FastEddieB]

That sure looks like more than just discoloration!

 

Or is that an optical illusion?

[Rich]

Looks much worse on the ROAN site.

[FastEddieB]

It's just discoloration and it's where the tappet rotates.

 

Is it smooth to the touch?

 

If so, that's quite the illusion in the photo:

 

 

I mean, that looks like a worn area with a shadow.

 

In any event, Continentals of a certain vintage were plagued with spalling lifters. On those, it was opined that once the hard coating was gone, wear would very rapidly increase. And once that happened, the cam was at risk, turning a relatively inexpensive repair (replacing a lifter) with a very expensive one (replacing a camshaft). In them, it started as just a surface roughness on the lifter, which Continental told owners was "self-healing".

 

That got a good laugh on the Cirrus website!

[FastEddieB]

Roger,

 

That is NOT a photo of a compromised hardness coating?

[FastEddieB]

OK, I'll take your word for it.

 

Like I said it must be a weird illusion in the photo.

[Runtoeat]

Roger, I know you're the expert but I'm in Eddie's camp. If this were my engine and you were standing right next to me telling me it's nothing but discloraton, I wouldn't sleep that nite until I found something with a point and gently ran it past the area where Eddie's yellow arrow is.

[Runtoeat]

Hi Roger, I slept like a baby last nite. -_-