I went today and got out of a junker elantra with 90,000 miles on it a 1.8cam and I noticed that the valves looked shiny and brand new and even the cam was decent comparied to one that had 120,000 and looked like nobody ever took care of it but my question is, On the actual cam 3 of the lobes have some rust-like brown not brown tinted but not scuff marks either and was wondering if they can be polished out or should I just scrap the cam and buy one brand new. I figured today just take a shot at it and see if I could get lucky with one that someone changed oil and took care of 100%. Only cost me $25.

oh ya I know the basics to get it in and out but the chain thing with the 5 sprockets inbetween is scareing me. any help on that be nice thanx.

 

You mean the 5 chain links between the sprockets, right? It's a piece of cake to change out the cam. I have confidence that you can do it very easily. Just group the bolts that go together and buy a quart of oil to lube the cam before you install it. Also, let the cam break in for about 500 miles before you punch it. Good luck

 

If the rust is just on the surface don't worry b/c it will clean itself off as soon as it starts runnig on the HLA's.
As for aligning the cam sprockets, don't worry, if you have a look at them you will see an alignment mark on each 1. Just make sure that the marks are in the same orientation eg. at 1 oclock or 4 oclock (or where ever they are, as long as they are both the same) you will see if they are not oriented the same quite easily as 1 tooth makes a big diff.

 

I cant tell if its rust or scuffed up. its weird cause the side that is scuffed is the lobes closest to the timing belt while the other few lobes are fine and shiny as hell. almost as if the lifters were going bad on that side of the motor. the problem with the cam is that I got 70,000 miles on my car and change the oil heartfully when its due with mobil 1 and tonight after I took the valve cover off my motor it just looked like it was brand new shiny as could be.

dont wanna be putting in a cam that has some damage to the lobes into my motor. there is not warn down lobes though where they have changed shape or dont come to a point allmost.

 

When I broke a cam shaft on my Excel, the replacments were in the same shape. All I did was soak them in gasoline for a day or two and get at them with the wire brush. Cleaned them off really good and installed them, no issues at all.

 

your a good man redzman. gonna try that cause that seems to be what the situation with some tiny bit of burn oil and shit on it. i'll let ya know how it goes.