Worn camshafts.

I have now disasabled both my CA18ET engines (euro model, 8 sparkplugs and euro cam)

The thing is that both my camshafts are as I can see, worn to destruction.

both cams have smaller wear on most of the "nocks" but both also have major destruction on one "nock". The worst camshaft is missing ~3-4mm of material from the "tip" (now its more rounded), the sides of the nock is still intact, but the middle part of the nock is destroyed.

One camshaft is a sure gonner, the otherone could be used, but I dont like it, it dosnt feel like it will hold against the future doings of nature.

The question is, Has anyone else had this problem? or know where to find a camshaft, Euro or better. (I know about http://www.nissanparts.cc nismo camshaft, but I would like to dind a cheaper or better camshaft

Im spending lots of money to rebuild the engine, to find this :(

Im so tired of the car atm :(

damn all three motors that i have gutted that have had over 180k on them never had really bad damage on the cam hell 2 of them would have been fine to reuse them

*sigh*

My usual luck then, I managed to find the two S12's in sweden that have been running on mud instead of motor oil... Now I have a nice engine, exept for the cam :(

I dont know I I should use the less worn cam of the two or just scrap the whole project...

Have invested ~$3000usd in the car at this point, and now I would need to spend ~$500usd to get a new cam. Then I still have to spend ~$1000usd until I have the car running as I intended (need to change the breaks all around and get ic pipes, new silicon and vacum hoses, rotor, ignition wires, fix the rust on the chassi and repaint the car. At that point its atleast capable of being used again :(

If I do all this and try to sell it, Il get ~$1500usd.. so this sux, Im getting myself a skyline next time... a RUNNING skyline instead of this broken crap car. *Tries to imagine where he will get the money from, but fails*

I'll have 3000 in my car after I put my clutch in and that doesn't include maintenance or repair. And I haven't done anything to the internals.

500 for a cam? www.Nismoparts.com (http://www.Nismoparts.com) sells the euro cam for 177.8 but I don't think they ship intl.

zector, depending on how much meat has been taken off and where on your cams, it may be possible to just get your cams reground to something a bit more race-spec. I don't know enough (well, ok, anything :p ) about the practicalities of regrinding worn cams to give you a solid answer, all I can say is that I've been looking into some aftermarket cams for my CA18DET and they're damn expensive, so I've started looking into a regrind. I've been told probably about $300 AUD for a regrind, whereas the best price I've found so far for a set of HKS step 1's was $1,000 AUD. I suggest you ask some mechanical engineering workshops near you, if they can't do it they can probably point you to someone who can.

Good luck.

Since the wear is located at the tip of the "nocks" mostly the lift but also some duration has been lost, compared to stock :| So unless its possible to add material to restore standard lift and duration, I dont think these cams can be used..

If I dont find a fresh cam I will just use the least worn cam and hope it will survive a few years...

using a old cam is not good becaus eu will lose performance and oil pressure which will in turn fk up the cam more the most probable reason teh cam got worn was lack of. CHek if u are loosing oil somwhere and that ur rocker are adjust properly and not to tite

There's always ebay.

Sounds like the motors didn't have the rockers adjusted periodically. It's actually pretty common on cars with mechanical valvetrains.

A cam's lift is not from the physical size of the cam.

When a cam is reground to race spec, they cut the bottom of the lobe, to make the ramp more agressive, and because the centerline of the cam is moved lower, there is more lift.

I don't know if Colt ships internationally, but their regrinds are cheap ... about 100 bucks US.

I might have found a better cam to use.. I will know tomorrow.

In the mean time I have mounted my CA18DET rods and pistons in my cleaned CA18ET block.

Note on the facts about DET and ET rods/pistons.

Rods: DET rods have more material and seems stronger.
Pistons: DET pistons have the same basic layout as the ET pistons, BUT the four valve "holes" are smaller in the DET piston. This means that the must have somewhat higher compression.

The bearings from the ET engine fits the DET parts without any problems.

When mounting a support frame to the girdle from a DET block in a ET block you need to modify the support bar that holds the oil "pipe" (that brings the oil from the oilpan to the oilpump) I will try to use the mounting place that is used by the DET engine.

I will try to take a few pictures before I close my baby up tomorrow.

I might have found a better cam to use.. I will know tomorrow.

In the mean time I have mounted my CA18DET rods and pistons in my cleaned CA18ET block.

Note on the facts about DET and ET rods/pistons.

Rods: DET rods have more material and seems stronger.
Pistons: DET pistons have the same basic layout as the ET pistons, BUT the four valve "holes" are smaller in the DET piston. This means that the must have somewhat higher compression.

The bearings from the ET engine fits the DET parts without any problems.

When mounting a support frame to the girdle from a DET block in a ET block you need to modify the support bar that holds the oil "pipe" (that brings the oil from the oilpan to the oilpump) I will try to use the mounting place that is used by the DET engine.

I will try to take a few pictures before I close my baby up tomorrow.

why dont you use the det bottom end instead unless you just have the internals laying around

and also the det pistons have a shorter wall due to the oil piston squirters as well as the material of the piston is almost twice as thick

When I was rebuilding my old ET engine, me and my friend changed plans for our "monster" project, to use a 2.0litre kit from the uk instead of the stock DET internals, so we just had the internals left over.

We also have 2 empty DET blocks that both needs rehorning etc but since my ET block is in so good shape I will use that instead.

OMFG!

I just called my local nissan dealer...

(Need a new cam for my CA18ET engine)

They told me that it would cost ...much... Its out of the picture to get it from Swedish nissan dealer.

If someone in Sweden or a close by country have a euro cam in good condition for sale, PM or mail me ([email removed])