perkele

After installing my old cam in an old cam housing that I bought with all new seals and some assembly lube, I gave it a whirl by hand. It feels smooth, but with lots of drag. I would expect some consistent drag from the weight of the assembly lube, but I can also hear a consistent scratchy noise. Maybe I just didn't use enough assembly lube and there is a tiny bit of metal to metal.

Can someone who has done this report their experience? If not, anyone got one laying around?

perkele

Well, I just went ahead and installed it, so we'll find out soon if this is normal or not...

mazdaverx7

There should be any rough scratching noises. I assemble with light oil and assembly lube after a complete front and rear reseal and new bolt for the gear. I remember the cam operation being rather smooth in the cam box. I typically flip the cam box on its top and pre install the lifters and rotate the cam and inspect the lifter movement as i rotate the cam gear. Then I use a heavy assembly lube to hold the lifters in place while I assemble the cam box onto the head.

perkele

Thanks for the feedback. I might not have described the sound very well. Rotating the cam just didn't feel butter smooth like the balance shafts or crank. If it was much worse, I would have pulled it apart and diagnosed. I'm not sure what the failure would be if it goes south, but I'll keep an eye on it somehow.

mazdaverx7

It might be just fine. Definitely keep us updated. When you had the cam out was there any excessive wear on the lobes? Did the lifters look ok? No scarring on the sides or corresponding scarring on the cam box where the lifters move? Were the tops of the lifters worn at all where the camshaft makes contact with them?

perkele

No excessive wear on the lobes and the lifters and cam box didn't have wear marks on their mating surfaces. The feeling/sound was actually before I put the lifters in. When I dropped the lifters into the housing they felt nice.

Hopefully I can get rebuilt injectors back in a couple of weeks and then I should be ready to start the car and see what happens to the cam!

mazdaverx7

It sounds like it should be fine then. Wishing you the best of luck in your repairs!

perkele

Thanks!