I was in the process of swaping out my ticking timing chain when I found something interesting...... I notices that the dowel on the end of the camshaft that times the cam to the crankshaft was broken off inside the cam. I removed the cam and can not get that dude out. I have a extra parts truck that I pulled the cam out of (both trucks 22re) But on the cam the opposite of the lobe looks as if the lobes are ?burnt? Where the cam rides and the lobes of the cam look fine it is just on the flat spots of the cam look like carmel and are not as smooth as the lobes. If I install like this will it hurt anything or will it "wear in"? Thanks a lot. Bill

 

If it wasn't perfect I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole...

Cams are cheap and necesarry. If they aren't smooth as glass you're just asking for extra friction and failures. If you just want this engine to last for a few months go ahead and use it, otherwise buy a new cam.

I'm not sure how that happened but my gut tells me improper break in on the cam...

 

take some carb or brake cleaner and clean the back side of the lobe off. I suspect that its just burnt caked oil residue. If everything is set up proper the back side of the lobe should have very little if any wear and is a prime place to get build up as it remains untouched unless your valves get neglected and tighten up. You can even take a wire brush to the back side of the lobes if you don't get too carried away since its hardened steel and most wire brushes are pretty soft steel.