Camshaft Identification

[Ian.G]

Hi

Does anyone happen to know the markings that identify std camshafts ?

Is there any numbers/codes that I may find along the shafts between the cam lobes ? I suppose this may not even help me if the cams have been reground to a different profile.

I am going to take the covers off later on and have a sniff around to see whats there.

Right now my car sounds fine - I get her up to temp and rev stationary and all sounds well. When I put the car under load (i.e. drive it) I get some strange noises near and beyond 5k rpm. It sounds too loud for it to be pre-ignition so I'm wondering if I have a bearing shell on its way out.

[Plex]

rod knock maybe?


mine had a VERY bad noise like that... turned out that I had a hole in the side of one of my pistons :wink:

[Ivan141]

I think you would hear all over the rev range it if a bearing was going out...they fail almost immediately when something goes wrong since they are nothing more than soft metal.

I had burnt holes in the sides of 2 pistons on my old 4age...but that makes a really ugly noise, not just something that pops up at 5k rpm.

[Plex]

not true about the bearings thing, if we're talking rod bearings..

they can act up at any rpm, not at ALL rpms, I've had 3 toyotas with the rod bearing prob (2 hachis, one ST165) and its not THAT bad of a sound, and an popup at any rpm, its most common while just cruising at a steady speed.. and the car can last over a month of daily driving with rod knock and be fine, the crank should be fine, same with the rod(s) (been there, done that... twice lol)

[Ivan141]

Hmm...okay. Not very good for the engine to run with f@cked up bearings though. The only engine with worn rod bearings I ever saw made noise all over the rev range...particularly around idle.
BTW, a 4age is a pretty sturdy engine..I ran mine with broken rings and pieces of the piston broken for about 400km's and it still worked. It wouldnt idle anymore but it got me home, and later I drove it on it's own power to the wreckers to have the engine swapped.

[Ian.G]

Thanks for the ideas and advice folks.

Two people had a listen to the car yesterday and they think the motor sounds fine. The think I'm either:

a)Imagining things
b)There is some reverberation from something loose in the engine bay at 5K revs.

We'll see how it goes.

[Ivan141]

Glad to hear it m8...
You shouldnt look to surprised about little noises in 20 year old cars...but it's always a good idea to watch out with strange engine sounds.