Thread: What happens if cam is worn?

300,000k on original motor and your cam is most certainly worn.
It doesnt make it run rougher necessarily, mostly you see a gradual loss of power over time as the wear increases the more you get the faster it wears.
Timing chain wear is an issue as well as the timing starts to wander.
Lifters wear out and show the first signs.
It is possible to pull a rocker cover off and take a push rod out and take a lifter out and look at the bottom of it.
I have done this on my 4.6 my lifters are stuffed, but im still making good power and running smoothly.
I would be getting the gas looked at.

Wow 15btdc... what year is yours?

Try gapping your plugs to 0.7mm, it helps a lot compared to standard gaps at 1.1mm.

Also check your rotor button tip for even wear. A number of rotor buttons I have seen recently are burning on one corner only, so I replace them with the Bosch GB864 rotor which has a wider brass bit at the tip.

Mine still ran ok and it had two cam lobes completely circular!!! Just depends what you think is an ok amount of power.

How many of those 300 000 km are yours? Do you know if the cam or timing chain have ever been done in it's life?
I have my V8 apart at the moment and the timing chain was so sloppy it wasn't funny. It was very gutless on hills and hopeless pulling a trailer. Cam was worn a bit too. So I am putting a new standard cam and timing chain with new lifters and cam sprocket, should make a heap of difference! Personally I wouldn't waste money on a dyno just yet. Rover V8 cam gears and timing chains are known to be wear items, so bite the bullet like I have and just do it!

in mechanic speak

the valves begin to open late
they then dont open as far
they then close early.

in real world comparison.

picture trying to swim freestyle when you breath in you dont open your mouth until your head is fully tilted sideways, you close it before you start turning your head back and you dont open it all the way.

for exhailing you dont start to exhale until your arm is already on the way back up and you're getting ready to tilt your head, you can only breath out through your nose and you have to stop breathing out through your nose before you can open your mouth to breath in.

Now that is a great description.
Kinda makes me feel a little wheezy and breathless....now where's my athsma puffer gone...

I must be oDd.... can visualise 'Mechanic-Speak' perfectly, got lost with the breathing.

On average, how bad would the cam etc be at 190K ?

'95 Vogue SE 3.9 with working EAS, - and rear windows now...