Cams Worn Out Prematurely or Normal?

[crazzy_hippo]

I recently removed the oil cap to top up some engine oil and saw that the pointed end of the cam lobe is shiny. Its as if it has been polished or sand. The rest of the lobe look OK with machine marks though.

I do understand that the pointed end comes into contact with the lifters. I am wonder if this will cause the contact areas to become "shiny" and looked polished? Or is it a result of premature cam wear?

Thanks!

[roundel318]

Usually some parts are shiney (lobes) and others are not (non contact portions)

[Jtuner]

Your cam lobes are in constant contact with the valve lifters, thus they will always look polished or shiny... now when you need to worry about the camshaft being worn is if there is no lobe at all on that shiny part, thus is looks perfectly round.. I've never actually seen this happen though in a good running engine.. cams are made of some pretty tough metal also, if you're really worried, change your oil and check for metal shavings.. if you have metal shavings, you may have a lot more problems than a worn camshaft lol