A camshaft or ‘bumpstick’ as it has been known as in the automtive field is a shaft with eccentric lobes on it. The camshft is driven by a chain, gears or a timing belt and the eccentric lobes move the valves in the head up and down in the proper sequence. Â
Some engines use pushrods to push the valves open and closed, some engines have a single overhead camshaft to move the valves and some engines use a double overhead camshaft to move the valves up and down..The only engines that use a different system are old lawnmowers and most of the pre-40’s car engines. These engines are called a ‘flat head’ design and are obsolete.
Regardless of the particular design of an engine, the camshaft is hooked to the crankshaft in the engine with a timing belt or gears or a chain and move in synchronization with the crankshaft. This is what we call timing. We want the valve to open at the proper time or they will hit the pistons and probably cause a engine failure.
I have mentioned that people who ignore their timing belts almost inevitably end up buying a rebuilt engine from GotEngines.com. Any model of rebuilt engine is on hand from Honda engines to Land Rover engines. Every rebuilt engine sold by GotEngines.com has a new camshaft installed. Camshaft lobes wear out and cause a very slow and unnoticable loss of power. Generally the power loss is not noticed until the camshaft or engine is replaced.
Regarding valves, lifters and pushrods, lets say for today these are directly related components to the camshaft and will be discussed more in the near future. We provide this sort of information on our GotEngines.com blog as a source of information top help make engine replacement decisions easier and safer.
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