Cam and Cam Followers, 1988 R100 RS

[manitou_commando]

In dissembling my cylinders for head rework, I pulled the followers. Three of the four are not compromised but one has pitting.

The RS has 99,000 miles and I would like to add another 99,000 miles to its odometer.

Two folks who sell parts have told me it is advisable to replace the cam and all followers in a case such as mine. Are there any alternative opinions or opinions in support of replacing all?

On the topic of replacement parts, I see that the outfit Moto Bins sells cams for 1/2 the price of US based resellers. Same with followers. Anyone with experience who can contribute to understanding their pricing? Are their parts genuine or aftermarket? Anyone with a negative opinion of them? In my experience, US resellers all have the same price, but Moto Bins could save me a couple hundo on the job. If they are reputable.

 

[20774]

As for the followers, I faced something similar on the top end of my /7. I posted my followers here:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthrea...opend-Overhaul&p=855056&viewfull=1#post855056

I chose to get new ones...that's the only way I could guarantee a long life at that point:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthrea...opend-Overhaul&p=858185&viewfull=1#post858185

No experience with Motobins.

 

[akbeemer]

I have Airhead friends in both Canada and the US who use Moto Bins for just about all their parts. They have been doing so for quite sometime and are evidently happy with their dealings with Moto Bins.

 

[manitou_commando]

As for the followers, I faced something similar on the top end of my /7. I posted my followers here:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthrea...opend-Overhaul&p=855056&viewfull=1#post855056

I chose to get new ones...that's the only way I could guarantee a long life at that point:

Did you replace the cam at the same time? Just curious, but how many miles have you logged since the followers were replaced? Have you performed any further examinations of the lifters and or the cam?

Thanks.

 

[20774]

Rick -

No, the cam lobes looked fine. And I haven't done any recent visuals on the followers. I'm not too concerned but if I have some reason to go that deep, I'll definitely take a look. I have about 5K on the freshened top end.

 

[manitou_commando]

Rick -

No, the cam lobes looked fine. And I haven't done any recent visuals on the followers. I'm not too concerned but if I have some reason to go that deep, I'll definitely take a look. I have about 5K on the freshened top end.

I would rather not go all that deep to remove the cam, but if I determine that it's needed, I will cross that bridge when I reach it. Guess I will drop the pan and have a look.

 

[20774]

For sure...you should be able to easily see the cam lobes by looking into the lifter holes.

 

[beemerphile]

I would rather not go all that deep to remove the cam, but if I determine that it's needed, I will cross that bridge when I reach it. Guess I will drop the pan and have a look.

You should be able to see the cam lobes well enough through the lifter bores and cylinder spigots. Removing the pan when you don't need to is always an opportunity to strip weak bolts, find already stripped bolts, or create a new leak. Spin the engine through a cycle and check them out from above. I remove the pan on an engine that is "new to me" just to help gauge its condition and clean things up. I always torque the bolts to spec before I remove them to find out if any of them have been stripped by a PO and need to be addressed. I don't like to find that out after I have installed a new gasket and am trying to torque everything to spec. However, it seems like extra work just to assess the cam condition...

Motobins is a fine source. Parts are BMW OEM.

 

[manitou_commando]

You should be able to see the cam lobes well enough through the lifter bores and cylinder spigots. Removing the pan when you don't need to is always an opportunity to strip weak bolts, find already stripped bolts, or create a new leak.


Spin the engine through a cycle and check them out from above. I remove the pan on an engine that is "new to me" just to help gauge its condition and clean things up. I always torque the bolts to spec before I remove them to find out if any of them have been stripped by a PO and need to be addressed. I don't like to find that out after I have installed a new gasket and am trying to torque everything to spec. However, it seems like extra work just to assess the cam condition...

Motobins is a fine source. Parts are BMW OEM.

Thanks for that insight. Don't want to create work.