Hi,
Timing belt replacement went ok, but camshaft doesn't look too good.
Some brown spots on the cam heels. What can they be?
1.4 8V 92tkm.
I agree with Jack, just looks like oil "varnish" to me. The back side of the cam - opposite the lobe tip - doesn't really rub against the cam follower so there's nothing to "clean" it. Looking at the surfaces of the head in the background there's a fair bit of dark coloured residue around which is common on an engine which has either done a lot of short trip/cool running or not had it's oil changed as regularly as would be ideal. My boy's 2012 1.4 8 Valve Punto looked like that when I changed it's belt a couple of years ago and it's not causing us to loose any sleep. It's doing about 6 to 7 thousand miles a year and I'm doing yearly oil changes on it with a high quality synthetic oil (FUCHS Titan GT1 Flex3 5W-40) and confidently expect that to slowly clean up these deposits so that it'll be looking much cleaner internally when i do it's next belt in a couple of years time. Your lobe tips, which is where you would expect to see most wear, look in good condition for the age of the car, so I think all is well with it.
Don't be embarrassed by your forgetfulness regarding leaving it in gear. I find I'm doing more and more of this stuff as I age. When I did the cam belt I mentioned above on my boy's Punto, When it came to checking for resistance after fitting it (valves to pistons etc) I decided to turn the engine over more than just twice so that the belt would get itself into a "true" running position so I could get a good check on the run of the belt and tensioner setting. I had not remembered that the oil pump would pump oil up through the supply to the cam and, because the cam cover was removed, spill out down the front of the engine! I must have managed to pump out about half a litre before I noticed it dripping onto the ground! What an idiot I felt. The oily mark is still faintly visible on my driveway slabs!
