Cam walk, or excessive endplay, can cause premature gear wear as well as damage in the cam lobes and lifters. And because it can practically destroy your engine in just a short time, you should prevent it at all cost. Fortunately, “to prevent it at all cost” can refer to a very simple solution—putting a cam thrust button onto the camshaft.

The cam thrust button, or simply cam button, can be made with metal or nylon. It is placed onto the end of the shaft (at the engine front) so it will not “walk” all the way to the timing chain cover. However, because the button will merely serve as an extension of the camshaft, it will also hit the timing chain cover. Thus, if your timing cover is just made of tin sheet, it is recommended that you also replace it with a stainless or aluminum cover with a sturdier design.

Roller cams with lifters

If your engine’s having an erratic timing and you’ve checked practically everything in the ignition system, why not take a peek at your camshaft? Your engine might be experiencing excessive camshaft end play, which is called “cam walk.”

The end play is the “lateral movement of the camshaft” (Motorera.com) inside the engine block. It’s all right because the camshaft, composed of constantly moving parts, really should have an allowance for movement in the block.

However, cam walk or too much end play isn’t good. This also means that the camshaft “walks” towards either the back or the front of the block when the engine is running. A walking cam means the cam lobes are not perpendicular to the cam lifters. It may also mean that the shaft hits and flexes or even scores the timing chain cover.