G'day Dattodude ,i just replaced the cam today with a standard CA18DET cam .Afetr putting all back together i made sure that timing cover was on straight and the CAS now slides in with ease and fully butts up with timing cover seems to have fixed the problem .I was thinking that the CAS was never in correct in the first place as i thing the locating half moon was twisted before it snapped .I will keep this thread open as i am still concerned of intermitent dramas .Thanks every one cheers keep the ideas coming .

PM Replied.

As I mentioned in the PM a guy recently bought an exhaust cam to put in the intake side as it has the same specs as a CA16DE intake cam. I never did follow up to see if it worked, but it's worth a try with yours & I'm sure other members would like to know the results.

I have a CA16DE cam in my CA20DET & it works well with the extra capacity.

if the half moon is broken, then it's possible that the front cam cover is not on flat, and you've probably bent the CAS axle also.

Have you replaced the cam belt? are you sure the backing plate and bezels that locate it are installed properly before tightening down the bolts that hold the backing plate to the block?
Because if they aren't, when you put the front timing belt cover on, it goes on crooked.

The CAS should slide into place pretty smoothly. If any 'man handling' is required, you have done something wrong.

Check it out!

I've seen camshafts, and CAS shafts snapped from the issue I've just described.

That certainly would cause the problem mentioned.

I should have a spare stock exhaust cam if you need one. I"m in Brisbane, but happy to freight.

I just noticed after swapping the CAS that the half moon aligner is broken of the cam i am thinkig that it may have been in there wrong or went out some how .

there is a proceedure for setting the timing
sounds like you have too much advance
timing changes with water temp which may explain why it wont start hot
coils have a hard life in a hot environment (under that cover)
does engine turn freely by hand with the plugs out?
dazza

The motor is locking up? Like it's running to much advance? Maybe when the motor is cold, the ecu runs less advance to cushion the motor till it warms up, then when It's warm and you try to start it it's lighting the fire too soon? Just a random guess. I dont have a clue tbh. If messing with the cas les to this problem, try putting it back where it was?

I'm certainly no expert but quite a few mates have had problems with their ca coils so figured its a good point to start at!

It does misfire at idle after it does warm up .I will borroe a mates coils and see if it still gives me the problem .Thanks Nick for your help!!!

Have you tried swapping the coils. They are notorious for giving problems. But that normally shows up as a misfire once the car has been running for a while.