I got a call the other day from my brother in law telling me his car died when pulling away from a stop light. Sounded a little like a timing belt gone bad and I gave him the news, got a truck and trailer arranged and went after the car. I took the valve cover off, belt was fine.......friggin camshaft litterally snapped in two. Its clear to the passenger side where it broke and I think it only effected one pair of valves and they seem to be in the 'up' position, hoping they are ok(any input here would be great). I hope to be able to find a good used camshaft to put in it and get it running again?

thanks for any input guys.

 

That is very rare....Obviously you were going to remove the head anyway so I would look a bit deeper into this than just replacing the cam shaft and one set of valves. Look at all the valves and pistons and check for impact marks.

A good condition used cam can be had for $100-$150 (maybe cheaper in your area)

 

Buy a new cam. Have the head re-worked. Much easier to let the guys with the expertise and machines do this

 

If it's a F22 car, cant you get a whole motor for $200? That'll be less than re-working and machining anything.

 

Most broken camshafts I've seen are caused by constantly running the engine low on oil. Oil starvation in the top end cases the cam to seize up in the journals. I'd venture to guess that the internals of that engine are in horrendous condition and that it burns oil profusely. If you make the repairs, chances are that your brother-in-law will continue to neglect his oil level on a regular basis and it will probably happen again.

You may want to consider just paying $250 for a complete used engine from a salvage yard and swapping that in rather than spending the same amount or more messing with the current one. Swap the manifolds and distributor, put on a new timing belt, water pump, balance shaft belt/seal/retainer, thermostat, plugs, fill it up with fluids, and ship it. Cross your fingers and hope you don't get another major oil burner.

Most importantly, make sure to constantly remind your brother-in-law to keep an eye on his oil level in the future.

 

I agree with the others' posts about getting a good used motor instead. Even one of my mechanic friends regularly just replaces the motor on the 5th and 6th gen Accords with a used one instead of fixing any major problem.

 

F22 and F23 engines are so cheap and plentiful that it's usually the most cost-effective solution. Good machine work is expensive these days.