I just bought an F22A6 cylinder head. Unfortunately, the idiot who shipped it to me didn't tighten down the camshaft holder bolts. During shipping, the camshaft broke two chips off of the #6 camshaft holder.

The chips are on the portion of the holder that locates the camshaft and keeps it from moving laterally. Hopefully, you can see this on the attached picture. The chips are the lighter areas above the camshaft locator groove (the middle groove) on both sides. I also posted a picture of one of the chips.

I am hoping that the experts out there can tell me if it is OK to use this camshaft holder. All this groove does is locate the camshaft, the center portion above the groove is still intact, and I don't think the lateral forces are very high. Would it be safe to use this? Or should I replace it?

The problem with replacing it is that Honda makes the cylinder head and camshaft holders as a set. You can't buy them from Honda, so I would have to get one used and then have it line bored. I would prefer to avoid this hassle if possible.

 

Replace it and avoid any ******* headaches it will throw your way later.


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if it were mine i would try it and just keep a close eye on it for oil leaks.

if you do swap it out for another it would be a good idea to confirm journal clearance before assembly.

 

The only purpose of this flange on the camshaft and the corresponding groove on the camshaft holder is to keep the camshaft centered.

To maybe give a better idea of what is going on, here is a picture of the camshaft, looking down the end through camshaft holder #6. About 40% of the circumference of the wall around the centering groove is gone, about 40% is intact, and about 20% is partially there.

Is this enough to safely run the engine?

 

Anyone else have any advice?

 

You run the risk of more of the flange material breaking off and contaminating your oil supply. It's your call.

 

I can't believe Honda doesn't sell those holder's individually. That's ridiculous.

You should install the cam holder's and camshaft and check that lateral movement with a dial indicator. The spec is probably around .005 - .006" but look it up. If you find out that its way out past that specification, get a used one.

 

Thanks for the advice from everyone. Sounds like I should try to get a replacement camshaft holder and then check clearance to camshaft.

I am trying to buy a used camshaft holder #6 (any 90-93 F22A or 94-97 F22B2 w/o VTEC should work) here on honda-tech marketplace. But so far no offers on my WTB thread.

 

oh... forgot i have a spare. PM'd

 

Come back to life thread! I summon thee. lol. How did the cam holder replacement go? I'm going through the same **** right now and am going to try to get a junk yard cam cap (#5, '02 civic, d17a2) and get it within tolerance, any pointers?

 

get the whole setup. cam holders bolts. something should work out of the two