my 92 accord has a broken camshaft by the gear area due to oil deprivation (?). I am replacing the part and I am wondering if I should check something to see what has caused the oil deprivation at cylinder head area? I do not recall running out of oil but just replaced crankshaft seal because it was leaking real bad. It may contriute the oil deprivation and the crack of the cam shaft, but I would like to make sure that all is ok and that it would not happen again. (On back of my mind -could timing belt misalignment cause cracked or broken camshaft? - it broke right after the crank seal was replaced) Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Jim

 

Is the oil pump working?

 

don't know - how do I check and see if its working or not?

Thanks-

Jim

 

Easiest way, without oil pressure gauge, I can think is loosen the bolts holding the valve cover. Run the car a couple minutes, pull the valve cover off quickly and see if there is a lot of oil all over the valves/cam area.

 

Thanks! Will do that and I hope that a few minutes of running would not hurt the camshaft. Also, do you know if misaligned timing belt could break the shaft? It was only 20 miles after the crank seal was replaced before the camshaft broke (the honda dealer did the crank seal and I am a little suspcious.)

 

DONT pull the damn valve cover off... you'll get oil everywhere(IF ITS WORKING) all you need to do is unscrew the oil cap and look in with a bright flashlight, you can see the rockers moveing and oil splashing around...

peace, sohc

 

A little suspicious? I would be very suspicious. Sounds like the dealer may not have filled the oil up properly. Or possibly left some debris in an oil flow passageway and clogged it up. I would go back and question the dealership. I've never heard of a camshaft breaking other than on high performance/modified engines...

 

I am suspicious, but I am not sure what I can do. If I come up with an evidence with debris clogging up the oil flow, I can go back with the debris and argue, but if it is nothing else but just a broken camshaft, I do not think there is much I can do? I will know more when I put new cylinder head and run it with oil cap off and see if oil is splashing around. If it is not splashing around, I would think I will need to take out oil pan and see if any debris clogging up the oil 'sucking' pipe. If all is clear, I would think I will need to take off the oil pump cover and check the oil pump. It is going to be a tedious job. Should I check oil pump during the cylinder head replacement? Or just leave it alone and test it later? I would think you know more than I do. Any advice or suggestion?

Thanks-

Jim

 

Did you have the repairs made at a Honda dealership or an independent shop? Where did the cam break? Who told you it broke because of oil deprivation? How many miles do you have on the engine?

 

I had the car repaired at a honda dealership. It broke on the day we picked up the car - 20 miles after. We took it to another honda dealership and they told me that the camshaft broke - I took a look at it and obviously it was broke. And they said it was from oil deprivation and I mentioned that the other place had put new crank seal and 20 miles later it broke. They said it is still from oil deprivation? I never went back to other dealership that did the crank seal. It has 160 k miles on the car. It never showed oil light before it broke and it still has oil on the car when it broke down - at normal level. One time it showed oil light that we quickly added oil and it was about 2 years ago. Why are you asking me the questions? I am curious. Thanks.

 

yeah, your head might be screwed so before you buy a cam, see if i chewed into the the head where it broke, this happens a lot to earlier model civics, it happened to my beater so i know that its most likeley that you will have to replace your whole head