$ubaroo Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 Hey guys new to the USMB this place sounds way cool, Every member of my family drives a Subaru me my wife and both my daughters. A whole family of Subaru Nuts.. it fact just this past week my wife’s 1985 GL-10 MPFI (custom paint tinted windows very nice) snapped a cam in 1/2 can you believe that? has anyone ever had a cam snap in 1/2 before? it was a little challenging to discover why the wife’s car only seemed to be running on only 3.5 cyl. LOL.. I take the valve cover off after exhausting all other possibilities of why it's running so rough, and turn the motor over by hand I am looking at the front of the cam it’s turning fine, my buddy happened to be looking at the back of the cam and yells “the cam’s not turning” I said “what do you mean I can see it turning?” Our eyes change places he looks at the front I look at the back sure enough the cam is snapped in ½.. :-( Anyway nice to meet ya all.. just want to say Wuzzzzzz UPppppp..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 That's weird. Must be a strange manufacturing defect. Never heard of that, and I kinda doubt anyone else here has either. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLCraig Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 I've seen that a couple of times. Let me guess, it was the longer of the 2 cams, the one that drives the distributor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
$ubaroo Posted May 30, 2004 Author Share Posted May 30, 2004 I never herd of it before, but no it was the passenger side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hondasucks Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 I have heard of cams snapping, never on a Subaru though, Usually what does it on an OHC engine is if the head warps, the cam journals get out of alignment which causes teh cam to bind, but since Subaru heads are so small, I think it would have to be mega warped to snap that cam! There are some other things that will cause a cam to snap, check your valve springs, migth have gotten a chunk of somethiing stuck between the coils, causing the spring to bind up, that would break the cam if it happened at the rigth time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 Quit reving it to 6 grand in every gear Nice one! Never seen a broken cam on a Subaru. Seen a few at the junkyard. I'm amazed it didnt trash your valve train on that side... or did it? Any fun stuff in the bottom of the oil pan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subiemech85 Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 how did it break is the question, it's a matter of failure analysis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tailgatewagon Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 i would say hes talking about the pass side cam (the short one) since he said it still runs. and if it was the long one (the distributer (i know i cant spell) anyway it wouldnt run so im betting on the pass side. i also bet when you take it apart you will find a dark streak or other sing of impurity in the metal of the cam where it broke. anyway at least its the cam you can change in the carLOL.. good luck and welcome aboard. brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBrumby Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 hehe sweet dohc on one side, ohc the other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
$ubaroo Posted May 31, 2004 Author Share Posted May 31, 2004 Well the story is my daughter over heated the moter and cracked the head on the passenger side, I buy a used head, take it to the machine shop to be presure tested and planed it was a couple thousands out. I installed the new head used the ol' cam and put it back together, took about 3 weeks before the cam let go I think it must have gotten stressed when the head was cracked. But if the new cam snaps in the near future I'll be changing the cam carrier maybe? But when looking closley at where the cam snaped it looks like there are a lot of air pockets in the forged metal, if my digital camera can show it i'll post a pic of the break site. My buddies around here never had a cam snap before i thought if there was a factory problem you guys would be aware of it.. Dosn't everybody shift at 8 grand? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddcomp Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 whats sad is when a 1000hp supercharged v8 on methanol has a blower sneeze and shears off the bolts holding the sprocket on thankfully it was not my truck i got a old ea82 cam for a carb motor if ya want it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danley Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 I have a 1990 legacy non turb with 289k mi on the odometer.....i blew the left hg....and also snapped the cam in 2.....on inspection at our toolshop it was found that the break happened next to the bearing at a spot that had been scored when the cam was deburred during manufacture....however the shop that rebuilt the head suggested that the break was caused by hydraulic action on the valves.....putting excess force on the scored camshaft....fortunately there was no damage to the piston or rod...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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