No oil going to camshaft?

[Chase]

Hello everybody! I've recently picked up a 1994 Subaru Loyale for $200 - needed timing belts. 

 

 I pulled the engine out of the car and did a complete gasket rebuild. While it was apart I noticed parts came out of the camshaft housing/assembly. The parts looked like some sort of oil pressure valve, a spring, a pipe, and a bolt. I did what little research I could and i believed i was able to correctly re-assemble the engine. Eventually got the car running, and I had a horrible ticking sound coming from the drivers side cam housing area. I read that it could be mis-seated rockers and that it could possibly go away with some driving, however mine didn't. engine died while idling and wouldn't start back up. I pulled the engine apart AGAIN only to find that my drivers side cam looks like it was never getting any oil, and seized. What would cause that cam not to get any oil and seize up?

 

I have a new cam and housing ready to go in, but i'd like to make sure I don't have the same problem again. One other thing i noticed is when i pulled the camshaft housing off, oil was coming out of one of the bolt holes in the head.  (where a bolt for the cam housing goes into) is this normal?

 

I can post any pictures if anybody feels they would be helpful. just don't have any on this computer at the moment. I greatly appreciate any helpful tips, pointers and advice!

 

I've replaced the following items.

- Water pump

- Oil pump (OEM straight from subaru)

- Timing belts, tensioners and pulley

- Full engine gasket set

 

Thanks again!

 

 

 

[Chase]

update: I've added oil to the engine and turned oil pump with a drill. oil is coming out of one of the bolt holes that holds the camshaft housing to the head. Why would oil be coming out of there? I'm sure this is something simple that i'm overlooking, I've never been around subaru engines much, especially the EA82 engines. I would have thought oil would be flowing where the oil relief valve/spring/bolt go. It is just the driver's side that i'm having this problem with. Once again any advice would be helpful! Thanks!!!

[ferp420]

I had a similer problem I found a chunk of silicone blocking the oil port in the head that feeds the can tower it dosent take much to block thoses oil ports But the cam never siezed or did any damage to anything you might have a bigger problem I would check for oil presure maybe put a bolt in the hole where the oil is coming out and re spin the oil pump see if it changes anything also look at the tick of death threads theres a lot of info on the oiling system and there's a lot of little stuff that can go wrong

[Chase]

Thanks for the advice! i found a chart the explains how the oil flows through to block and then cam tower. oil is coming out of where it should, however the cam tower isn't allowing any flow. new cam tower seems to flow fine, so i'm going to throw it on and hope for gold!

[skishop69]

I'll assume we're talking about an EA82 here as Loyales are not high on my knowledge base. There is a small seal in the lower right corner between the head and the cam tower that seals the oil passage to the cam tower. If it fell out or it's damaged, there's your problem. I always use a dab of grease to hold it in place and then use a small amount of anaerobic sealant around it to make sure it never fails.

[Chase]

I've carefully cleaned out the new cam housing, blowing out all the oil passages with carb cleaner and compressed air. I did make sure that seal was in there and in the correct place, that was the hole I had been mistaking for a bolt hole. I held the gasket in place with black RTV and resealed the new cam tower onto my head. With the valve cover off and the timing belts not yet installed - I turned  the oil pump with a drill and verified that oil does come out everywhere that it should. Yes this is the EA82. I really appreciate all the help so far, you guys are awesome! I'll give another update when I finish putting her all back together!

[ennbenn72]

And she runs flawless now!