[scoobythesubie]

Hey guys, I just sold a 93 Imp a few months ago and I saw it today on Craiglist from a lady wanting to pay someone to tow it outta town. Well, I emailed her out of curiosity to see what could be wrong with it and she responded saying that the car has a bent camshaft. This is according to her 15yr senior Subaru mechanic friend. I have NEVER heard of this before. Anybody got any input on the subject??

The car is the 1.8L Auto 2wd.

Thanks!

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

I dunno of course but, I'm betting she is just not recalling the mechanic's exact phrase and is filling in with the word 'bent'.

 

[subiesailor]

Thrown timing belt can bend all sorts of bits. But given you sold her the car and you have ZERO idea what sort of abuse its seen since it left your hands - I would stop asking the lady about it and hope she doesn't get some crazy idea that you owe her money.

 

[scoobythesubie]

Haha she did refer to the Subie engine as a V4....

These are here exact words...

"We were going to replace the timing belt but the mechanic said it didn't need it, it still has all of it's teeth on the belt. The camshaft is bent and wobbled the key and bent it on the harmonic balancer. So we bought a new key for the harmonic balancer and this guy that was a head mechanic for subaru told us he could just put a new key in the harmonic balancer where the bent camshaft bent the key and key hole slightly and it will run for another 200k miles like that even with a bent camshaft. So that's what we ate going to do! It still runs amazingly and will still run it just won't have the correct power and will shake a little. It's still drivable now and we are going tj drive it to him and let him fix it. He has been to school for 15 Years about Subarus and was for years a head Subaru mechanic. Plus he owns several subarus and knows what he's talking about! But yes it has had a complete tune up but still hasitates because of the bent camshaft and key in the harmonic balancer."

I dunno of course but, I'm betting she is just not recalling the mechanic's exact phrase and is filling in with the word 'bent'.

 

[scoobythesubie]

I'm not too worried. I am third person party at this point. She bought it from the guy I sold it to! I just didn't want to see her get screwed by a jack-leg mechanic.

Personally though, as hard as those camshafts are..the only way I could see someone bending one is by either:

a) getting it REALLYY hot (but that would cause many other problems..)
b) torquing the cam caps too tight and it seizing (unlikely, it only had 123xx on it. No need for head work)
c) tightening the timing belt ridiculously...

My thought was that the cam pulley was bent. Not according to her mechanic though...

Thrown timing belt can bend all sorts of bits. But given you sold her the car and you have ZERO idea what sort of abuse its seen since it left your hands - I would stop asking the lady about it and hope she doesn't get some crazy idea that you owe her money.

 

[subiesailor]

Thinking she's getting half the story and no telling what the jack wagon she bought it from did. Botched Do it your self timing belt job could be the cause.

 

[RobLog]

With the reference to bent key and harmonic balancer, I think it's the crankshaft, not the camshaft. Still ...

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

^^^^^ this, crankshaft is boogered.

 

[scoobythesubie]

Hmmm maybe. One other thing she mentioned, and I noticed when I had the car (I only had it a week then sold it to a sketch guy at midnight), is that it has a loss of power at low RPMs and such (unless you floor it) and it shakes a little at start up. Her mechanic said that the bent cam would cause that. Sounds like valves to me..... but that wouldn't explain the bent key in the harmonic balancer...

^^^^^ this, crankshaft is boogered.

 

[signage]

I would like to kow how you have a bent cam shaft without the block getting damaged? Sounds to me like this 15 year mechanic is a hack/rip-off!

 

[canubaru]

the crank shaft key way and the crank pulley are boogered. and probably the crank sprocket. the timing has jumped, losing power and running ruff.

replace the boogred parts, re-set the timing and torque the crap out of it and it will run great again. it is a non-interference engine. and just as durable as the ej22.

 

[signage]

the crank shaft key way and the crank pulley are boogered. And probably the crank sprocket. The timing has jumped, losing power and running ruff.

Replace the boogred parts, re-set the timing and torque the crap out of it and it will run great again. it is a non-interference engine. And just as durable as the ej22.

:29::29:

 

[scoobythesubie]

Ha ha I'll keep that in mind for future reference. Unfortunately, I no longer own the car and at this point I'm a third party so I have no say in the work being done. Not to mention the lady that owns it no is taking it to a "15yr senior subaru mechanic!" We inexperienced folk don't know what we're talking about, so it "MUST" be a bent cam shaft

the crank shaft key way and the crank pulley are boogered. and probably the crank sprocket. the timing has jumped, losing power and running ruff.

replace the boogred parts, re-set the timing and torque the crap out of it and it will run great again. it is a non-interference engine. and just as durable as the ej22.