amhawks Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 1996 2.2 with 166K Changing timing belt and swapping engines around so I decided to re-seal the oil pan. In cleaning up the pan I found 3, thin, pieces of metal in a half circle (broken). Metal in a pan always throws up a flag so I started researching and asking questions. A Subaru buddy of mine thinks they are the spring washers in the rocker arms. I haven't had a change to pull the rocker arm covers and take a peak to verify. They are a clean break, no discoloration. Questions: 1. How did these break? (no discoloration) 2. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being ka-boom) how bad can this be? 3. Anyone ever seen this before? I own 2, 96 2.2's. I like them, just hate the valves (can't adjust the 96 valves - most anyways from 96). I'm not really wanting to dump much more into this particular engine as I was thinking of re-building/re-placing it in 40k or 4-5 years. I need reliability, but when it comes down to it I'm limited on funds (or cheap, depending on how you look at it). Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Had the same thing happen on my 95, except I noticed the washer was gone and then had to hunt it down. It broke the same way, clean split right down the middle, not sure why. I grabbed a few off a junkyard car and it's still working fine. Were any of yours stuck together? Mine looked like there were two washers stuck together when they were installed. I figured maybe that could have contributed to the break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amhawks Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 No clue if they are stuck together or stacked until tonight. I will open the valve covers up and get a better peek at them. What the worst case scenario with not running these? How big of a pain was it to tear into this? My engines out, that's a plus! Glad to hear I'm not the only one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoupedUpSubie Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I have not seen these washers myself but based on the placement and your buddy thinking they are spring washers. If this is true then you really should have them in there. Find out how many and the proper installation of them. The technical name for that type of washer is a Bellville spring(sets of them are stacked to make a spring). They allow for slight changes due to expansion and contraction. Cliff notes: Put good ones back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amhawks Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Any ideas (besides stacking) that causes them to break? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoupedUpSubie Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) Well I just went back through my pictures and believe I found the washer your referring to which helps me. I was thinking of a different spot. Those are a quite thin washer with a crease that runs across it. As to the purpose, I can only guess they don't allow the rocker arms to be slammed against the mounts. I circled it in red. Edited March 30, 2012 by CoupedUpSubie fixing picture size Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) And one is missing in that picture! Apparently it's a common thing! There is supposed to be a washer on both sides of the center mount. They keep the rocker arms in place over the oil feel holes in the rocker shaft, and keep them from rubbing against the cylinder head and center support. The rocker shaft is incredibly easy to disassemble once removed from the head. Remove the lock bolt from either end (the one on top of the end support) and all the parts on the shaft will slide off. Lay them out in order so you can put them back in the proper places. Edited March 30, 2012 by Fairtax4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amhawks Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 Took off my covers and missing one on each side. Both at the rear of the engine coincidentally. Three pieces were found. Two 'half' pieces and one 'more than half less than 3/4'. Sure hoping that 1/4 piece passed through in an oil change OR that it is so soft it won't cause any grief later on. They definitely serve a purpose. Without them the rocker arm floats where it wants when it is not engaging the valves. As they float they miss close to half of the valve. Thanks for the pics and chiming in. Just glad I'm not the only one in this club! Guaranteed if I went out to my other 2.2 of the same year and pulled the covers it would be missing at least one! It's chatty! Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I found mine firmly encased in the grime in the bottom of the oil pan. I doubt any other pieces will go anywhere. Things is, I only found two halves of the washers. The other halves I think must have got stuck in the valve cover and were found when someone changed the gaskets at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Scott Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Sorry to revive an old thread, but didn't see any others addressing this issue. I pulled a pan off a 95 and found one in there off the right bank. I'm thinking about just replacing it with some thrust washers. Seems to me, as long as the rocker stays centered over the valve, that's the important part. Can't think of a reason why a spring would be better. I can't imagine there's that much expansion going on there... thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 I'm thinking about just replacing it with some thrust washers. My guess would that it would work. But I wouldn't do it unless it was a last/only resort, no other option. Some thought though........ I would use a washer thin engouh to leave a gap on each side of at least .20~30 mm. You don't want constant rubbing.....that's the reason for the spring washer in the first place. Also, it would be best if it was a very hard face washer. it will be coated in oil....so it shouldn't grind. If you use mild steel or brass/copper it probably will grind down though. Best would be to get correct spring washers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Scott Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 I agree with all your points, except that, with the spring washer, there IS constant rubbing because of the pressure of the spring. Now, it's not that much pressure, but that raises another concern for me that the rockers can walk back and forth if other forces on them overcome the little spring. With the spring missing, the rockers can get off-center of the valve stem substantially! But that doesn't bother me near as much as small pieces of hardened steel floating around in an engine!! This engine has 56k original miles, so this was not a long term fatigue failure. The springs are defective in my opinion since there have been other instances. I do have new ones on order, but it will be a week getting them, so, I put a thrust washer in. It has about .25 mm on each side (before I read your response, great minds...) and keeps the rockers pretty much where they need to be. Not sure what I'll do when the new ones show up... still thinkin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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