so to my surprise when i got the cam pulley off the cam seal wasnt even sitting in place it had completely came out and was just sitting loose on the cam. I got the new one in and all is well so far but i fear if it came out once it could do it again

That's odd..

sure is worries me a bit

while the seal coming out IS an oddity - my money would be on that it didnt get properly seated - i am going to guess that this car has had the seals changed at some point previously, right?

when was the last timing job?? the seals typically get changed during a timing belt replacement.

That's all I can think of as well they drove it in crooked.

The last belt was done at 150k by a subaru only mechanic. It now has 192k on it, i dont have the receipt, so i dont know if they were replaced then.