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2006 2.5 sohc outback broken cam

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Hey fellow mechanics. Have you seen any issues with the 2006 era heads with the oil advance timing? I just did HG on one and the machine shop showed me where the passengers side head's cam was all messed up. It looked like it was due to oil starvation.  The machine shop also had another head( same year/style)  in from the dealer that the cam had broken in half due to oil starvation. This is VERY troubling.  Wondering if anyone has seen this.  Thanks 

Heard of it on some of the older engines. Cams starve and lock up, the composite timing sprocket shatters and it bites the dust.

We see it all the time.  Core engines come in with scored cams and cam journals on the heads.  Yes, it's due to lack of oiling.   Broken ones aren't as common, but we've seen 'em.

2005 was a particularly bad year for oil starvation on the non-STi turbo engines.  Also fuel wash.  Something changed but we're not sure what.

 

The '02-04 WRX engines were notorious for oiling problems (it was even addressed in a TSB), but nobody from SOA has said anything about the newer ones.  If they did, they would probably have to do a recall.  The thing is, it's actually a pretty low percentage of their overall sales, so they aren't going to address it.  Plus, those cars are now 9-10 years old, so there's no way SOA is going to say anything.

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I was just wondering if there was any preventive actions that were being taken to avoid this?

Best PM is clean oil. Also keep in mind the passenger cam oil feed port is farthest from the oil pump, so its the last place to get fresh oil after an oil change. 

I always fill the oil filters on these before installing so new oil gets pumped into the block as soon as the engine is started. 

Leaving the filter empty takes 2-3 seconds to fill with oil and pushes air through the galleries and forces oil out of the journals. Engine spins about 45-60 revolutions with little to no oil pressure at the cams during that 3 seconds while the filter is filling up. 

Fill the filter with oil and it only spins 10-15 revolutions waiting for pressure to build. 

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