Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

Tale of woe that ends in probably needing a new camshaft


Recommended Posts

Hello all,
Long time lurker - first time posting.


I have a 1999 Impreza with an ej22 motor. While doing recent maintenance of belts/pulleys/seals that included a cam seal replacement (that didn't actually need to be replaced but "While we have it apart..."), the driver side camshaft ended up with a gouge in it when the old seal was being pulled and now it leaks for real.  :banghead:  Sigh...
So now we have a project on our hands. I didn't find any other threads addressing this so, if I missed one, please help with the link to it and we'll gladly peruse the discussion and come back to this with any questions that might not have been answered.

In the absence of that, some questions before we get started:
Ordering a replacement camshaft...recommendations? (The bone yards in our neck of the woods have pretty slim pickins so getting a used one is iffy.)
Any tidbits of information, oddities, etc that would be good to know about doing a camshaft replacement on this particular motor?
And though I shudder to even write this... while we have it apart, recommendations on any other items we should address? (Motor is at 140K and, other than this particular issue, no problems.)

Any help or insight is greatly appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Use a small "ignition points file" to clean up the gouge, optionally fill the damaged area with a little metal fill epoxy (JB weld, etc) and file/sand it smooth. I would do this with the cam in the engine still but depending on your skill level maybe you should remove it. It's just a seal surface and it just needs to be smooth. 
 

GD

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the input. We did file it down but it's a pretty good gouge. Hubby wasn't sure if filling it would work or not and was hesitant to do all the work of pulling it apart and having it fail again.

Although, we're actually getting pretty good at disassembling and reassembling now...

We'll give this a try and see how it goes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JB weld is amazing stuff for certain applications. It can easily support the load of a Viton lip seal.

 

I have used it to repair gasket surfaces many times. Especially pitted manifolds, and block/head surfaces where coolant has eaten the metal away and filling is really the only viable way to save the part.

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you seat the seal "more" or "less" deep to a more preferential area of the camshaft (least amount or no amount of damage?

 

I'd expect a smooth and even finish to work most of the time as well. A filler is easy enough to try, give it a go if you have to. Is that up to the task of sealing a moving surface long term?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A speedi sleeve might work but I doubt they have one listed for this application specifically. You can measure it and buy a sleeve almost for sure but I doubt this poster has the tools and experience to measure and order an industrial shaft repair sleeve and make that work. 

 

If you do, loctite 609  ;)

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A shaft repair sleeve is a very thin sheet metal sleeve that presses over the shaft and creates a new surface for the seal. They do change the OD but with lip seals the dimension isn't very critical so a slight enlargement isn't a problem in practice.

 

GD

Ah, gotcha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...