Broken Camshaft

[Rat]

So I've been working on my parts car for a while. When I got the car it was a crank no start. I took off the valve cover and everything looked ok. I had my wife crank the engine and saw that not all of the camshaft was turning. It had snapped. Below are photos of the Camshaft. After closer look there is very little metal in the oil from the head. I want to repair this car if at all possible. I do have accees to a spare engine head for a 92 prelude that will work. What I need to know is what caused this Camshaft to fail? Was it dumb luck that the camshaft was faulty or could it be something else that needs to be repaired. I appreciate any feedback you have.

[jamin_jacob]

you should check the valves since the f22 is an interference motor before you rebuild you might need a new head or a motor if anything came in contact with each other. good luck

[CyborgGT]

Only cause I can imagine is the engine being run on little to no oil, and the lack of lubrication got it so hot it seized in there. Does it look discolored from heat?

[Raf99]

wow. can't say i've seen that before. I'd say this would be a defect of the cam as that is pretty dam thick metal! And there's no way a stuck valve would do this. It would bend the valve before anything else.

Now maybe the cam bearing was seized at one end? ie - fused to the point of welding itself together...

[lindiz]

I've heard of camshafts snapping because of loose cam caps causing it to vibrate and eventually snap.

[GhostAccord]

Lack of oil, heat binding the cam to the journals then the pistons coming into contact with the other 2-3 cylinders valves???? have to remove the head and see what the valves and piston tops look like to be absolutely sure.

From the red tint on the cylinder head it looks as though it had been running hot, or running dirty oil for a prolonged period.

[Rat]

Thanks for all your input. I looked through the service records and about 3000 miles ago the valve cover and spark plug well seals were redone. I'm guessing it was either installed incorrectly or over torqued. I'm going to finish removing the head tomorrow and see what kind of damage happened.