Seized Cam?

[trevorno]

I had my heads rebuilt. I got the engine started the other day. It ran great for about 10 seconds before it banged to a stop. I pulled the timing covers off and the driver's side cam seems to be seized. I can move it very slowly with a wrench, but it's definitely stuck.

Two questions:
Anybody had this happen?
Can I get that head off without pulling the motor?

[Legacy777]

Sorry to hear about the seized cam. I haven't heard of this readily happening, but if I had to guess one of the oil supply ports might have been blocked with debris or possibly the head gasket didn't have a hole for the oil passage. I guess when you take it apart you can look and try and figure out why it seized.

Yes, you can remove the head without pulling the motor. It's a little tight, but can be done. Have you pulled the timing belt to make sure the rest of the engine spins freely and ok? BTW, what motor is this for? Just want to double check to make sure it's an ej22(t) and non-interference before recommending pulling the timing belt and rotating the engine.

[trevorno]

As far as I know, it's the original ej22t in my 94 SS. The right cam and crank both move freely. I guess I'll try to pull the head off and have a talk with the shop that rebuilt the heads.

[trevorno]

So the cam was seized in the collar on the front of the engine. The mechanic re-honed it and I re-installed it (with a lot of lube). The motor then ran for about 10 miles before that cam seized again, but not in the same spot. The mechanic took it back and figured it hadnt been getting oil. He freed everything up and re-honed the cam. He also flushed all the oil pathways again. I need to make sure the oil pump is feeding oil to that head. I'll try to get everything back together later today. If it seizes again, I've got a line on some new heads from another member. Super frustrating.

[Legacy777]

Damn, that sucks!

Yeah I'd make sure that the head is getting oil.

[trevorno]

So I got it all put back together and started it up. It ran pretty well but it got hot. I think it's a little low on coolant. I'll fill it all the way up and run it around the neighborhood for 10 miles or so before I venture out further. Fingers crossed.

[trevorno]

I've got about 30 miles on it now. It runs pretty solid. I discovered a coolant drip on the passenger side, I think the line feeding the turbo. It did shudder/buck under hard acceleration in 2nd/3rd gear. Vacuum leaK?

[Legacy777]

Do you have a boost gauge? If not I'd suggest getting one so you can see what boost you're running and if boost is falling off when the shudder/bucking come on.