KWW wrote:
> My daughter's '93 Accord's camshaft pully was sitting there loose with the
> timing belt around it. It had sheared off near the back side of the pully.

the cam sheared or the pulley sheared? or the bolt?

>
> We had purchased the car used and found that the previous owner had not
> cared for it well. When I'd first gone to adjust the valve lash I found the
> whole area filled with grit and charred oil. Cleaned it out (not removing
> head... should have though...) and the car has run fairly well aside from a
> few maintenance items like the front pully coming apart, etc.
>
> So, would overheating or oil starvation in the past have lead to this sort
> of thing, or what causes it?

either a bolt problem or the timing belt too tight.

>
> Does the Accord's 4 cylinder engine have clearance or, since the valves did
> not move, should I expect bent valves?

yes. check for and valves with much too big lash clearance - those are
the bent ones.

>
> The manual had talked about getting a rebuilt head. Would that be better
> than trying to scare one up at the junk yard? If so, anyone have a
> suggestion on where to pick up a good, reliable rebuilt head (with
> camshaft)?
> TIA!

it's easy enough to rebuild the head yourself. if you have bent valves,
it's cheaper to replace them than buy a recon head. if the cam's
broken, that's cheap from a junk yard. same for the pulley wheel.