Thanks for the reply.

The camshaft sheered right at the pully. May have been because the camshaft
seized up but the pully kept turning.

Since the car has 156k miles on it, and the PO did not take care of the
engine very well, two different mechanics suggested I just swapping out the
engine for a "Japanese" replacement engine (used engine, imported from
Japan, where they are required to replace them every so often... engines
have less than 40 k miles on them, and are tested before shipping over...)
($550)

On the other hand, I wonder how good an idea (and how cheap) it would be to
look in a local scrap yard for either the entire head or entire engine from
a wrecked Accord.

--
KWW
"jim beam" <nospam@example.net> wrote in message
news:SMydnThaUOR9ex7enZ2dnUVZ_s-dnZ2d@speakeasy.net...
> 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.
>