Hello, Im about to change the orings as they are leaking and the workshop that did my engine out lied about changing them. I did have 1 cam replaced and the oring on that must have been done as it is not leaking. I also noticed the timing marks on that housing are in a different position. Now my leak i suspect may be because drain holes in the housing do not align on the other 3 cam housings. Can anybody confirm my suspicion? Pic attached. Image Unavailable, Please Login
That picture doesn't show anything. What timing marks? What holes? What makes you say they didn't change O rings? How can you possibly know until it is apart?
And..... You better be sure you know how to go about such replacement.. Are the o. rings leaking?? The picture shows no oil leak anyway.....
so.. on 348's there was a issue from the factory where the oil drain holes were not in the proper location. Ferrari made a jig for the fix and you basically drill new ones. The reasons i say this is it can act like the o ring is not working correctly when its not the o ring at all.. some cars have been fixed, others have not... if you do take the motor back out.. get this done.. unless you like chasing oil leaks forever.
Isn't that Ferrari's unique "Engine subframe anti-corrosion" system? Basically some of the engine oil is drained out of engine to the underside of the car, where air pressure sprays it backwards as you drive, to coat the subframe in oil and help prevent corrosion setting in?
Clever, but no. There is a jig which allows new oil drainback holes to be drilled in the carrier. 95845027 Tool for head drilling - Ricambi America, Inc. .
If the leak is coming out at the exhaust side and from the corner where the cam cover goes over the O-ring, it is likely that it is pass the cam cover gasket, at the corner where the gasket meets the O-ring. During installation of the cam cover gasket, special care must be taken to seal this corner with a small amount of sealant. When I recently replaced my cam cover gaskets, I had a tiny leak from one of these corners (exhaust side) despite being very careful with applying the sealant. I just re-torqued the cam cover nuts (which had got slightly looser than initially torqued, due to settlement of the gasket) and the leak stopped. Perhaps you can first try this method.
Sorry, I was probably not clear in my first post. Yes the orings are leaking on 3 of the 4 cams. I suspect these were not changed in the major as they were also leaking prior to this. 1 cam was removed in that service and this is the one not leaking. also this mark on the housing is in a different spot. it is definately not the cam seal. those are dry. Now i was questioning the alignment / assembly marks which are shown in the picture. I was wondering if these needed lining up with anything (i suspect some mark on rocer cover) in order for oil drain holes to align (as per the holes drilled with the jig posted above). I have a 94 model spider (f119h) so i suspect these holes were in the later castings? my intention is to change these seals with the engine in, thus cannot fully disassemble to see where oil drain holes are
The mark on the housing shows the top of the housing. There is a notch on the inner bottom of the housing to help the oil drain. The drainage notch is 180° from the mark on the top of the housing (at least that's how they are on my F119D). The housing should be positioned so that the mark is on the top, or facing up. This way you know the drainage notch is on the bottom. Image Unavailable, Please Login
think the pic of the housing in Ernie's hand was taken that way to show the readers the oil drain notch.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Are you pretty certain the leaks are not from the seals? I did an engine out on my former 348 a year ago. I had the oil drains and put in new o rings. After the engine was back in I had a leak, which turned out to be one of the seals. I had flipped the lip over on it somehow. Incidentally, the seals/o rings can be changed with the engine in the car. That's how I did it. And, I was able to retorque the cam pulley bolt. I did a little write up. My car was a convertible. It would be much harder on a hard top.
Bingo. Which is also why I posted the second picture. The inside drainage notch goes on the bottom, so that it allows the oil to drain back into the head and or the drilled drain holes.
Thanks for the pics Ernie, This confirms what I thought about drainage hole in there. Strange but as my one where the mark is pointing up like Ernies second picture is the one that does not leak. Ernie, are yours assembled like in your second pic?
The drain hole in the head is at the bottom with respect to gravity, and the drain channel in the housing should also be lined up at the bottom with respect to gravity. What Ernie's picture shows is the drain channel and the drain hole are misaligned by about 45 degrees.
Oh good grief Mitchell, now you are splitting hairs. It was a quick pic to give home an idea. You'll also notice that I don't have the cam cap bolted down either, and the cam cover is missing. Does that mean he should put his cams in and not bolt down the caps, and leave the valve cover off?????? Come on now, let's be real here. Of course you want the drainage notch positioned at the absolute bottom so that the oil will drain out of the housing easier.
They are positioned so that the mark on the housing is on top, AND that the notch is on the bottom, the VERY BOTTOM. I had another look at your picture, and it seems it is the 1/4 bank of cylinders. If so, your cam seal housings appear to be positioned so that the notch is indeed position exactly on the bottom, as Mitchell pointed out.
