348 Cam seal leak solved - easy solution that worked for me

Background: 1991 348tb acquired about 10 months ago with ~25,000 miles from a Canadian Fchatter. Last major done in 2016 - ~ 8000 miles ago - by our very own tbakowsky (Tom - obviously an extremely reputable tech). Overall car/engine condition is extremely good with no post-purchase surprises.

About three months ago I noticed a drop or two of oil on the garage floor immediately below the front of the passenger-side bank. Upon investigation I determined it was the typical 348 leak coming from one of the cam seals (or both). Strange that it all held tight since the last major in 2016 and this minor leak started now – but hey.

The leak was so minuscule (maybe two-three drops on the floor if left for a week), that I decided to leave it alone and wait to tackle it until convenient (next major).

But it bugged me and I started thinking this leak maybe could be addressed by using a different type of oil. After much research I chose to replace the oil in the engine (15-40W Valvoline full synthetic – the previous owner's choice) with a synthetic blend (Valvoline 10-40W DuraBlend) in the hope that the inherent viscosity properties of a synthetic blend would be sufficient to do the trick.

I am happy to report that the cam seal leak stopped as soon as the first drive since replacing the oil and having now driven the car for about 1000 miles there are no more drops of oil to be found on the floor or on the undercarriage immediately below that area.

I am sharing this success story as a suggestion that those 348 owners who are experiencing the all-too-common cam cap seal leak (much discussed in this forum) could try using a synthetic blend oil and see if their result is as positive as mine.