To All, After sitting for a number of months, I took my 1981 308 GTSi out for a spin. When I returned home I saw smoke coming from the engine compartment and noticed that it appeared to be coming from the cam seal forward of the right rear wheel. When I got the car back on her lift, it continued to leak oil (small amount) until the engine cooled down. My question is: Can I add an additive that will soften the cam seals or do I need to have them replaced. If there is such an additive, what is it and where can it be had. Thank you, WilliamR
No, I had a similar dilemma, ignoring it as long as I could..when I had the waste a good Guinness putting out the eventual oil fire, I replaced the seals. You really need to inspect the bearings at the same time and that will be a good chance to do it, it may be a failing bearing that has caused the seal to leak.
You are correct, when I submitted my question it was titled 308 Cam Seal Question. I do not know how it got mixed up.
Oh, you gotta fix that. You cannot continue dumping guiness in engine bay to douse the fire out. What a waste.
I hate to see Guinness wasted but I'll make an exception when it comes to putting out a fire in an F Car.
Here comes the dilemma. You can replace the cam belt side by going through the process of replacing the cam belt. You would have to remove the cam cover but all you need to do is remove the timing pulley and slip the old one out and the new one in. The right way is to remove the cams and replace all of the seals. If one goes then the others will follow. This is a more intensive job but not difficult to do. Pick your poison but if you job it out you'll need to pay somewhere between $1500 to $2500 to get it done. That would be seals , belts , tensioners and gaskets. You'll most likely have the valve clearances checked and adjusted if needed. Then the oil and filter change along with the gear lub. I missed but what year are we talking.
It made a wonderful aroma, the steam, but then my neighbor from New Zealand happend to walk by and took me to task!! This was at a high end Mall here and I couldn't have the car bursting into flames in parking and taking out all those Mercedes!! I misread the question though... mine were leaking lower at the cam DRIVE BEARING seals, and that was right over the header, which over time got wet enough to actually flash off as well as smoke. Darn, you guys reminded me it's Happy Hour!! Off to the Pub..
Ha reminds me of the time my jeep threw a rod and started a fire under the hood. Stood on the bumper and used processed Guiness to put it out. A friend happened by and he jumped up and helped. Two bladders worth actually put out that fire!
Pub??? In Texas?? A PUB?? What's the world coming to??!! LOL A Pub and Guiness in the Lone Star state. Geez, next thing you know, I'll be finding good BBQ in NYC and good lobster in Chicago. Just bustin' a little. Enjoy!!! And pics, we definitely need some pics!!
Oh yes, there must be five or six good Irish bars in Houston: Griff's Tavern McElroy's Stag's Head GingerMan Shakespears (3 locations) Local Charm (now closed, with my friend Rory Miggins passing) Or, my fridge!!!! The Local Charm was mentioned in the Houston Press only yesterday, in a discussion of clubs with live blues music.
I actually ended up downtown at Discovery Green, drinking Saint Arnolds and listening to......live blues music!!!
I apologize for breaking up the party, but getting back to my origional question, is there an addative that can be used to soften up or reseal a leaking cam seal. Or, am I just going to have to replace them? I hate to think of wasting good booze to save my ride!
Sorry, most Ferrari seals are like the fan belts, they are actually more of a "plastic" material and not really responsive to the treatments that swell rubber seals. It's most likely a small nick that was put there in installation and is now starting to manifest problems.
How long until your next valve shim check? It's pretty easy to do once that is underway...with the cam covers off.. That said, you could TRY a sealer product and be no worse off than where you are now......I'd change the oil back out after a few weeks tho...
