Cam Seal Leaking?

The only way to change the cam belts correctly is to remove the valve covers. You must line the marks up on the cam caps absolutely dead on. Never trust any marks anyone has painted on the top of the belt sprockets. You never know when the thing has jumped a tooth so you might as well get it right. Oh, and the oil spray on the belt cover certainly could be a valve cover gasket issue. Be sure to purchase new distributor and end cap gaskets when you remove the valve covers as those gaskets will get demolished in the process.

good luck- j

 

If you are confident/happy with the valve timing then you don't need to remove the valve covers to line up the cams. Just mark up the positions of the belts as they are.

Unfortunately you have oil coming from somewhere; probably either the camshaft oil seals (which entails removing the valve covers but is relatively harmless) or if you are unlucky, the camdrive gear seals (and probably then the bearings) are going. If you can waggle the drive gears when the belts are off, then it is the bearings down there and then you have the choice of fixing in-situ (not always possible) or engine-out (PITA)

Here's hoping its the camshaft seals....

good luck, Richard

 

The distributors are directly bolted to the valve covers, so pulling the valve covers off is going to ruin the distributor gaskets. If it has been a while since the cams seals and distributor gaskets have been replaced, do it while your are there. Do it once, do it right. I just completed a major service and am glad I replaced everything while it was apart, rather than having an issue later that I could have easily fixed during the service.

 

I concurr with Ham308's recommendation to carefully check the play on the cam drive gears.

On the front bank cover on the right, the oil deposits are heaviest starting where the belt comes around the cam drive gear, then are heavy again where it goes past the tensioner. Thus it appears that the oil is coming from the cam drive gear area. There is much less oil coming from around the cam gears themselves. This pattern is consistent with a failing timing drive seal rathar than from bad cam seal(s).

My suspicion is that the deposits inside the rear bank belt cover may well be being transferred from the front bank.

What do the deposits on the timing drive cover look like?

A cam cover leak seldom introduces a significant amount of oil onto the belt itself. Even bad cam seals seldom result in significant amounts of oil getting inside the belt covers.

 

GTHill, just completed this operation myself. Do lots of research here and ask those with fcar experience for any tips you can. There are no stupid questions. Here are my tips (use at your own risk, no liability accepted, just my experience based on my research);

1) You should double check this with an expert but the cam caps are stamped with a number which I was told should match and align immediately adjacent to the same number stamped on the head (#s1-20). I was advised to pay no attention to the casting numbers (6 digit part number on top of cap) and whether they are the same way relative to the others. This information is provided to raise the issue only and you should satisfy yourself about cam cap position with your own research. If I'm wrong perhaps someone here could chime in.

2) Before removing the nuts and washers that retain the cam caps place a rag over the various oil journal holes in the head...the definition of a bad day would be a nut or washer hopping into one of these journals. That might convert your "should I pull the mill or not" issue into an "to buy or rent a cherry picker" issue.

3) I initially put a small amount of rtv silicone around circumference of the entire cam and air pump seals. I could not get them to sit straight in the machined surface once the valve cover was torqued down. So I removed all silicone, replaced seals dry except using rtv only on ends where the gasket mates with the seal and voila the seals stayed put and so far have not leaked.

4) This may sound sophomoric but I don't know your level of experience/expertise...please bear in mind this is not a chevy small block. Pay very close attention to proper torque values. The head is aluminum...very easy to yank a stud right out.

5) The washers under the nuts which retain the cam caps are curved. It is a locking mechanism. The correct position is convex side of curve up...ie pointy side up. You may wish to consider buying new washers (I bought) though they are expensive; $5.00 each.

Anyway good luck, Blaine

 

Let me get this right....you paid 5 bucks each for Wavy washers!

 

Dapper, they're not wavy washers. I don't know the technical namefor them but I couldn't source them anywhere else but through Ferrari so I broke down and decided to replace all with original replacements.

 

Gene,

Based on what you have posted, consider pulling the engine. Once out, it is easy to work on it, epsecially if you what to do the valve timing correctly with a degree wheel, etc. Figure about 20 hours to pull / replace the engine if this is your first time. Also, while your in there, its a great time clean up the engine compartment and replace all the hoses. Just my $.02.

 

bellville washers is the name, they are hard to find in the right size. mcmaster carries varous sizes but not sure if they would carry those. also these types are really springs, they have a specific 'spring rate' and are more accurate than an accutual spring. the direction they lay is not important in most applications unless you have a seat issue. you need to make sure that both sides have a seat to sit on.

they function by keeping the bolt stretch a constant value and insure turque is kept.

 

Is there oil/dirt deposits on the timing cover, & where does it look like the oil is coming from...

NO

YES, varies between a 1-day PITA since you're already in there ( see my & robertgarvin's threads in the old fchat, & ham308's thread in current fchat) & nearly your worst nightmare (lookup the JWise cam drive thread in current fchat)...

Umm, th