Cam Shaft cover plate leak

Mysterytrain · 11-01-2004, 06:25 AM

Thought I would bounce this off of you guys. As some of you may know I got my 78sc back this summer after a 'spare no expenses' rebuild and conversion to a 3.2 short stroke. The motor has about 2000 miles on it and is back at the shop for a second time to have a camshaft cover plate leak repaired. My mechanic is great and I trust him completely but we are both puzzled as to what is going on with section of the engine and why it is leaking again. Looks like it leaks the most when the car is cold and oil pressures are high. Once the engine is hot the dripping just about stops. The repair included new o-ring and gasket, both with sealant applied. This time around we are going to add the restrictors on the chain tensioner oil fittings. So, I'm wondering if you guys have some experience with leaks in this area and can advise? I'm also wondering about run out and perhaps a warped cam cover plate.
As always..thanks, Ron

this is the area:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/images/engine/1-3-3-27.jpg

kstylianos · 11-01-2004, 07:55 AM

If the heads, cylinder bases or case were machined too much (more than .50mm total), then the cam chain housing-->cam housing union will be off by this much, causing the o-ring not to fit uniform around the bore. If this is the case, the fix is to either remove the the same amount of material that was removed from the heads, cylinders and case, from the cam chain husing, or delete the cam chain housing gasket and use a good sealant instead.

The gasket behind the plate is VERY fragile, especially after its coated with sealant. Be gentle when installing.

BTW: I replied to your other post with some links.

Mysterytrain · 11-01-2004, 11:21 AM

Got a call from my mechanic and mentioned your thoughts. He told me that all of the machining had been compensated for and the the heights were right on. But what he did say was that he had found the leak..the leak is coming from the Oil Splash tube plug that is located right above the gasket..beautiful. The chain housing needs to come off, camshaft removed..rockers...yummy!

Mysterytrain · 11-15-2004, 07:13 AM

Just wanted to update this thread. After digging into the leaky area my mechanic saw that the splash tube plug was not leaking it was in fact the cam cover plate again. When he remove the plate he found that it had a slight warp or high spot. He machined it flat, and then replaced the seals again. This time around we also installed the cam line restrictors. So far so good.

Peace, Ron