Copper gasket spray for Camshaft Housing Gasket?

[wwdwgs]

Hi, everyone.
I did front end seals and replaced a Camshaft Housing Gasket last year. ('87 924S).
Lately, I drive car every day and it developed an oil leak under the Camshaft Housing. I noticed it by a burning oil and smoke coming form exhaust pipes (engine's rear).
I inspected the whole gasket's perimeter and it's oily.
This gasket failed.
Possibly because of some scratches on the mating surfaces.
Possibly by loose fasteners???? I didn't check them yet...
I wonder if Permatex Copper Gasket spray, lightly applied on both sides of a new gasket upon installation, will "fill the gaps" and keep a tight seal.
One guy on youtube did use such a spray, in fact, he used it on most of gaskets, delicate gaskets.
What are your experiences with this spray?

Permatex 80697 copper spray-a-gasket...

[gb944]

It's your car, do whatever you wish.

The factory installs them dry.

[walfreyydo]

Could also try a thin layer of RTV, but only if there are scratches

[Jfrahm]

About the only thing I like copper gasket spray for is reducing oil soaking into cardboard or cork gaskets. It's not think enough to fill scratches but a very thin smear of RTV will work as suggested above.

I would use UV dye to find this leak, it's not IMO typical to see a uniform leak around a gasket like this. Clean it up with something like engine cleaner gel and get it pretty dry. You might be able to see the seep then without dye but otherwise get some dye and idle it in a dark place while watching for the dye to appear. Super useful stuff.

[wwdwgs]

yes, I exaggerated about "the whole perimeter". The leak is below low side of Camshaft Housing, above exhaust. Looks like more at the cyl 4, cyl 1 and just below camshaft sprocket (housing).
The reason I think about copper spray is that I may be too liberal and sloppy with RTV.
When I'll remove Camshaft housing, l'll inspect the surfaces and decided what will be better, RTV or a spray.

[OK-944]

By all means, do check the torque on you camshaft housing bolts first...as well as those of the camshaft housing's rear seal housing. Its not all that uncommon to have these loosen up a bit, and in fact this is exactly what happened to me on my previous (85.5) 944...resulting in an oil leak from the passenger side rear of the camshaft housing, causing lots of smoke from those headers.

If you'd used the factory specified cork rear seal gasket...yes, those can have problems if the mating metal surfaces are scratched, but if all is clean prior to the install and if torque is correct (also assuming no drastic oil pressure spikes), they can actually provide a decent service life.

[wwdwgs]

OK-944. Yes, I'll check torque first. That cork gasket, which looks like a cow's head, is dry.
Oil pressure seems to be normal to 924/944's - at 5 under the load.

[Dano944]

Funny coincidence, I had the same Cam Housing gasket leak recently that suddenly appeared, and I noticed sudden smoke from the engine compartment. Not knowing what was causing the smoke, I had my 944 brought on a flatbed to my local Porsche shop. They replaced the Cam Housing gasket. I don’t know what gasket they used, but I’m happy to say the smoking leak was fixed. The repair order shows “Gasket”, so I assume they used a physical gasket and not the copper spray. BTW, I saw the same YouTube video and I was intrigued by that copper spray.

[wwdwgs]

Dano944,
If Casey can build cars and fix them, I can trust him. Back then, I thought that Porsche's advice to install it dry was a proper way of doing it, but... it works well in a "perfect environment".

[wwdwgs]

update:
all.. ALL Camshaft Housing screws were "loose". I re-torqued them to 14 ft/lbs (about 15-25 degrees clockwise until it reaches proper torque).
While I was under the car, I discovered another leak from power steering hose right next to steering box. PS fluid was on a cross member.

[Dano944]

Originally Posted by wwdwgs

update:
While I was under the car, I discovered another leak from power steering hose right next to steering box. PS fluid was on a cross member.

My 944 is manual steering. In tight parking I wish I had power steering, but then I realize I don’t have a leaking power steering, and then I take a sigh of relief.

[Monkey Wrench]

I like using the permatex gasoline compatible sealant rather than RTV. on a lot of gaskets. its very sticky stuff. I will apply it to just one side if I ever want to open it again and replace both sides for a waterpump. it helps fill any porosity.
in this case I'd apply it to the side facing the cover, so the gasket will stay positioned when bolting and it will come off with the cover. some like RTV, your choice of course.
you can also use JB weld to fill any pits in the mating surfaces of the alunimum casting.

for some reason I dislike RTV any oily film present may prevent RTV from sticking, maybe that's the difference or I just don't like removing it.. I think some just use 10 times what's needed and make a big mess with the stuff. I dont think its a bad product, many love the stuff.

[wwdwgs]

Update:
I fixed a couple of other things and just ran the engine now - so far there's no leak from Camshaft Housing.
I will check again after a drive....