Cam tower leak 944

[jondizz944]

Couple weeks before Christmas my 944 started to smoke going to work. Noticed it was leaking oil near number 1 cylinder near the P on the cam tower dripping down to the exhaust manifold. It was leaking from the cam tower. Bought me a new gasket thinking it would be okay. 200+ miles in the new gasket on my way going home it started to smoke. It was leaking at the same spot. Could it be a defective gasket or a warp cam tower?

Suggestions? I am short a car and need some advice before I move forward.
I will post pictures shortly

[mytrplseven]

I'd recommend a fluorescent dye kit from the local auto parts store. They're cheap and will lead you right to the source of the leak, also for power steering and cooling system leaks.

[Tom944]

Are you sure that it is the cam tower gasket and not the cover on the back? The bolts work loose and it leaks. PET shows shake proof washers that are not their as stock!

[GTR34]

I remember reading something interesting on here at one point...

The crappy cork gasket/seal at the back of the cam box is actually useless. I've heard that you can toss it and clean the two mating surfaces and use loctite (someone back me up - 574?) to create a new seal. Those cork gaskets leak. Not sure why Porsche used them in the first place...

[mazdaverx7]

Did you pull the cam gear and replace the seal and o-ring behind the shielding? They are a must to replace when the cam box is off of the head. Are you sure you installed the cam box gasket properly and that both mating surfaces were clean and oil free before installing the gasket?

[DannoXYZ]

I think the "P" is cylinder #4 at the back? Some questions:

1. how well did you clean off all the old gasket material from the head & cam-tower? Perfecty shiny with no gouges?

2. did you check for flatness within 0.1mm with flat-edge on straights and diagonal?

3. did you install new gasket dry or with sealant? If so, what kind of sealant?

4. to what torque did you install the cam-tower bolts?

A lot of people look at the manual as a procedure of "what" to do. But it's more important to examine closely "how" those steps were accomplished with objective and measureable results.

Originally Posted by GTR34

The crappy cork gasket/seal at the back of the cam box is actually useless. I've heard that you can toss it and clean the two mating surfaces and use loctite (someone back me up - 574?) to create a new seal. Those cork gaskets leak. Not sure why Porsche used them in the first place...

Those cork-gaskets work OK if you remove the cam-tower and use a non-hardening sealant. But over time, the cork dries out and gaps develop between the grains and it'll leak. I cut my own gasket from old inner-tubes or rubberized gasket-sheets and those have worked fine. Provided you remove the cam-tower. Problem is getting perfectly even torque on all three bolts, practically impossible to do back there with the cam-tower on the car.

[jeffrsmith]

Originally Posted by GTR34

I remember reading something interesting on here at one point...

The crappy cork gasket/seal at the back of the cam box is actually useless. I've heard that you can toss it and clean the two mating surfaces and use loctite (someone back me up - 574?) to create a new seal. Those cork gaskets leak. Not sure why Porsche used them in the first place...

I did this when I put my car back together, its been two years and still no leakage.

[PorscheChef]

I see this happen all the time. When you remove the cam tower oil sometimes runs into the lower bolt holes. Don't remove the cam tower again, just remove one bolt at a time on the outside, by the exhaust, and get a handful of Q-tips. Q-tip the oil out of the holes then put the bolt back in. The oil in the hole will of course prevent you from getting the bolt all the way in. It will feel like it is tight and will even hit the torque specs, but it won't be. This is all it is about 99% of the time.

[Rasta Monsta]

^^Interesting

Perhaps grinding a relief notch in the fastener head would reduce this?