Cam Housing Seals

Fisch · 01-11-2016, 06:50 AM

Hi All,

I'm preparing to buy parts to do a cam-to-head reseal soon (apparently this car did not like the oil I put in it) and was wondering if anyone had thoughts on the LR tower gasket versus the stock paper one. It's just a street car but since I'm probably doing all of the seals on the front of the engine anyways, just want to make sure I don't have to do this again in the near future.

On a related note, does anyone have a good dino oil to recommend that is more forgiving on the seals than Mobil 1 15W-50. I liked the synthetic but it seems to really get into any small leaks I had.

Thanks folks.

mytrplseven · mytrplseven's Garage

It has long been attested to by those who changed over to synthetic oil that they started to have leaks. I've been using Castrol GT in my cars for years and in Florida it's 20 W 50 but you may have to adjust the weight for your climes. Love them dinosaurs!

pdxfj · 01-11-2016, 08:11 AM

Back in November I did my cam tower since it was leaking and it had the LR gasket on it. I had no idea it was on there. Replaced with a paper gasket and it has been fine so far.

Couple of tips to help keep it sealed:

1) Make sure to clean out the bolt holes with a Q-Tip and some brake cleaner. Especially the lower holes since they will fill with oil when you remove the cam tower. If you don't clean the oil out, you will not be able to get proper torque on the bolts.

2) Re-Torque the bolts after several heat cycles. They tend to back out a bit. On my car the lower bolts were loose after 5-6 drives, but fine when I checked them again not long ago.

From what I have read and experienced on my own, those two things are what cause the cam towers to leak after you reseal them.

sausagehacker · sausagehacker's Garage

Helped tear down 3 cam towers the other weekend, all had one thing in common... the 3 bolts on the back cap (the one with the cork gasket) were only finger tight, and had been leaking oil. I believe their torque spec is 6 ft-lb IIRC. I guess they work loose pretty easily, I'm going to use locktite on mine.

Also if you remove the 12-point bolt that holds on the cam gear assembly, be careful to fully seat the tool and if you can, use an impact.

Fisch · 01-12-2016, 04:29 AM

So it sounds like the LR gasket sure isn't bulletproof--for the price difference I guess I'll go with the stock one.

Thanks for the tips on the job. Fortunately it doesn't sound so bad as long as you have a good supply of patience.

As for oil, Castrol GT sounds like a good bet. Anyone have suggestions for weights? I'm in VA and the 15W-50 never had an issue so maybe the 20W-50 would be fine too.

mattdavis11 · 01-12-2016, 06:37 AM

After the last failure that led to a fire, I didn't mess around. Reinz gasket, cleaned all the bolt holes and bolts, permatex copper spray on the gasket.

I don't know what an LR gasket is, but I've never had issues with a leak at the rear, cork or paper.

20W50 Castrol or Valvoline is all I have used in the 944, Texas heat.