I was doing a service on an astron II motor today which has had constant problems with camshaft oil seals. Either due to damage to the cam or the bearings, oil continues to leak past the seal (even if you replace one). This arvo when i pulled the waterpump pulley off, i checked with my seal tool to make sure it was in tight. When i pushed on it, it went back another 3-4mm into the recess in the head. There is no clear indication in the manual as to how far the seal should sit back in the recess. I was wondering, if anyone has had experience putting in the seals before, how far back into the recess have you installed it? or if you have one of the engines above, could you look at the camshaft oil seal to see how far back into the recess it is.

See, with the seal pushed right back into the recess, it feels like it would seal better, but what i dont know is, if there is meant to be an oil gallery deep inside the recess for a camshaft bearing (being that the first bearing is right there). If there is, pushing the seal right back will result in blocking it off, in which case it will leak even more oil and possibly cause damage.

Ive installed them before, but ive never really taken a great deal of notice as to just how far the seal goes into the recess. Generally, i just replace it as i find it. The ones i have done seem to have the outer face of the seal lined up with the start of the recess and not actually all the way in (till the point where it cant go any futher).

I was just wondering, because if i have to pull it out, im just going to grab a new seal to replace it, tend to damage the seal alittle pulling it out even if you use a pick.

Cheers.

Edit: In case you couldnt tell, it's out of a magna (TP) where the waterpump is run from the front of the cam.

I replaced the cam shaft seal (water pump pulley seal) on my old TP magna once. All I did was pull the old one out, and push the new one right in. That was over a year ago (my dad owns the TP now :lol: , and I got my sexy TF :D ) and the seal started leaking again, nothing too serious though, although other then that no serious problems, ie. bearing not getting sufficient lubrication. I'd say that if the seal wasn't meant to go in that far there would be something there to stop it from going in that far, thats my opinion anyway.

Yeah, thats what i thought, but then why put an oil seal there if there is no oil behind it? if it was designed to sit tight up against metal, what would the need for the seal be?

Yeah, thats what i thought, but then why put an oil seal there if there is no oil behind it? if it was designed to sit tight up against metal, what would the need for the seal be?

My guess is just to seal it up completely, Im sure the metal it is sitting up against isn't exactly a good seal, metal on metal just doesn't make the best oil seal for some reason. Also, I checked my haynes manual on the water pump pulley oil seal renewal procedure, and it doesn't say anything about being careful not to push the seal in too far.

I took the cap off and had a look. At the back of the recess is a high pressure area, there is a gallery for the first camshaft seal.

As for the metal on metal bit, what i meant is, if there is no gallery there, why bother with a seal?, there isnt any oil there.

I dont see a waterpump pulley seal? it's just a camshaft seal because thats what it does :). I checked with someone i know at mitsubishi, he said, look for the lip on the recess, then push it back about another 2-3mm and thats where it should sit. He said, it's slightly tapered towards the bearing cap, so you should feel it start to tighten up as you push it in (the start is really easy to slide in). Also, he said if you are having problems with oil seaping out past the seal, use a little non hardening aviation cement around the seal housing. Make sure it's the non hardening stuff otherwise it will set hard and scrub the seal out and damage the housing.

True hey, didn't know that. Water pump pulley seal and camshaft seal are same thing, just different names, my haynes manual refers to it as water pump pulley seal :? .