Hey All,

I have a fairly heavy oil leak coming from the the front camshaft oil seal area. I'm gonna double check it's not the rocker cover, but just wanted to ask if anyone else has had the same problem before? Is it common?

Car is a 1995 TS 3.0L V6 Auto. Coming up to 300 000kms. Was hoping to buy a new car in the next few months, so could have really done without the hassle. Always the way..

Here's a pic with the rocker cover removed - the oil seal looks to be protruding and slightly wonky? There looks to be a gap by the red arrow, that makes it look like it is not sat squarely in place.

http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i429/Djclarky/DSCF1024Largea.jpg

Any thoughts?

If the rocker cover looks like it was sealing well, then from your pic .... you may well be onto something. It does look like the oil seal isn't sitting squarely.

Any idea when the oil seal was last changed?

Does the engine have much "blow by" fumes when running? Are the oil breather tubes blocked with oily sludge?
Am thinking of one tube which connects the rocker covers to each other, and another tube with the PCV valve in it.
Is the PCV valve working corectly, not blocked?

Only reason I ask is whether any blockage in the crankcase ventilation flow of gas may have pressurised the rocker cover and pushed that seal out....
your motor has done fair distance, after all.
Another symptom of "blow by" pressure might be if oily film or leak seeps from the oil filler cap.

Otherwise, it may be as simple as a camshaft seal wasn't seated properly at some time in the past. It does look crooked in your pic.

Good thinking there Elwyn. Have checked the breather is not blocked, but not the PCV valve. I know from reading previous posts that they are supposed to be changed regularly - I have never bothered. How do you check them? I doubt the seal would just have decided to dislodge itself, so I certainly think it's worth investigating.

I have owned the car for the last six years, and have done over 150,000 kms in it since I bought it (now on 300,000 kms) and the oil seal has never been changed in that time. I did the valve stem oil seals with the heads on about 70,000kms ago and that involved a bit of camshaft disturbance from memory - but that was nearly 3 years ago.

Have just checked the book, and it says to check the PCV valve every 20,000 kms. Says to shake it and make sure there is a rattling sound?

If I'm gonna do it, I may as well do the timing belt at the same time. Turning into a bit of an epic..

Hmmm,

"Otherwise, it may be as simple as a camshaft seal wasn't seated properly at some time in the past. It does look crooked in your pic."


The more I think about, when I was doing the valve stem oil seals, whilst turning the engine over to move pistons up and down, the camshaft did lift a bit at times as we had the bearings unbolted and we ended up skipping a tooth on the cambelt. This caused no damage, but a lot of extra work. I wonder if that could have somehow twisted the oil seal?

(Valve stem oil seals can be done with heads on, but it is rather fiddly, as I found out...)

Well, disturbing the camshaft with the seal in-place wouldn't help, plus seals just harden with age and heat anyway. For the tiny price of one new seal, plus the stuffing around to change it, you'd have it sorted I suppose.

With PCV valve, yeah it should rattle if shaken and should be able to blow thru in one direction but not the other. I doubt I've ever changed one either, but have checked them fairly rarely - never found a drama with them yet, but have seen sludgey tubes - squirt of carby cleaner or similar sorted it. Have also replaced one tube when it got hard and brittle on the 6G74 motors, voirtually the same thing as yours.

EDIT: Sludgey tubing cleaned when breather tube pulled off the car - just wanna make that plain.

Cheers Elwyn - will keep you posted on progress. Probably gonna make a start next weekend.

Is common for these seals to leak now days due to the camshaft having heavy wear on them from the old seals

The trick is to get a new one in there nice and square (which is easy when you have the right tools) and also to seat it in a slightly different place. Also make sure that the surface of the camshaft is nice and clean, a clean with some 1500grit wet and dry when the cam is out is the best bet, as you have to take off the belt and if has oil on it will need replacing, take out the cam and give that a good clean especially around the seal area.

If you do need parts, these can be supplied no worries, the rest is not too hard i you are confident to remove the timing belt

Thanks for the advice Madmagna.

Well, latest update, I pulled out the PCV Valve after work and dropped it down the gaps in the plenum chamber. Whilst leaning in the engine bay, trying unsuccessfully to hook it out with some wire, the top hose fitting of the radiator snapped off under my weight. Brand new radiator on order from ebay - $140, not a bad price admittedly.

On the plus side, local mitsubishi dealer has two new oil seals in stock - $18 dollars each.

This is turning into a bit of a mission...

Camshaft Sprocket removal? Not much of a flat on the camshaft to get an adjustble on like the book says? Anyone tackled this before?

Forget that - sussed it.

Turns out it was the oil seal (see pic):

http://s1093.photobucket.com/albums/i429/Djclarky/?action=view&current=DSCF1031Large.jpg

Had come right out. Turns out the rocker cover breather has gummed up - not the hose or the PCV valve, the actual metal connection in the top of the rocker cover. I'm guessing the pressure got too much and the seal pushed out.

I'm not completely finished yet, but have the timing belt reassembled and timed up.

Out of interest, the timing belt had done about 115,000 kms and was starting to show signs of light cracking and perishing. Book recommends to change them at 100,000 kms.