mysterious oil leak. Any help would be appreciated.

jdean41

New Member
So i replaced my valve cover gasket a few days ago. When i got everything back on i fired her up and checked for leaks. I couldnt see where it was leaking anywhere so job well done there. A couple days go buy and i pop my hood to check my oil to find oil all over my block. I have no clue where its coming from. I cant tell if its coming from the valve cover or where. Give me some ideas please. And thanks in advance.
 

3Axis

mothaf*cka...
Could be the camshaft plug on the back end of the exhaust camshaft, right in front of the distributor. I have the same problem on my car because the seal has failed and the plug lets around a whole quart of oil out of the engine.
Anyhow, the seal just appears to be a black circle sitting between the valve cover and the cylinder head, when it actually is shaped like a spool. Run your finger along the underside and if it's saturated with oil, it's the source. AFAIK, the plug supposed to have either a silicone or rubber ring to prevent oil from passing from the camshaft deadspace to the outside of the engine. I imagine that plug isn't supposed to move but Ion my car it will actually shuffle left and around about half a centimeter in its seating, which I know isn't good. Anyhow, I agree with SFD. Get some pics up.
 


jdean41

New Member
upon looking at it early with a good spotlight it is coming through the cap on the outside of the seal. Anyone gonna give me a good description of how to change it. And please fo the love of all things holy tell me i can do it without pulling my valve train apart cuz thats gonna blow
 

Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
if its the cap on infront of the distribtor aka the cam seal cap. you take off the valve cover and undo the clasp over it and pop it off
 

jdean41

New Member
yeah its really simple. I just looked it up. Take off the valve cover and pull the cam plate off and it comes right out, re seal the new one with high temp silicone and bam your done
 


3Axis

mothaf*cka...
Is it really that simple? I read that the entire series of camshaft covers had to be removed in incremental torque sequence.
 

01FTW

New Member
3Axis said:
Is it really that simple? I read that the entire series of camshaft covers had to be removed in incremental torque sequence.
Click to expand...
Dude its so fuggin easy youll be shocked. Yes, remove in the specified incramental torque sequence, thats a given.
 

3Axis

mothaf*cka...
And the tension on the timing belt doesn't tip the camshaft out of the journals? assuming I know anything at all
 

Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
3Axis said:
Is it really that simple? I read that the entire series of camshaft covers had to be removed in incremental torque sequence.
Click to expand...
you are thinking about the cam seals not the cam cap. the cam cap is on the dizzy side cam seals are on the timing side
 

jdean41

New Member
yeah all you have to remove is the exhaust cam plate. You have to take the bolts out and re torque them in a certain sequence but thats not very hard to do. im just gonna pull the sequence up on my lap top when i change the plug this week. Ordering a blackworks racing one today for 15 bucks. Ill try and take pics when i do it at some point this week.
 

jdean41

New Member
would the cam seal from a b18b fit an a1? i assume it would cuz they are basically universal among b series engines and theres not much difference between the b and the a1
 

3Axis

mothaf*cka...
AFAIK the only difference between A1 and B1 is the presence of VTEC on the B1.
 
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