328 leaking cam seal housing

Ian,

Last year I had a problem with new cam cover gaskets shrinking enough to allow leaks near each end of the camshaft. The material shrunk enough to actually elongate the holes for the cam cover studs. Are yours a black/dark gray material, or green material? Mine were black/dark gray, supplied by a major supplier. I posted about the problem at the time, the supplier saw the post and refunded my purchase price. If yours were supplied about 18 months ago, that is almost exactly when I purchased mine.

I replaced my cam cover gaskets with the green material and no leaks at all now.

Jeff

 

I would think the o ring would not rotate, it is compressed slightly I think by the cam being bolted in. Between the o ring and the gasket is a common leak location. The gasket is supposed to be trimmed slightly away from the o ring so during any expansion, contraction, compression of installation, the gasket will not cut the o ring, then in that tiny gap a dab of sealant should be installed.

Your choice on how you feel about the leak. How often you do your cam belts. If you are 1.5 years from new cam belts you might keep it clean, if you are 3.5 years from cam belts or more it would be nice to not have to worry about the leak. I would pull the cam cover and see what you have before making the decison on pulling the cam or not.

I seem to recall hearing that the chemical makeup of that o ring has changed over the years and none available today seal as well as they used to. FWIW.

 

Had the same problem after my last major two years ago. The rear cam seal started leaking just a drop at a time, but it leaked onto the exhaust and the burning smell was making me sick. Debated redoing the seal, but decided to try another approach, if it didn't work I could always replace the seal.
I decided to seal the cam with silicon from the outside. Since the entire cam seam cannot be reached from the top I had to raise the car on jacks. I let the car sit for a couple of days to let as much oil out of the seam as possible. I then used a can of Berrymens Chem- tool in the spray can to clean the cam surface and seam area. (you can probably use a spray can of brake cleaner) I repeated this four or five times to make sure all oil residue had been removed
from the surfaces, both top, bottom and in between. I then put some oil resistant silicon sealant on my finger and forced the sealant into the cam seam from both the top and bottom. I let this dry for a day and then put another coat on the next day and let it dry. That was six months and still no leak. The sealant is silver in color and you barely notice it.

 

Sorry, I've been gone a couple of days. But to answer your concerns, you don't have to remove anything to make the repair I described.
Remember the car is on jack stands so you can reach up to the seal area. With a good light you can see the under side of the cam seal. First clean the top side as far back as you can, then go underneath, reach up and clean the bottom side up as far as you can. This is mostly done by touch. Repeat until things are good and clean. Then with some silicon on your finger reach up and apply as far as you can reach around the cam( work it in) then back up to the top and apply on the top side as far back as you can. My total time was about an hour and a half. One thing to make it easier is to use the small tube on the spray cleaner to direct your cleaner right on the cam seal gap.