Vjgtrybno1

easily identified. This is the 86 NA Andrew bought last week. There is oil coming from the vicinity of the exhaust manifold of cylinder one (closest to the firewall) Can't tell exactly where, but it drips onto the exhaust pipes, causing mega smokation. It runs along the exhaust and then drips to the ground. Any ideas/remedies? Thanks.

Yabo

Isn't that cylinder 4? Regardless, it sounds like it could be a leaking cam tower gasket or possibly the rear cam seal.

Vjgtrybno1

Sorry about misidentifying the cylinders. I have documentation that 2 cam seals were replaced about 2500 miles ago. One was $20, one was $3. Does that make sense? Also front and rear crank seals and the intermediate shaft seal.

KLR

I'm with Devon. The two most likely culprits are the cam tower gasket (separates the entire cam tower -- which looks like a valve cover -- from the head, kind of like a valve cover gasket) or the round cork gasket at the back of the cam tower. This gasket is under a round cap held on by 3 bolts at the back of the cam tower, and is pretty easy to replace in about 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the cam tower gasket is much more likely, particularly if you can see the oil seeping above the #4 exhaust runner. A cam tower gasket change is a 6+ hour job for a pro, but you can get a labor-free timing belt change out of the deal.

xsboost90

prob. the cork gasket installed w/o sealer on it.....or the cambox itself not torqued correctly.

Vjgtrybno1

Guys, thanks - does anyone know the proper amount of force for the cam bolts?

mark944turbo

15 foot pounds.

Vjgtrybno1

I checked the cam box bolts and they seem to be torqued ok. Cleaned it up and fired up the engine - I saw the oil proceed from the vicinity of the 2nd bolt on the bottom side of the cam box, moving toward the firewall. Presumably it then drips onto the where the exhaust bolts into the block and then drips onto the header for cylinder #3.

So I call the shop that did the PPI and a fair amount of other work for us and talk to the mechanic who says - the gasket for the cambox looked like it was splitting a little, but it wasn't leaking real bad. I told him that it is now and I wish they would've replaced the gasket while the cam box was off it (they retensioned the timing belt for us). I just wish they would've asked me. Man!

RMills944

yeah - I hate the smell of oil. When that happened to mine, it was a head gasket, but the car still ran fine for about 10,000 miles afterward till I fixed it.

Vjgtrybno1

Hopefully the final chapter is now written. With help from nine-44, we took off the cam box - alright, we provided him cokes and emotional support! - and - surprise, the rip in the gasket was right where it was leaking. In a jiffy, the new gasket was installed and all is well - for the time being. Thanks, Andy!

caster951

Glad to hear you got the leak fixed, Vince. I hope Andrew is enjoying the car, it is a beauty!

xsboost90

damn you guys were over there working and didnt call me! Im sitting at home all bored and two blocks away your working on a 944, man.

Vjgtrybno1

Shane,
Your old cookies are looking mighty fine on the red beast! Yes, he is having a blast, thanks to Doc Boost. Dan, didn't know you were close at hand. I will call you for sure for the S2 oil cooler seals and cam tower painting party later this month.

Mighty Shilling

you guys need to find me a turbo to buy out there...black on tan... so i have somewhere to go on spring break... then we can have a real party