Daniel5691

Hello all, hope everyone had a pleasant weekend.
I would like you to observe the following photos and offer opinions/experiences if possible...

1981 928S Euro 5 speed, chasing a passenger side, front-of-engine oil leak. The leak started spontaneously, was really noticeable, as oil poured out on the exhaust manifold and created The Great White Cloud of Drama.

I had initially considered only a leaking cam tower gasket, but following advice here I disassembled the front of the engine to first investigate the possibility of leaking front cam seals. Here is what I found:



First, above, here is the rear camshaft cover with the passenger side cam gear removed. There is no obvious leak at this position.




In the second image, above, I have carefully pulled the outermost seal. Oil was present behind this seal.




Above, following the arrow, oil was observed in this area following removal of the outer seal.




Above, as the back plate was removed, oil again is seen in the same area.







In the 2 images above, the "engine-side" of the cam cover plate can be seen, with the o-ring.





And finally in the last 2 images, with the air pump removed and with better lighting, the pattern of the oil leak can be seen.

In the inspection mirror a black/dark "splotch" below one of the cam tower bolts can be seen.

This black stuff is not oil, and it is not wet. It looks like some type of dried sealing material.

Initially, before disassembly and when I was unable to get my hands on this area, I had thought that this "black splotch" next to the cam tower bolt was a trail of oil, and the source of the leak. It is not.

So, my question:

Does this pattern of observations suggest a cam tower gasket leak,
or,
leaking front cam seals?

Thanks, as always.

Dan

Mrmerlin

it looks like a cam tower leak,
the front Oil seal does not look to be leaking ,
finding oil behind it is normal

Greg Brown has new style gaskets to replace the factory gaskets

Daniel5691

Thanks for the input Stan, this is what I "feared" ha ha.
I am now going to carefully try to plan a common-sense WYAIT list as I pull the motor and replace this cam tower gasket.
I have a horrible habit of fixing things that aren't broken until they break, and then breaking them again as I un-re-fix them LOL. Dan