msaturbo

I have a 86 944 Turbo. The cam cover gasket has blown and is leaking oil like crazy. I left the oil filler cap off on a long drive of several hours. Could this have caused the gasket to fail?

I had to fix this gasket once before because of a leak, but it is in a different spot than the first failure. Any ideas or suggestions on a fix would be helpful.

Thanks,

msaturbo

KuHL 951

Leaving the fill cap off wouldn't effect the cam tower gasket leaking as it would relieve excess crankcase pressure not create it. If it has happened to you before I think I would check the tower base for flatness as well as the top of the head. Another issue could be bad threads in the head where it bolts down. The torque on the cam tower is pretty low and it doesn't take much for a bolt in a compromised tapped hole to loosen up. Since you have done this before I assume the surfaces were well prepared and cleaned well with acetone or xylene first?

Keithr726

I've heard of them failing from over torquing. Mine was done three years ago and is now starting to leak just a small amount.

samluke

They leak if they are not installed perfectly dry and perfect torque. If you cant get it to stay leak free, even if its dry and properly assembled then its a sign the cambox surface is not flat.

Don't be tempted to start using sealants, have the cambox surfaced, just enough to clean it up.

hosrom_951

Could be a warped cam tower/cylinder head as well......

Clean and dry is how you want to install it.

schwank

When I bought my car the receipts from a prior head job had indicated the cam tower might not seal properly due to cam tower warping. Sure enough, it leaked from the rear onto the exhaust. I just bought a spare one from a 'lister for $20 and used that... after a year of hard track use, dry as a bone.

special tool

hahaha - that guy ripped the
gasket when he installed it and said it was warped.
What a scab.

Its very easy to rip these gaskets because you are concentrating on the lifters.

schwank

Wish it were that simple. The gasket was perfect on removal. I actually thought of reusing it.

The car actually sat for about a year after a head job due to timing belt failure. PO never picked it up, shop sold it for cost recovery. It had probably 200 miles total since the head job when I pulled it.

Ah well. Warped cam towers make for nice garage wall decorations

KuHL 951

Has anyone ever checked their cam towers for warpage after being powder coated? I know a longer head like BMW can warp in an oven if not clamped in a jig.

Trucho-951

msaturbo, check your Air/Oil separator (AOS) pipe for obstruction. There is an "S" bend on the pipe right before the hose that attaches it to the "J" pipe. If the AOS pipe is clogged and not venting the crankcase blow-by gases, the build up in pressure can be enough to start blowing out your gaskets.

In searching for a solution to another somewhat related problem (smoking turbo), I found that my AOS pipe was blocked at the "S" bend. So I used some housing electrical copper wire to unclogg it, lost of crud from over the years had accumulated in there. Then I attached a shop vacuum, removed the oil filler cap, and vaccumed all the crud out of there.

Back in April wihen my cam tower gasket blew, I was also puzzled as to why there was so much pressure in the engine to blow out the gasket, next my oil cooler housing gasket was starting to fail, and I had to change that. Now I'm glad to have cleaned out the AOS pipe otherwise, who knows, maybe the oil pan gasket would have been next.

SamGrant951

Thats a scary thought, I just had one coated and it was a multi-step process...eek.

To the same point I had another small piece powdercoated recently that is driving me nuts and after talking with a local lister the only thing we could come up with is its warped as Ive sealed it every way possible and even with no pressure on the coolant system it leaks...

87944turbo

Sam, I can hook you up with the shop I use if you want to have that stuff checked out and corrected if needed.

Luis de Prat

Leaving the car sit for extended periods can also cause this type of leak, particularly if you use full synthetic engine lubricant.

I had the cam tower gasket replaced right when I bought my bone stock 951 at only 60K miles in 2000 and let it sit for long periods due to living overseas only to have it start leaking again in 2005.

Now that I use the car regularly I haven't had any issues in 2+ years and about 77K. Car is still 100% stock.