JBrown

Had my engine rebuilt and had a leak at the rear cam gear housing. My mechanic said it was my fault because I used a aftermarket oil filter that does not have a check valve. He sad the oil pressure goes to high and put a hole in the gasket. I called a couple of shops and they said that was bull----.
They said that if you have too much pressure that you would see a problem with other seals first. One mechanic said those gaskets are so thin (like paper) and they are common if you did not clean the head or cam gear cover good that would cause the gasket to break. I am now using an original oil filter.
The leak was also torward the back of the motor. What do you guys think and do any of you guys use aftermarket filter and do you have problems with them. Thanks John

George D

I've had two leak in a six month period. I went with the LR metal gasket with no issues. Both recent gaskets were under number four and leaked on my header...smoky...then flames the second time. Good thing I keep an extinguisher in the car.

We recently did some motor work and had the cam cover refaced to make sure that it was flat. We reused the metal gasket from LR.

They are worth the extra few bucks.

theedge

That mechanic is a retard of amazing proportions. No check valve in the filter causes slightly slow build up of oil pressure on startup and dry starts, since the filter drains out and has to be refilled.

If you are getting overall high pressure, it would be caused by the OPRV (Oil Pressure Relief Valve) located by the oil filter (its not touched by changes, etc).

If you continue getting a leak at ONLY the back passenger side of the cam tower and youve ruled out gunk, nicks in the metal there and on the camshaft box, and bolt torque issues, then a likely causes is the oil pressure valve that is located in the cylinder head at that spot. It is the small hole in the cylinder head. Those can get jammed and cause high oil pressure through that passage which can blow the gasket. They can get jammed due to cylinder head machining.

They are fairly easy to replace. Its nothing but a small press fit cap, spring, and a ball bearing. Total cost is like $10 in parts.

Luis de Prat

IIRC, in addition to the cam cover gasket proper, there's a cork gasket at the back of the cam cover that tends to leak as well.