camcoverleaks

Cam Cover Leaks

Maurice offers:

Here is an exploded diagram of the cylinder heads with the cam covers.

The cam cover is part # 7, and there is one on each side of the engine.

To help orient you so that you know exactly where to look, follow the line that points from part #'s 29,27, and 28 (which are the spark plug tubes and O-rings) and you can see where the spark plugs are inserted. The spark plug tubes (and spark plugs inside of them) are each covered by (black) coil packs that have spark plug wires leading to them.

The most obvious place to look for your elusive leak(s) would be along the horizontal line formed by the edge of the cam cover formed roughly by drawing a line from #43 to #26. That is where gravity would pull the oil. To find the actual source, you should clean the entire perimeter of the cam cover and then inspect. Not super easy to do because of parts in the way that block your access (both manual and visual). No need to open the engine compartment. You can see them from underneath the car, or to get a more complete view, remove the rear wheels. You'll be able to see the coils and the spark plug wires leading to them so that you can orient yourself to the diagram.

Note also that there are a number of O-rings and seals (including the spark plug tube O-rings and #'s 16 and 26) that could be leaking in that area.

If you clean it up, you should be able to determine exactly where it is leaking from and keep an eye on it to see whether it's serious enough to warrant re-sealing (or maybe just replacing a seal or an O-ring).

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