Cam tower-to-head gasket sealant?

[AZ79]

I've had this frustrating oil leak ever since I rebuilt this engine earlier this year. I've replaced ALL gaskets, every one. I've replaced all the seals. Today I drove it 100 miles, all around Phoenix, and when I got back home, every spark plug well was full to overflowing with oil. Oil was covering everything, all splashed up to the underside of my hood, every surface in the engine compartment, heck, even oil on my windshield. I'd say I lost a quart and a half just in that 100 miles. Oils seems to be pouring out of it, but Damned if I can ever detect exactly where it's coming from.
So after trying everything else, I wonder, should there have been some type of silicone sealant or something put on the gaskets at the bottom of the cam towers? I mean, it LOOKS like it could be coming from there... It's pretty much the final thing to try. It's aggravating.
I've replaced the oil filler cap gasket, the cam cover gaskets are new neoprene, the cam seals are good... The gasket rings that go under the big hex bolts that hold down the cam covers... Front main seal, aux pully seal... Everything I can think of is new and replaced... And it still pours.

[vandor]

Clean off all the oil, and the run the engine, possibly revving it to get the oil pressure up, and see where the oil is coming from. If that much came out in 100 miles, you should be able to see the leak.

[digitech]

I had a similar issue when I put my engine back together last year, no amount or type of sealer that I tried would stop the leak. I nearly caused more problems with excessive silicon trying to stop the leak. Assuming your cam tower/head surfaces are flat, my recommendation is to get the Guy Croft cam tower gaskets from Csaba - they work great. I sent them to Jon Logan and he installed them after he straightened out the poor machine work that had been done on my head. The gasket incorporates a bead of silicon and it's all that's needed.

[Schnauzer]

AZ79. I had the same problem and did all of the gasket swaps (except 0ne). The oil cap gasket. That is very possibly the source of your leak. It was my problem. Also make absolutely certain you have no bends, kinks, or restrictions in the crankcase vent hose. That will cause increased internal pressures and leaks past gasket surfaces.

Jim

[baltobernie]

The torque spec for the hex cam cover bolts is ridiculously low, and it's possible that a PO wrenched them down too far and warped the covers.

[AZ79]

I wanted to resurrect this old thread because I finally solved the oil leak problem. It was the driver-side front cam seal.
The reason I could never see exactly where the leak was coming from was because when oil is on a spinning wheel, you cant see it pool up or drip from it... And when the engine is off, the oil has already flung off the wheel and it's relatively "dry" compared to everything around it. I FINALLY got around to replacing the cam tower gaskets a few weeks ago, and it still leaked oil as bad as it ever did. So I KNEW it had to be the seal. I replaced it and bingo! No more leak!

It's amazing how much oil can fling from that seal.

[RRoller123]

That is great! I agree with BaltoBernie about the torque spec on the cam boxes, 14 seems crazy low! But they don't leak, and I have what are very likely the original gaskets. Checked torque before I adjusted the valves and a couple were even a little loose too.

[DanD]

In the old days we used to use Permatex Form a Gasket # 1 for those gaskets. They will never leak, but they are darned hard to get off later, and hard to clean up after to boot. The stuff was developed for WW1 Radial engines, and it is a forever type of seal. If you ever have a problem getting an intake manifold to seal, this stuff will do it.

BTW, I am not really recommending it, but it is a part of the arsenal.