Cam tower oil leaks

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tcrooks
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2018 7:39 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000
Location: N-California

Cam tower oil leaks

Post by tcrooks »

Leaking cam tower, dripping on exhaust header, should I just retorque anyone have a sure-fire fix?
1964 MGB (totaled)
1971 MGBGT (sold)
1300 ST Honda Motorcycle
https://imgur.com/Zh5Zp3M/
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MattVAS
Patron 2020
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Posts: 225
Joined: Thu May 18, 2017 11:10 am
Your car is a: 1976 Fiat Spider 124

Re: Cam tower oil leaks

Post by MattVAS »

There is no 100% cure.
1. The exhaust tower lovingly gets a TON of oil.
2. The top two studs of the exhaust manifold actually don't have bottom they go all the way into the cam tower. This makes them love to leak.
3. More oil gets into the tower than can really get out.

Fixes
1. reduce the amount of oil getting into the tower
2. seal the top two exhaust studs and cross your fingers
3. replace the gaskets to help with any already caused issues
4. attempt to clean up the oil return areas to assure the best flow back down the motor

NOW the number one quicky fix that helps everyone because everyone forgets about it.
CLEAN YOU OIL VAPOR SEPARATOR!!! This is the little canister on the drivers side of the block. It has one long hose to the filter/intake (depends on year) and one small hose that goes right back to the block. This canister will get clogged and thus cause a pressure build up in the motor. Some of the weakest torqued gaskets are on the cam tower and that is where this excess of pressure loves to purge itself. So, pull it clean it and probably replace the hoses.
Matt Phillips
Vick Auto - Manager
http://www.vickauto.com
Stock parts or Performance parts we've got what you need.
nyc124
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2018 3:45 pm
Your car is a: 1970 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: Cam tower oil leaks

Post by nyc124 »

Do you have a picture of what the oil vapor separator looks like? The PO of my 1970 rearranged the entire engine bay, so very few things are where they should be.
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MattVAS
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Posts: 225
Joined: Thu May 18, 2017 11:10 am
Your car is a: 1976 Fiat Spider 124

Re: Cam tower oil leaks

Post by MattVAS »

Image
Matt Phillips
Vick Auto - Manager
http://www.vickauto.com
Stock parts or Performance parts we've got what you need.
DRUMMOND
Patron 2018
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Posts: 443
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:11 pm
Your car is a: Fiat Spyder 2000 1980 Pininfarina

Re: Cam tower oil leaks

Post by DRUMMOND »

I used gasket sealant on both sides of a new gasket. so far so good about 250 miles. its a Nissan sealant for timing belt covers.
As Matt says make sure the 4 bolts 2 on intake and 2 on exhaust get sealed also.
tcrooks
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2018 7:39 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000
Location: N-California

Re: Cam tower oil leaks

Post by tcrooks »

Really great advice, thanks so much!
1964 MGB (totaled)
1971 MGBGT (sold)
1300 ST Honda Motorcycle
https://imgur.com/Zh5Zp3M/
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