Cam Cover Oil Leak
 

My '99 has a small cam cover oil leak. Actually, its more than a seep and less than what I'd call a leak (no drops on the garage floor, but I can see oil under the cam covers). Dealer said to just ignore it unless it gets much worse and said to re-seal the cam covers would be ~$1,000 in labor.

Really? Can someone tell me why re-sealing the cam covers is so time consuming?

I am not talking about taking off the heads, but just removing the cam covers, scraping off the old sealant and cleaning the surfaces, and reapplying new sealant and re-installing the covers. Sounds like ~3 hrs of work, not the 7-10 that I got from the dealer (and I read the same number of hours in various forums).

Can someone who's done this give me a quick run-down in regards to what am I missing or underestimating? When someone re-builds a Boxster engine do they spend 10 hours just getting the cam covers re-sealed?

Your dealer is correct; do not remove the cam covers unless you have a substantial leak (e.g.: dripping). Nearly all cars we see have some evidence of oil “sweating” near the mating seam with the heads, it is completely normal. Removing, cleaning, and resealing the cam covers is not difficult, but it is very time consuming; and quite often results in more problems than it solves. If there isn’t a real issue, leave it alone……………..

I was told that I can pull the Cam Cover bolts out one at a time then either replace or clean exisiting bolts with alcohal then a little permatex on the head and put back in in and make sure I do not over tighten. What do you all think?

That sometimes works but only if the leaks are from the bolts, although I would not use Permatex.

What would you use to reseal bolts in this manner ?

Loctite 5900

I had good results by replacing the 3 (4?) bolts along the lower cam cover. I took them out one at a time, thoroughly cleaned the threads going into the head by chasing them gently with a tap, flushing with brake cleaner, then installing the new, micro encapsulated bolTs from the dealer with a good goober of sealant. Don't over torque the bolts!

It's hasn't completely solved the leak, but it went from a persisten drip to a drop of oil every now and then.

I sent some pics to my mechanic and he said that I probably have a cam cover leak. Now I don't recall this leak prior to my large service with them. I'm thinking about just replacing the bolts as you guys have done. What's the torque spec for those bolts.

10 ft/lbs make sure you get the correct bolts, 10.9 grade & 30mm long I think