Oil pooling in Cam Tower

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

My engine has started to leak oil pretty badly lately. I thought I had traced it to the cam tower gaskets, and took off the cam cover to tighten the bolts. Inside, I learned that oil is pooling in the front half of the cam tower. I assume this isn't supposed to happen.

Next step is to figure out how to clear the passage. Anybody dealt with this before? Where do I start?

[So Cal Mark]

oil should be pooled in the cam housing, that's what cools the valve springs. The drainback holes are up pretty high so the oil level is usually up to the bottom of the cam

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

Once again. Mark to the rescue. Thanks.

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

Should the oil level in the cam housing get so high as to leak out around the bottom of the distributor? I'm getting a lot of leakage from there. I replaced the rubber seal around the bottom, and even applied gasket sealer around the opening and the distributor. Still getting leakage.

With the engine off and cool, there's still enough oil in the cam housing (dist. side) that it leaks about 1/2 cup of oil out when I remove the distributor. The right side cam is about 1/2 submerged in oil. Even when the engine is cool, and I would think some of that would drain away.

Where are the oil drain holes located? I can't seem to find any pics that show the drain holes. This oil leak is bad because it's right above the heat shield/ exhaust manifold, so it creates a thick, stinky smokescreen wherever I go. Especially at stoplights. I need to fix it right away, because driving my Saturn is bad for my self esteem.

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

After studying engine cutaways, it looks to me like there aren't drain "holes" in the cam housing, but rather "overflows" along the sides that are long and narrow. Does this seem correct? They would maintain the oil at a certain level. Perhaps the oil seal I got for my distributor is too thin. I'm going to pull the dist. again and try a different sealer on it.

[ga.spyder]

Im curious to see where your leak is coming from. I have exactly the same one although its very slight.I have ordered a dizzy gasket as I think it starts there then drips onto the manifold.Keep us posted Craig

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

I'm at a loss. I pulled the dist. again, slathered the base and its' mating surface with Blue RTV, installed it and let it set 20 hours. Started it up, and it's still leaking oil. You know how the distributor is installed at an angle? The oil is leaking out from the high edge of the opening.

Could something like this be caused by excess crankcase pressure?

[ventura ace]

Hollywood,
How are you tightening the distributor clamp bolt? I guess what I'm really asking is, are you sure that it is tight? It is a bear to get in there with standard tools to turn the nut. If you have a good gasket and a good clean surface for both mating parts (no gouges, scratches, cracks, etc.), then you shouln't need any RTV. I'd look again real close for defects.

What I use for a tool is a closed-end wrench that I cut in half, to make it short enough for the tight space, and also used a grind wheel to grind the thickness down enough to allow it to fit over the nut. I'm able to tighten very snugly with this modified wrench.

Alvon

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

Alvon-

The tool I use is a 17mm open end wrench that came in the tool kit of a 1985 Toyota. It's short enough to get in there, and shaped perfectly. I have a similar length Suzuki wrench, but the end is too large to get in there. It's tight, alright. This is a problem that has recently gotten much worse. I've had a miniscule oil drip there since I got the distributor ('81 electronic from Ebay). Then recently I've noticed oil dripping from both cam tower gaskets. After tightening the cam tower bolts, the leakage there is gone, but the distributor leakage became very pronounced. I keep coming back to thinking the oil isn't draining from this area quick enough. I would like to know what path the oil takes to get back to the crankcase. I'm hoping I don't have to take the head off. I'm out of work right now, so I've got plenty of time, but no $$ for parts.

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

Do the exhaust manifold studs penetrate the oil passage? seems like oil is leaking from the manifold itself.

[mdrburchette]

Yep, I believe two of your studs go into oil galleys. The distributor has a seal on the shaft that could be leaking, as well as the paper like gasket that seals it to the cambox.
As far as cambox draining, I checked out an extra engine I had laying around. It seems the only drainage the cambox gets is from the two slit shaped holes halfway up the cambox wall so the cams should be sitting in oil. Also, the head has little dams that prevents the oil from draining back into the pan until it reaches a certain height. One thing for certain: A Fiat may be notorious for oil leakage but you rarely have oil related engine damage.

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

thanks for checking that spare engine. I figured those slits were overflows to maintain oil level. I'll retorque exhaust manifold bolts.

My dist. has a rubber ring around the base, but I'm lacking of any paper-type seal at the base.

[ventura ace]

Hollywood,
I'm not familiar with an o-ring seal between the distributer and cam tower. In my limited exposure, I've only run across a gasket seal. If you do indeed have an o-ring type seal, maybe you should chang the o-ring.

If your leak is the manifold, and not the distributor, this is starting to make more sense. The top 2 studs go through the wall, and will leak oil if not sealed properly. The threaded hole need to be sealed. I've had success with using high temp teflon paste on the threads of the stud. Others say, that it's not the threads that seal, but that you turn the stud all the way in tight until it shoulders up on the non-threaded portion. Either way, you need to seal off the threaded through-hole that holds the top 2 studs. Just tightening the exhaust manifold nut probably won't do anything for you. If there is enough of the stud sticking out, you may be able to double nut it in order to back it out for cleaning and appying teflon paste. More than likely, you'll need to remove the exhaust manifold to do a proper job, so you'll need a few gaskets, too.

The first thing you need to do is positively identify the leak. Try cleaning everything as well as possible, then crank it up and watch it to see where the oil is coming from. Good luck with it!

Alvon

[HOLLYWOODSPIDER]

Don't you hate when bad turns to worse? It turns out that the rearmost exhaust manifold stud's hole in the head is stripped out.
How do I even begin to fix this? I'm assuming that the head has to be pulled and taken to a machine shop. I've never dealt with anything like this before.

regarding the o-ring seal on the dist., I took the dist to the local (formerly-fiat) mechanic, and one of his guys took my dist. in the back and came out with a new o-ring already installed on it. I pulled the dist. again, and took that o-ring off. The o-ring is about 1/2 the size it should be. I think if I find the proper o-ring, it should seal.

Now to fix the stripped mounting hole for the exhaust stud...

[ventura ace]

The rearmost stud should not leak oil, only the top two. So, . . . you could possibly fix the oil leak by replacing the distributer o-ring, and drive the car to a shop to determine if the stripped stud can be helicoiled in place or not. I know that I would never attempt to put a helicoil in that location without pulling the head, but I don't have all the trick tools that a machine shop has -- maybe it can be done with proper tools. As a minimum the exhaust manifold will need to be removed, and probably a few other things to give room to work.

Or, you could pull the head, take it to a shop, and have it completely serviced while you are at it.

I hope your fortune improves!

Alvon