Oil leak solved - Raceseng billet aluminum cam plate
 

Like a number of other manual transmission owners on this forum, I quickly realized that I had a situation with oil leaking from my passenger side rear cam plate cover. The repeatable symptom was that when pushing the car hard above 4k rpm, drops of oil would be forced out from the faulty factory seal of the rear cam plate and land directly on the hot overpipe. This resulted in a foul odor and is definitely not something that should be happening to a brand new 2013 model year car.

While this doesn't affect all manual transmission twins, it's prominent and annoying enough to spark a number of owners to visit the dealership for a warranty fix. I followed the experiences of others who took their cars in in this thread. What I observed was that there seemed to be a hit or miss result in regards to both the dealer applied fix and individual fixes that owners were performing and documenting. I followed the thread for weeks waiting for a TSB and debating attempting my own fix.

I saw a post from @Raceseng asking if there would potentially be any interest in an aftermarket solution to this problem. This is exactly what I had been waiting for, so I excitedly replied that yes I would be very interested indeed! I was even more excited when I got a PM a few weeks later asking if I would like to be a prototype tester for the part! :D A few days later, I got this in the mail:

http://imageshack.us/a/img9/346/qmrx.jpg

From start to end my experience with Raceseng has been great. These are consummate professionals, folks! I'm happy to have been able to fine tune some of the installation instructions and provide real world feedback on their cam plate's functionality.

The Install:

Comparison of the stock plate on the left and the Raceseng on the right.
http://imageshack.us/a/img839/5836/a09c.jpg

Looking closer, you can see the one of the faults of the factory silicone gasket material, the small seam in the gasket caused by the two pieces of the aluminum engine block meeting.
http://imageshack.us/a/img836/6820/l2ua.jpg


Here is the view immediately after taking the stock plate cover off. Notice the seam created where the two sections meet.
http://imageshack.us/a/img43/5893/o2xk.jpg


Install finished!
http://imageshack.us/a/img706/7859/2tr5.jpg

Overall a really simple install, one of the keys was making sure the engine was cold so that oil wasn't flowing down from the engine back down to the oil pan. Another was making sure the area was perfectly clean by using brake and parts cleaner to ensure there was no oily residue left on the surface of the metal.

Here's a spread of the installation materials, minus the brake and parts cleaner:
http://imageshack.us/a/img541/8268/7o4o.jpg


Results:

I'm happy to report that after nearly a thousand miles of spirited driving, there is not a single drop of oil present. I would continuously check after every hard drive but now I've stopped doing that since I'm so confident in the part. Hats off to Raceseng for the great design and effort put into this part, highly recommended.

I had to show some respect, so now I am rocking their sticker on my rear window along with my Proud of BOXER sticker. :party0030:
http://imageshack.us/a/img824/1037/ufsa.jpg


B-b-b-bonus! Here is what the final version of their plate will look like:

wow! great review and this product will help many members!

Watching

Clipdat,

I am curious as to how well this works down the line. Keep us posted!

-Cars By JohnnyRey

When will it be ready?

I know that the production is underway, maybe @Raceseng will chime in here on Monday with an estimated availability date and price. :)

Fan tastic

I agree with this review.

Raceseng also sent me this to test out for my turbo application.

With the stock cam plate, i had a massive oil leak. More so after i mounted a scavenger oil pump.

This cam plate solved my leak issues. I put over 5000 miles on this already with the turbo and still no leaks.

Great product! Top notch company :)

1. What was the gray gasket sealer used for?

2. In the picture of the block with the plate removed, was there an O-ring located in the small relief around the upper opening since I do not see a small O-ring anywhere in your pictures. (There is one on the new plate)

3. Where is this plate located on the block?

The Permatex gray was placed over the upper and lower seams to bolster the sealant of that particular area along with the rubber o-ring. I believe it's the same methodology that Subaru recommends for sealing of timing plate covers.

The secondary o-ring will likely not be on the production plate. There doesn't seem to be any oil flow coming from that secondary hole so I believe it's inclusion on the prototype plate was a "just in case" type scenario.

The physical location of the plate is the passenger side rear of the engine. If you pop the hood and stick your head down in the area where the battery is you will see the oem plate.

the cam plate is located just above the downpipe.

if you're leaking oil, it will drip down the downpipe and you'll definitely smell it burning

Subscribed.

Nice looking product but how it it better than properly RTV'ing your stock plate (other than aesthetics)? I fixed my stock plate about 5-6k ago, no leaks.

Top not work as usual @Raceseng! Have you considered offering a cam plate with an optional oil return port?

As a reference point my Feb '13 build BRZ is dry as a bone under that blanking plate at 2,600 km.

I will surely keep an eye (or finger more likely) on it from time to time though.

We're considering this. We are weighing out the options of what the most reliable form of manufacturing would be.

As stated in one of the past threads, the stamped steel and aluminum head and cam cover have different rates of expansion when the vehicle goes through the paces. Its not a huge difference but it does put a very small amount of strain in the sealer/gasket. So we did ours out of billet aluminum and utilized the continual sealing pressure of a high-temp o-ring. The same technique is used for the timing cover for the sealer/o-ring combination from the factory as well.

Chiming in: we will make a price announcement tomorrow (Tuesday 8/27)
Parts should be available in two weeks.

@Raceseng

If you can provide this, I will be glad to do an install video about it, as I have had the leak since day one. PM me when you have a minute.

?

did i miss it?

I missed it too.

Any chance you will have a group buy on this when available? Judging from the number of posts in the problem thread I think there would be considerable interest.

Absolutely! The final product images are being loaded to the store right now!Attachment 51008


Jarrett Seng

Raceseng | Owner
610.336.0206

Me want one

Add me to the list @Raceseng

The Raceseng Cam Plate is ready to be purchased. Instead of doing a group buy which takes days and weeks to fulfill... We decided to offer a discounted price to the first 30 buyers. We only made 30 cam plates, so it is first come first serve! All orders ship same day as long as they are placed before 4PM (EST).

Check out the Cam Plate on our webstore - http://www.raceseng.com/cam-plate-20...r-s-subaru-brz

Any questions, please feel free to email me directly - jarrett (@) raceseng.com

Thanks much!

http://www.raceseng.com/media/catalo...am-plate-1.jpg

http://www.raceseng.com/media/catalo...am-plate-3.jpg

Just ordered

Ordered.

Glad you guys followed through on this, as it's one of those that won't make you a ton of money but is really an improvement on a pretty weak OEM design. Mine has been leaking since about 1000 miles and never touched in hopes this would be released.

Thank you!


Jarrett Seng

Raceseng | Owner
610.336.0206

What is your recommended install, read first post obviously. RTV on plate or motor?
Under or over seal?

It comes with a complete installation guide, I will load the guide up to the Cam Plate product page tomorrow and put a link to it on here.

Ordered!

Same. Ordered!

Where do I apply the silicone gasket maker on the plate? All around the outer edges or around the black washer or only around the bolt areas? I'm guessing around the edge where it contacts the engine.

It tells you where in the instructions. Has a picture as well. 2 dabs (1/4" round) where the notches are that split the O-ring surface(on the engine, not the plate). Install plate, torque to 12 lb-ft, wait 45 minutes, then torque to 14 lb-ft and let the sealant dry.

Sorry I couldn't address this question sooner. Looks like cnk got you squared away. Let me know if you have any other questions!

The silicone gasket maker says that it takes 24hrs to cure. Should I wait to use my car for 24hrs?

I waited over 24hrs when I did mine. I figured with RTV curing, longer would be better...

NO more available???

do u have pdf instructions online?

More cam plates are being made, the material just came today. Send me an email - jarrett (@) raceseng.com - I'll send you the instructions


Jarrett Seng

Raceseng | Owner
610.336.0206

emailed and i want that price :(