Cam Plate Leak Repair
 

My BRZ, manufactured in June 2012, has somewhere north of 16.5K miles on it and a couple of weeks ago I began smelling faint wisps of burnt motor oil. I knew about the leaking cam plate issue but, had no idea where it was on the engine until a fellow BRZ owner pointed it out to me at Cars & Coffee last Saturday.

Sure enough, a visual indicated I had a leak there. Then, I did some research and came across these two threads:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26197
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45097

Many folks with this problem will likely take their car into the dealer as this should be covered under the warranty. I am a DIY kind of person and chose not to deal with a dealer on this one.

I wanted to use Three Bond 1184 FIPG type sealant for the fix but, could not find it locally. Opted for Permatex Ultra Grey easily obtainable at your local Auto parts store or Wally World. There was mention of a side plate leak so I got an inspection mirror out to see if I could determine if that was the case.

IMO the leak occurred because there was not enough sealant between the two surfaces plate/engine. I’m not gonna go in to great detail of how to clean parts or remove old sealant. Nor will I go into detail of what tools are needed for the repairs. Follow the instructions on the brand of sealant you end up using.

The following is the procedure/technique I used to successfully stop my car from leaking oil at the cam plate:

Inspect underside of cam plate area to determine if the "side plate" gasket is not leaking. If no leak is observed, remove the 3 bolts that attach the cam plate to the engine. If possible, let the engine sit overnight before removing the cam plate as will eliminate any possibility of oil flowing down and out of the area you will be cleaning and applying new sealer.

http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...ectionb-XL.jpg

Place some old rags or other absorbent material under to the cam plate area to catch any motor oil that may flow out. Carefully pry the cam plate loose from the engine and remove.
http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...%20off2-XL.jpg


A leaking cam plate cover should look something like this when removed. Note that there was very little sealant material towards the bottom of the hole.
http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...0plateb-XL.jpg

Darkened area appears to be the spot that was leaking or that may be the seam where the side plate seal is located.http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...closeup-XL.jpg

Remove the old sealant and prep the cover for re-installation. All old residue should be removed and a final cleaning with alcohol is a good idea. Again, follow the recommendations by the manufacturer of the new sealant.http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...20plate-XL.jpg

Prep the camshaft flange opening by removing old sealant material as well.http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...opening-XL.jpg

Because there is little room for sealant material between the two surfaces, I attached two wooden sticks with some masking tape to act as shims to allow some of the sealant to "set up" a bit before torquing the bolts to specs. Make sure you locate the sticks in a spot that will not interfere with the area receiving the sealant. The sticks will be removed later on.http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...0sticks-XL.jpg

Apply a 1/4" bead of sealant to the prepped camshaft opening on the engine. Carefully start the top bolt in to the threads. Try not to let the cover touch the sealant until you get the bottom two bolts started.


Gently finger tighten all three bolts evenly and snugged up to both wooden sticks at top and bottom. The instructions on the Permatex Ultra Grey sealant package said to let this sit for one hour...I let it sit for two hours.http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...20hours-XL.jpg

Remove the masking tape and slide out the wooden sticks carefully as to not disturb the seal. You may need to loosen the bolts slightly. At this point you may wish to tighten all three bolts by a half turn and allow the sealant to cure some more or go ahead and tighten all three bolts to spec. (Approx. 12 ft. pounds). I went ahead and torqued the bolts at this point and let the car sit for 24 hours.http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...ghtened-XL.jpg

After 24 hours, took a test drive for about 5 miles allowing engine to warm up to operating temperature and did some up hill streets and spirited turns in both directions. Did not smell any burning motor oil. After engine cooled I took some paper towels and wiped under the camshaft plate area and observed no freshly leaked oil.
http://extreme86.smugmug.com/Cars/Ca...20leaks-XL.jpg

1/21/13 ADDENDUM – IMPORTANT Update to Original Post! In my initial fix, I let the sealer cure for 2 hours before I removed the sticks and tightened up the plate to specs. This “fix” worked for awhile but we had some freezing temps a few weeks back and I left my car outside one night and then drove it on a freezing morning. I believe this is when it developed another slow leak.

Upon removal of plate, I noticed, as was the original factory install, there was very little gasket material between the two metal surfaces and it was obvious the 2 hour set-up time before tightening was not enough.
Also, the Permatex Ultra Grey seems to be a harder, less rubbery gasket material which is opposite of what this application needs with two dis-similar metals with likely different rates of expansion.

So, redid the fix – again using the 1/16” sticks as a “stop” to let the gasket material set-up at that thickness before final torque to specs. I used a softer high-temp red silicone RTV – cheap stuff from harbor freight I had on hand in a new tube. http://www.harborfreight.com/3-oz-rtv-silicone-red-90026.html

I let this sit for 36 hours to set-up/totally cure with the spacer sticks in place and then removed sticks and tightened to specs. So far, no leak one week later. I believe this left enough stuff in there to properly seal. But, who knows for sure??? I will update this post if anything changes in the upcoming weeks / months.

Recommendations:
1. If you DIY….Do not use Permatex Ultra Grey sealant – it will eventually fail.
2. If you like your dealer, take it in for warranty repair….but, you may have to return a couple of times before they actually fix this problem! See posts by Jimbobrand - he’s in my town and has had numerous visits getting the leak repaired and then the dealership finally damaging a fender in the process. This is why I decided to DIY.
3. IMO. Proper rubbery sealant is the key along with a technique that insures some time for set-up because if the sealer is still wet when the bolts are tightened, it will just squish out and result in a very thin layer of sealant and leak again in short order.
4. Buy the Raceseng cam plate and fix it right if you don’t want to potentially hassle with multiple trial and error “pooky” repairs!

Good Luck!!

Extreme.

Don't forget that these trick Raceseng plates are available still, they use an o-ring design and are a more permanent fix.

http://www.moto-east.com/store/raceseng-camplate.html

Thanks. Definitely the route I will take if this starts to leak again...and, I suspect it will with time. I guess I've bought a little more time to see if there will be some additional aftermarket o-ring plates developed to spark some competitive pricing. $85.25 shipped seems a bit steep. Sure wish I would have gotten in on the initial Raceseng $60 group buy...would easily pull the trigger to get one at that price.

^^ Well said. If the price was a little lower, I'm almost certain more people would not hesitate to buy. I'm in the fence as well, but just can't swallow that much for such a simple part. (yeah, yeah, i'm well aware of r&d and parts blah blah blah)

Dude.. It's 75 bucks.. Lol

Nice write up with great details. Doesn't make sense to waste $75 for the Raceseng cam plate. Just take it into the dealership since you're still covered under warranty.

^^^^ That's what I did. Actually went in because I noticed my coolant was below the low line. Took it to the dealership since they are right down the road from me and that's when they found my leak.

The way you did that, not right, likely to fail. Just saying. There's way too much clearance with those Popsicle sticks

@kiichiro Thanks! You are on the mark with your “fail” prediction but not for the reason stated. Popsicle stick thickness is about 1/16”. Problem with this plate design is that the way it is engineered there is practically zero allowance/clearance for any thickness of sealant between the surfaces of the plate and engine. See my 1/21/14 Addendum to the OP regarding a second attempt. I understand your logic, totally! It's a shame they didn't just design a nice rubber gasket for this plate.

@Chee-Hu @xxscaxx @BunnyRZed Yeah, the Raceseng plate @ $75 plus shipping ... it's beginning to look like a bargain right about now! But, I'm stubborn and always up for a challenge. If my "finger check" comes out oily next time, might have to pull the trigger on that purty little o-ring plate with the fancy engraved lettering that no one will ever see!!!

Extreme86, thanks for posting your write up, my leak was a little worse than yours. I went ahead and purchased the Raceseng Plate, but your pics/explaination were a helpful contribution to the Raceseng instructions. BTW - the Raceseng plate is a nice quality piece, it's $75, but worth it. No leakage since I installed it.

Is this still an issue on newer cars? Toybaru have done nothing to fix it?

I've been getting a burning smell thinking I was burning my clutch until I stumbled on these oil leak threads. Went and took a look at my cam plate and there appears to be some oil drops on the exhaust manifold. Mine is a Jul '13 build.

Sorry guys, I can't help but wonder if I'm missing something...is there some reason I can't just buy a sheet of rubberized gasket material and cut out a gasket for it? It looks to me like that would be a easy permanent fix.

They will fix it under warranty - don't know if there is a TSB on it yet. Probably the luck of the draw as to how well the original sealant was applied when engine was built as to whether a leak develops or not. Some leak, most don't....it seems. As long as the percentage remains low, I doubt they develop an alternate fix...a recall would cost big $$$. If this leak became as "popular" as the cricket issue they'd likely come up with an alternate seal approach. A circular blob of sealant vs. a better O-ring plate design (or a specific sized silicone rubber gasket) saved time and a small chunk of yen I guess!

Put your fingers (or a paper towel) behind the lower part of the plate when the engine is cool and it'll show you a bit more evidence of whats been dripping! Mine is a Jun '12 build. Leak became apparent with smell almost a year and a half after manufacture date. Could be a lot of newer car folks have a small leak but just don't know it yet cause there is no obvious smell.

No apologies - crossed my mind, too. I think I saw a post by someone who did that. Makes sense to me. I would have given it a shot if I had the right rubber gasket stuff to play with!! (If anyone has done this already - please post on this thread and tell us about it.) Would sure be nice if Fel-Pro aftermarket could help us out with a specific pre-cut application but, probably not enough numbers to justify the effort!

Update: 2 weeks after the high temp red silicone RTV pooky fix (above addendum) and a spirited > 131 mile Twisted Sisters Run out in the Texas Hill Country this past Saturday...hammering the car WOT on numerous twisties - no cam plate oil leak...still dry as a bone. :thumbsup:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...4/IMG_6847.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...s7f2fac3b.jpeg

I think next time I make it out to the hangar I'll pull it off and make a gasket. I already bought some gasket material. Ill post some pics when I do.

hi guys,
i'd like to make my own "stopper" for this annoying oil leak , but i don't know the diameter of the hole , has anyone ever measuered it?
( unfortunately i have no chance for the moment to buy raceseng or other cam plates )

ID or OD? I've got a Raceseng plate coming tomorrow and can measure it when I do the install, probably over the weekend.

the ID , inner part of the plate, i think that just making a stopper , something like this:
http://www.rimecsrl.it/prodotti/imag...llice_all4.jpg
but thinner, and use the stock plate to keep it stuck ( and sealant then )
if you can, thanks a lot then :)

Have you tried cleaning the area and re-applying rtv/sealant to your stock plate?

i will do it tomorrow :)
( i have to go on holidays next week so it will be a hotfix :D )
just i noticed some oil leak more than "normal" in the last weeks, and so the smell now is quite strong after a long drive (50km)...

btw i would like to make a handmade stopper (when i will come back to holidays) to fix the problem once for all :D

Glad this showed up. After searching around a bit,
I'm going to buy the Raceseng plate. I've noticed that I do occasionally get that oil smell.

totally forgot about this thread. been meaning to get the cam plate taken care of. ugh

Torque Solutions cam plate
 

Last month I kept noticing a slight burning smell whenever I hit the throttle but would inexplicably instantly disappear. Thanks to this thread I was able to determine the source of my oil leak (light coating of oil towards the bottom edge of the cam plate!). Although this repair is covered by warranty there's no point in doing it unless they change the cover plate design as cleaning it and using new RTV will eventually fail again.


I rarely stray from OEM but I found a cam cover plate from Torque Solution that incorporates a high temp Viton O-ring and made from billet aluminum (in black or silver). For an aftermarket part that that serves a purpose & isn't easily visible in the engine bay it isn't ridiculously priced (like Raceseng). http://www.torquesolution.com/product-p/ts-cam-plts.htm

Very easy install (as detailed in the original cam plate post):
1. Remove three bolts from cam plate with a 11mm socket (easy) and pry off cam plate (takes a couple of minutes but it gets a lot easier from here).
2. Remove all oil and RTV from (engine) mating surface.
3. Smear a little engine oil on the O-ring, install cam plate with supplied 6mm Allen bolts and torque accordingly.


Unfortunately before checking with Torque Solution, I followed the installation instruction for another cam plate and put a bead of RTV on the mating surface of the area outside of the O-ring (not neccessary). After I finger tightening the cam plate I had to let the RTV set for an hour then torqued it and let it cure overnight. I haven't had any traces of a leak since!
Judging from the helpfulness of Torque Solutions' staff, ease & quality of the product I plan on making more purchases with them.

I installed my Torque Solution cam plate a few weeks ago and so far no more leaks. Thanks for the review.

Great to hear!! Which cam plate did you get the black or the unpainted aluminum? Not that you really see it, I wish I knew about the unpainted one when I ordered the black one (I found out 5 minutes after the order went through).


Such an easy fix for such a lazy OEM solution (really Subaru? a completely flat plate with three bolts and a glob of RTV?)

Hi,

Noticed over the past month or so the burning oil smell and smoke sometimes from under the bonnet. After reading these posts, I checked the cam plate is the culprit with a small leak. For those that have used the torque solution cam plate does it require any RTV at all?. I note the Raceseng solution also uses an o-ring, but they also recommend some RTV as well. Leaning towards the torque version and would like to side step the RTV if possible.

Thank you.

What's the best way to remove oil and RTV from the engine mating surfacing before installing the aftermarket cam plate?

RTV is normally pretty easy to remove with a gasket scraper. The oil will come off with some degreaser or brake cleaner.

^^^This is key for the successful application of any gasket or gasket material. If the surfaces are not completely degreased and dry prior to assembly it will leak.

I keep a gallon of acetone on hand. Pour a little into a glass/ceramic bowl and use that. Don't contaminate the source.

Hi,

I recently installed a torque solution cam plate in the hope of stopping the oil leak. Unfortunately the leak continues and is now slightly worse. Any ideas as to why it is failing?

Thanks in advance.

Double check and see if the mating surfaces are completely clean? No residue left over. Also, did you lube the plate's o-ring with oil before install?

Yes, took it off yesterday cleaned everything again. Still the same problem. On further inspection it looks as though the seam in the aluminium at the bottom of the outlet is the culprit. It has a groove in it that I'm guessing isnt totally sealed by the o ring. Looks like I will have to place some RTV there. Thanks for your reply.

A little bit frustrating as I chose this solution to avoid having to go the RTV.

That's why I chose the Torque Solutions plate instead of the other one. Perhaps they will warranty it since it's a defect.

used gasket maker instead of aftermarket cam plate. used something called maximum oil resistant. the result was great, so far already been 8 months and had one track day still no leak what so ever.

Happens to me I'm going with the after market product. But you did this repair without lifting the engine? I saw other post where you have to lift the engine. Saw a video where the guy does it without lifting but it was extremely tight and he was using a lift

My cam plate was leaking on my 2014 scion fr-s and finally got it to stop. I wanted to share my experience so it may help others.
I first tried to seal the stock plate. I used permatex red, it leaked. then I tried a cork gasket and permatex red, it leaked. then I bought the torque solutions plate. It still leaked. I am thinking it's the seams on the top and bottom that are leaking, So I tried adding prematex red to the seams. It still leaked. then I tried the same with permatex gray. still leaked. then I tried sealing the entire torque solutions plate with red, leaked then gray and it still leaked. by this time my O-ring on the torque solutions plate was ruined so I contacted torque solutions and the sent me a new o-ring free of change. while I was waiting for the o-ring to arrive I started thinking that the synthetic oil was degrading the sealant and that was the problem. I bought some permatex black and thought I will try the stock plate again. I used brake cleaner to thoroughly clean both surfaces. I used the tube to create a bead of silicone on the mounting surface on the car and then managed to get all three bolts started without touching the sealant. I then lightly tightened the bolts with my fingers. I let it sit for a while and then decided I wanted to check how much sealant was actually on the surfaces so removed the plate. the amount seemed about right so I smeared the silicone evenly on both the mounting surface and the plate and re-installed the plate lightly tightening the plate with my fingers. I let it sit like that for 24 hours and then torqued it lightly the next day. To my pleasant surprise that did it. It has been about a month now and zero leaks.
the bottom line for me was, clean surfaces, permatex black, and do not squish all of the sealant out when you tighten the plate.
I received my new o-ring from torque solutions but now I don't need it.

THANK YOU!
 

Hey - just wanted to say THANK YOU for your follow-up post on this thing. A LOT of guys post their "first 5-minutes" impressions and reviews of things online and tend to leave off the - "oh crap, the install didn't go as planned."

I followed instructions to a T for [ named cam plate maker ]. The suggested process ended up with a BIG leak as O-ring on the cam plate doesn't REALLY go into the cam opening like it looks it like would. And just a few dabs of silicon didn't do it either.

Like you, I ended up going with Ultra-RTV with Synthetic oil resistance... and instead of waiting just a few hours, I followed the Permatex instructions of rtv-ing surfaces (cam plate and cam opening - gooped a full circle around both surfaces), install part with setting torque (eg. enough to set the cam plate in place), wait an hour, tighten to torque specs and then WAIT another 24 hours for RTV to set.

Have a feeling this will work better. Will follow-up with story of success or failure.

- ExE36M3

every previous time I applied sealant I followed the directions "wait an hour, tighten to torque specs and then WAIT another 24 hours for RTV to set. " It was squeezing too much sealant out.


Mine is still not leaking. I am certain it never will.

FAILURE - argh

Well the "torque to specs" at the 1 hour mark is too much.
You're right, it just squeezes out too much RTV.
The good news is that it isn't spewing out like before. So something is working.

I may have to do this ONE MORE time,
but this time, set it at like 1mm of space and *after* 24 hours, then torque to specs.

Yes?