Petrol V6 - Camshaft Oil Seal replacement advice?

[lb81]

Hi,

I have a fairly severe oil leak which I am 90% certain is coming from the camshaft oil seals (it could be coming from the front of the rocker cover but I cannot see without removing the cam belt cover etc).

My plan is to purchase the seals & the cover gasket so that I am prepared for both eventualities once all the aux belts and pulleys are off and the covers removed so I can see what's going on... what else should I replace while everything is off...?

The cambelt was only done 12 months ago, but as I am obviously going to have to remove it to replace the seals I am going to replace it along with the bearings.

Water Pump?
Hydraulic Tensioner? - Blooming expensive and rather not, how can I test it?

Also is there anyone with experience of having done this? Is there anything I should watch out for or be aware of before I begin? It all seems fairly straight forward, just very time consuming...

Also when it comes to replacing the seals themselves I am assuming I need to remove the camshaft pulley, which means I need to carefully mark its position before I remove it, anything else I need to be aware of? How do I get the seals out without damaging anything? I really can be doing without messing up the timing or damaging anything...!!

Thanks in advance...

[g8dhe]

I gave my garage the V6 workshop manual when changing the timing belt and replacing the seals, they did use it!!

[windywatson]

Hi,

Just picked up my V6 having just had work done for the same reason. I purchased a cam belt kit from the club that included what I assumed would be the only pulleys/tensioners required & full set of oil seals (cams & crank). As I have 2 V6's I used the camper whilst the one being worked on (tin top) was left at garage to be worked on whilst I attended the Stour Port Bongo Bash.
Whilst at the Bash the garage called me to say that as the oil seal replacement was a big job it would make sense on an older vehicle (this one is 2001) to also have the following replaced, water pump + hydraulic tensioner.
So I canvassed the various owners who had also had same work done & also Bongo related business owners & all were in agreement that all equipment under the cam belt covers should be done at the same time. Yes, the extras due put up the cost a lot, but it has to be done really in order to ensure further trouble free service for years to come.

Things to look out for when doing the job. The L/H side when looking at the engine from the front has cam pulleys that only have one bolt in the centre. They look identical but be warned they are not. My garage found this out as one of mine had damage to one tooth & we decided to replace it. The damage looked as if it had been done at a previous belt change as it looked as if something had been jammed in to hold it in place. Anyway I digress. These 2 pulleys could be interchanged but they are keyed slightly different by about 1/2 teeth. This would be explained by there being different part numbers. So ensure that everything is well marked up before removal. When replacing these pulleys they need to be braced to stop them rotating when the bolts are torqued up. My garage found the best way to do this was to remove the cam cover to gain access to the cams and use some tool or other to stop them rotating.
Also use this opportunity to check the bearings on the auxiliary belt tensioners, mine had bearings that rumbled & were noisy. So they were also replaced. All of these items are available through AVA leisure. It is very expensive, parts alone on my rebuild cost £860 + labour.
Hope this is useful.

Cheers

[mikeWalsall]

I wonder if the member who as long standing issues with trying to start his V6 after a cam belt change as mixed the cam pulleys ..??

http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... mgno=.html

[Simon Jones]

They were apparently fitted in accordance with the parts diagram from Mazda.

[mikeWalsall]

Thing is Simon on Lush parts they look the same .. but have different part numbers ..

12-425B (right exhaust Cam) .. 12 - 426B (left inlet cam)

12 - 4C6 (right inlet cam) .. 124C5 (left exhaust cam)

[Simon Jones]

Those codes are the drawing numbers but if you expand the list on the left they do indeed come out as different part numbers which does suggest scope for getting them round the wrong way. I'm glad I left my cambelt and seal change to Allan .

[mikeWalsall]

His 'none starting after a cam belt change' symptoms to me as always suggested a timing issue ..

After his long running saga ... If it was me .. I would re check the sprockets .. even one tooth out will upset the valve / ignition timing ..