Angry at mechanic - cam seals leaking again!

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:18 pm

Hi guys,

Just seeking some advice. I had my car undergo a major serice about 15 months ago. All the cam seals, rocker cover, timing belts etc were replaced at 80 000kms, mainly due to the fact the car was leaking quite a lot of oil. The bill was astronomical (2500) and included some other work and left me a little perplexed. However I paid and then decided to use another mechanic. I had my second service with the new mechanic today, and was told my car has major oil leaks - from the cam seals and rocker cover!!!! I have only done 20000kms more, (104000 all up) and have my car serviced every 10000! The mechanics said that the seals should last a LOT LOT longer..... what do you think I can do? I plan to ring the first mechanic for an explanation as I do not want to fork out another grand to have cam seals replaced again! is there anything I can do?

ny help/advice would be appreciated.

onnzo · Post by **onnzo** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 10:56 pm

If the actual rocker cover and head are fine (as in they are flat and dont have gouges etc) new gaskets will only set you back about $60 each from mitsu oz (you can buy them from other places for cheaper) and they are pretty easy to change over.

I have never done the cam seals myself but I doubt they would cost 1k to do...

Michael

Post by **smorison** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:48 pm

most likely they didn't tighten it to the right settings (refer to the technical manuals)...

cam plates (sandwich plates) normally start leaking after about 70-80k ... it could be a bit hard to take it back to them after 15months... but you never know

Breza · Post by **Breza** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:09 am

Same thing happened to me..........

Had my cam seals replaced the same time as my belt and som other stuff a while back for peace of mind.

Turned out the cam seals didn't seat properly and had to be re-done along with both crank seals, rocker cover gaskets and a few other bits and pieces the second time round.

The joys of motoring..............

Chris

Post by **smorison** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:21 am

the cam seals are a pain in the arse to fit....

might be worth while changing mechanic's to one recommended by the melbourne guys...

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 3:55 pm

yeah I have already changed. The new guys found the leak. I now use the guys that are doing Mikey's FTO conversion.

They are going to clean up the engine area and find out exactly where the leak is coming from. Once they have identified the problem they will quote my on repairing them but also give me the chance to apporach the old mechanic "with evidence" and ask his thoughts... For them to break down after between 10 K - 20 k is ridiculous!

Thanks for your help guys. I'll see how I go next Thursday.

Breza - what happened with yours? did you use same mechanic to reaplce them? did they do it for free? or charge you again?

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 4:00 pm

Just out of curious, which mechanic did u went to at the first place? If you not comfortable telling it, at least the suburb.

Breza · Post by **Breza** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 4:53 pm

I had mine done first by a reputable workshop on the Gold Coast as part of a major service and to try track down some leaking oil.

Moved to Tassie and I was still leaking some oil so got a local workshop that works on a large amount of "exotic" vehicles (650hp WRX's, GTR's and GT40's) to fix "everything" for me in one hit. It was only one cam seal that was the problem but replaced them all again anyways along with a bunch of other stuff that saw the car off the road for a week and me down around $1600.

Well worth the money...........do it once ...........do it right. The car is now better than it has ever been and should be good for some time.

It was a bit of a bugger it wasn't resolved after the Gold Coast guys worked on it but I have no problem with the work they did other than that.

On previous occasions they had got me out of some deep shite when things went wrong or broke all of a sudden and needed to be fixed relatively quickly so I have no problems with them.

That's driving an FTO for you!

Chris

payaya · Post by **payaya** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 4:05 am

ah im on 160k and not a leak!

what type of oil you use? Cause i know with certain motors they are really sensitive to thin oil, causing leaks.

I use 10W 15W.

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 4:52 pm

papaya: your lucky lol! I didnt think my car was leaking either, although there was the odd drop of oil on the garage, the problem is that oil leaks are often trapped within the engine covers etc, so you dont realise that any oil is leaking out.

FTO338: I am quite comfortable saying who the mechanic is, but was warned once about doing that - defamation etc so maybe I shouldnt until at least I get their reply to my problem.... the place is in richmond.