camplug seeping?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Is that service advisor so intimidating to you that you were afraid of asking "What the hell is a Camplug and is it necessary to replace it if it is "seeping"? It begins to sound to me like the cousin of a "frammis tube", or a "Macintosh Chain". (No, I don't know what these fictional items are either.)

So whatever it is is seeping, so what, unless oil consumption is up dont worry, that guy just wants your money.

========================= There's a rubber (neoprene) half circle shape near the valve cover. When the valve cover gasket is replaced, FIPG (form in place gasket material) needs to be applied at four spots around the valve cover where the curved part over the camshafts meets the flat part and forms a sharp angle. If the valve cover was recently replaced and they didn't do this, that's the source of your leak. Or, next time the valve cover is replaced, those rubber half circles could be removed and re sealed with the same FIPG compound. Not a difficult repair, unless you have the six cylinder with limited access to the rear bank. You should be able to see these areas with a flashlight.

It's not a difficult job for a 4-cyl if you are mechanically inclined and don't mind working on your car. You need a big socket for the cover nuts (can't remember 30 or 32mm). Both the valve cover gasket and these RTV seals will leak with time.

A tube of RTV gasket maker and a valve cover set (with spark plug tube seals) are about $20 and about 30 minutes of your time taking it slow.

snipped-for-privacy@sbcglobal.net wrote:

Cam plugs don't need to be replaced. They need to be "reglued" in with RTV gasket maker. See:

Also, take a look at AutoZone's free repair guide on valve cover (and the cam plug, half circle thing in the figures. For 2S-ELC, 3S-FE,

5S-FE, 1MZ-FE engines:

Note where you have to use RTV for the valve cover gasket. That's where the edges of the cam plugs are. The plugs themselves are "glued" into the cylinder head with RTV.

As the others mentioned, if it's only "seeping" and there is little oil usage or oil running down the back of the engine (near the firewall), then you are probably OK for a while. But if you have the "city traffic" smell in the cabin all the time even in fresh-air forests then engine fumes may be leaking out from the gaskets and even cam/crank seals into the cabin. I know because changing out even slightly seeping cam/crank seals can stop the city traffic smell. Yes, I really like Fel-Pro gaskets and seals:

snipped-for-privacy@sbcglobal.net wrote: