Help, cam seal leak, can't stop

Subaru friends, I have a '98 2.2 that has just undergone a timing belt and shaft seal replacements (3). Originally the crank seal was bad its replacement is doing fine as is the RH cam seal. My problem started when I nicked the LH camshaft with a drill bit while trying to pull the old seal. I removed the seal housing/sensor casting and polished the area so that no burrs were left to slice the new seal.

I blued the shaft end where the seal rides and did a test fit to see if the sealing lip was in contact with the drill bit nick/ gouge. The first time I placed a new seal all the way in to the bore against the bottom face. When that arrangement leaked I installed another new seal and a new housing O ring. I pressed this seal in 1/16" deeper than flush but not bottoming as before. This position also located the sealing lip inboard of the shaft gouge. I'm thinking at this point: there's room inside the seal for drainage while the seal is running on a good shaft section. Wrong. It also leaks- not quite as much but enough to deposit a few drops after a long drive.

This Legacy has 120K and is not worth the investment of a new shaft The car can run this way indefinitely as long as the oil stays away from the pipes. The previous crank seal leak was a smoker. This one drips from the lower water neck and goes to ground. So I ask the more mechanical of you to offer any thoughts or ideas.

Thank you, Charlie in Pittsburgh

Reply to
Charlie Sachs
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What I want to know is how someone as clever as you could do something as silly as use a drillbit to try to get a cam seal out. Was the drillbit in a drill and turning?

Enough for the smartass reply. I would use the time-honored country mechanic method. Take out the camshaft, clean it carefully, fill the void with JB Weld, after it hardens, carefully dress it with a file and fine sandpaper to restore the shaft radius and put it back in.

A better fix might be to take the shaft to a welder and have him fill the void using a tig welder. Again, you'd have to carefully dress the weld down to the same radius as the rest of the shaft.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

The tolerance is to critical for JOB weld or welding (unless returned in a lathe). They make thin chrome sleeves for this propose...sometimes the stock seal will work, if not a seal with an inner diameter to fit the sleeve is available. TG

Reply to
TG

Or better yet take it to a machine shop so you can guarantee the diameter of the shaft is within design tolerances so the seal will not leak again. I wouldn't trust myself to get it round enough not to leak. These oil seals are fussy enough as it is.

Reply to
Henry Paul

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