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[Viral_Jim]

Morning all,

Last time I serviced the 2.2 I noticed some oil in the plug wells. No worries I thought, new cam cover gasket should do the trick.

Thing is, I was looking through the history file last night to see when the cam belt is due (which btw is due now too, last done 23k ago, in 2010) and spotted that the gasket was replaced in 2 years and 10k miles ago.

So, my question to the OOF collective is which of these scenarios seems most likely -

a) The replacement work was bodged and just needs doing again.
b) 2 years seems about the right lifespan for that gasket (seems unlikely).
c) I need to replace the gasket and another part to properly cure the leak.
d) something else I haven't thought of.

Thanks all.

[humbucker]

Perhaps a poorly made pattern part was used last time around? Or the mating surfaces weren't properly cleared of old sealant etc. before installation? Or the cam cover was over-tightened? It could be any one of a number of things. Your best bet will probably be to buy a quality gasket and reapply it with the correct sealant using the correct torque values for the cam cover.

[Viral_Jim]

Cheers, that is my first plan, do you know if a VX gasket/kit comes with the sealant or is it some flavour of Loctite gunk?

The reason I was asking was that I think I recall seeing in another thread (wasn't paying much attention as it was on V6's) that sometimes replacing the cam cover is necessary - is this the case on 2.2's as well, or did I imagine the whole thing?

[Broomies Mate]

I'm sure you don't need it, but worth having a read, just-in-case.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90502.0

[Entwood]

No point in changing cam cover gaskets if you don't clean the breather system as well, and then keep it clean on a regular basis. Cause of cam cover gasket failure is 90% down to blocked breathers. ..... IMHO

[05omegav6]

Follow this guide...

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90597.0

Parts required are all listed iirc

You might also need the two hoses which connect the cam cover to the throttle body, and also the one which connects the cam cover to the sump.  The metal pipe is secured to the sump with two bolts and also requires a new gasket. If you're going to clean the throttle body whilst you're at it, then there's a gasket between it and the manifold

[humbucker]

No point in changing cam cover gaskets if you don't clean the breather system as well, and then keep it clean on a regular basis. Cause of cam cover gasket failure is 90% down to blocked breathers. ..... IMHO

+1

[Viral_Jim]

No point in changing cam cover gaskets if you don't clean the breather system as well, and then keep it clean on a regular basis. Cause of cam cover gasket failure is 90% down to blocked breathers. ..... IMHO

+1

Thanks both, this is just the sort of thing I would have missed and ended up with them leaking again! 

Cheers Harris, do you happen to have the part numbers for the 2 hoses and the metal breather pipe to sump gasket? If I'm doing it I may as well do it properly, and seeing as the mig is our only car at the moment I can't nip out for parts half way through  .

[05omegav6]

I don't... local dealer should have and there's a thread here somewhere about it

Also it's three hoses... two larger diameter and one thinner one.

The thinner one on yours may well be toast as they seem to take on a chewing gum consistency after a while

[tunnie]

Because the 2.2 is sooooo easily to do, it is worth a gamble on non genuine gaskets. I might give one a go next time, I did the guide posted above in 2008 with GM bits, this was around 100k ish.

I'm now on 183.5k and it's still good 

Strip the whole breather system down and clean all the pipes, as per the guide. I also give the breathers a clean once a year, along with oil changes every ~5k.

[Andy B]

Because the 2.2 is sooooo easily to do,  .....

So's a V6 if you know what you're doing 

[terry paget]

On a car with clear breathers, the cam cover gasket is stopping air leaking in, not oil leaking out. Once a breather is blocked, crankcase pressure will build up and blow out somewhere, obvious place is the cam cover gasket. The small breather is naturally the one that blocks first. You can easily check by blowing down the small breather hose.