ZT190 KV6 Camshaft Oil Seal Swap - Tips?

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by Randyjim

... but the fact that 2 respected specialists have elected not use them during the last 2 belt changes raises the question of "why not?"!

Hello again Jim,

The reason why two respected specialists have elected not to use them is because new end caps are very difficult to fit without using a woodworker's cramp and they don't possess that tool.

To answer your question "why not" use a standard seal instead, it's because the end of the camshaft is left exposed resulting in rust. I have witnessed this on a KV6 and it's not a standard I would work to.

Originally Posted by vitesse

Simon is quite right again, the caps don’t fall out but rather fly out under pressure ...

Hi Mike,

In those circumstances the cause of the pressurisation, which you say is due to "blockage of the crankcase gases", should be rectified at source, then the end caps wouldn't "fly out". I have frequently recommended the unblocking of the breather orifices in the cam covers which isn't difficult to do.

Six years ago I refitted an original end cap to one bank of my engine and managed to push a new end cap into the other bank. Neither has flown out.

My contribution to Jim's thread was intended to answer his question; how can he stop an oil leak caused by a fractured camshaft damaging the oil seal. He could fit an end cap which might contain the oil. Alternatively he could tackle the root cause and replace the camshaft and the damaged seal, leaving the end cap off if he's happy with that, or he could fit one to restore the engine to factory spec.

Simon

[bl52krz]

I had the timing belts changed by Lates, and he said he finds that the ‘caps’ that should be fitted, a lot of them he found were of inferior quality. He said that he had fitted end caps and had people phoning him up, even on the way home, that one or other of them had blown out and the engine was covered in oil. Please don’t tell me they had not been fitted properly, this is a Rover trained expert. He fitted, on his recommendation, two oil seals. That was around two and a half years ago. Still oil tight. A suggestion for fitting your oil seal, of the type I have, over you damaged end of camshaft. Find some plastic sheet, and cut a piece off that is big enough to fit round the camshaft .Fit that inside the seal and fit said oil seal over the camshaft, carefully removing the sheeting before carefully tapping the ordinary oil seal into place. Job done.

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by bl52krz

I had the timing belts changed by Lates, and he said he finds that the ‘caps’ that should be fitted, a lot of them he found were of inferior quality.

That would certainly be a credible explanation Dave, I agree. Lates seems to have been unlucky.

DMGRS sells only the genuine item and says this:

"These are prone to falling off if fitted incorrect [sic] - please take care when fitting to make sure the sealing surfaces are clean and dry, and that the cap is fitted centrally."

I cannot stress enough that fitting them centrally is quite a task.

Simon

[bl52krz]

Hi Simon. I still have the end caps that came with the timing belts from Matt.