I recently purchased a used 1999 VW Passat that ran synthetic for the first 4 years of it's life then was switched to regular old Dino. When I bought it I switched to Red Line 10w40. It then developed an oil leak at the right cam seal within about 1,000 miles. I ran the Red Line for about 4,000 miles. I decided to do an Auto-RX treatment, so two days ago I changed my oil and filter with Formula Shell 10w40 and 12 oz's of ARX. It has already seems to have greatly slowed the leak. After my 25 mile commute I would park the car and when I came out of work there would always be a small puddle of oil under the car, now there is NOTHING, not even a drip! Would you attribute this to Dino or to the ARX? I can't believe that it would work that quickly. By the way it is the 2.8 90 deg v-6 that is also used in the a4 and a6 Audi. Also do you think I should stay with Dino after my two runs with ARX? I do mostly highway driving at about 70-80 mph, with some city driving. I also like to "Tune it up" once in a while! Thank's for any responses.
1999 VW PASSAT W/ LEAKING CAM SEAL
- Thread starter VW SALES GUY
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By the way the car currently has 139,000 miles on it.
I would say both.
I have used AutoRx on 3 cars (Toyota Camry Vee6, 2001 Civic 1.7L, 91 Mazda B-6 block) with various degrees of success: from drasatic (B6 block, engine is smooth as silk now after 1 trial of AutoRx) to mild improvements on Civic (well, fault is on mine for I've been running full sync 5W30 M1 on this engine since day 2, first owner of course).
On my wifey's CAmry, the ring pack has been cleaned up nicely to the point where there is no more oil burning (approx 1/4qt every 6000kms).Also, valve cover gasket leak has greatly diminished. Camry is now on 2nd AutoRx cleaning phase.
I have used AutoRx on 3 cars (Toyota Camry Vee6, 2001 Civic 1.7L, 91 Mazda B-6 block) with various degrees of success: from drasatic (B6 block, engine is smooth as silk now after 1 trial of AutoRx) to mild improvements on Civic (well, fault is on mine for I've been running full sync 5W30 M1 on this engine since day 2, first owner of course).
On my wifey's CAmry, the ring pack has been cleaned up nicely to the point where there is no more oil burning (approx 1/4qt every 6000kms).Also, valve cover gasket leak has greatly diminished. Camry is now on 2nd AutoRx cleaning phase.
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Just in case anybody wants to see how a typcial VW/Audi cam seal looks, here is one for my 2.8 V6 (12 valve) Audi engine:
You can see that there is a coil spring (looks like wire in the photo, but it is a tightly-wound coil spring) around the rubber "lip" -- that should ensure continuing contact and a good seal despite wear. I know that cam seals tend to leak especially on the 30 valve variant of this engine. Maybe gunks collects in the area around the spring, causing some binding, which in turn will make for a poor seal?
At 137k miles, all my cam seals are still original and don't leak (yet). As you can see, I'm prepared, though.
You can see that there is a coil spring (looks like wire in the photo, but it is a tightly-wound coil spring) around the rubber "lip" -- that should ensure continuing contact and a good seal despite wear. I know that cam seals tend to leak especially on the 30 valve variant of this engine. Maybe gunks collects in the area around the spring, causing some binding, which in turn will make for a poor seal?
At 137k miles, all my cam seals are still original and don't leak (yet). As you can see, I'm prepared, though.
Thank's for the pic!! That would make sense, if there was gunk built up around the coil spring and the Auto-RX cleaned it out, it would have a tighter seal. I am just surprised at how quickly it worked! I don't know if it has stopped leaking, but I don't get the oil burning smell or drips on the ground anymore. Also, When I started my car after sitting for 8 hours or so I would hear the cam chains rattle for a second or two until oil preasure built. Now, for the past couple days it has been completely quiet. I don't know if this is due to ARX or The Shell 10w40 either, but I am happy!!
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The 2.8 30v engine has often issues with the cam chain tensioner, so you may want to keep an eye, or rather ear, on any chain-related noise. But I'm glad the leak seems to have gone away!
Just an update, I am now about 700 miles into my Auto-rx treatment and the leak from the cam seal is still gone! I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will permanantly fix the leak. I also think that I will stay with dino oil after my two runs with ARX, probably Havoline. Any suggestions on OCI or weight's? I plan on getting at least another 140k out of this Passat before I retire it. Thank's!
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