'96 camry cam seals

Hi,

Question for the experienced - I have a mechanic who's identified my oil
leak problem as being the cam seals, and it is leaking into the timing
belt cover. He said it's a 4-6 hour job since air tools can't be used on
the job - reason being it's too tight a fight so it has to be done by
hand. Does that sound reasonable or bull? Is that a 4-6 hour job??

On Nov 2, 7:45 am, Jimbo <kkdfjs...@ofs.cn> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Question for the experienced - I have a mechanic who's identified my oil
> leak problem as being the cam seals, and it is leaking into the timing
> belt cover. He said it's a 4-6 hour job since air tools can't be used on
> the job - reason being it's too tight a fight so it has to be done by
> hand. Does that sound reasonable or bull? Is that a 4-6 hour job??

How much oil leaks, why not try an oil that expands old seals first,
several quality brands have it like Mobil, Valvolene. If I did
everything a mechanic wanted to do I would have a new car by now.

Jimbo wrote:
> I have a mechanic who's identified my oil
> leak problem as being the cam seals, and it is leaking into the timing
> belt cover. He said it's a 4-6 hour job since air tools can't be used on
> the job - reason being it's too tight a fight so it has to be done by
> hand. Does that sound reasonable or bull? Is that a 4-6 hour job??
===========
My experience is with the four cylinder with one camshaft seal at the
front of the engine.
Generally, the cam seals last somewhat longer because the cam turns at
one half engine speed.
Typcially the crankshaft oil seal would leak first. Not sure if six
cylinder is different, but on the four, the oil pump seals can leak
also.
I simply change all the oil seals on the front of the engine when
replacing the timing belt.
The labor is to remove the engine mounts to access the timing belt,
but with experience the job goes more quickly.
FWIW I also make it a practice of replacing the tensioner and idlers
at the same time.
Regarding the camshaft seal, it is very close to the strut tower. I
have a special tool for installing cam seals that makes it easy.
Essentially a cup shaped device matching the width of the seal, with a
bolt through the center to thread into the end of the camshaft and
press the seal into place.
You might want to get a second opinion. I don't see how you would use
air tools to install seals. He may mean, you can't fit an air gun to
remove the pulley covering the cam seal. For that I remove the valve
cover and hold the cam shaft with an open end wrench on the hex
portion cast into the cam shaft.
I do the work myself and having done it several times now, don't think
it would take me that long on the four cylinder, but mechanics usually
charge a "book" rate based on a standard estimate of time for each job.

Daniel wrote:

> My experience is with the four cylinder with one camshaft seal at the
> front of the engine.
> Generally, the cam seals last somewhat longer because the cam turns at
> one half engine speed.
> Typcially the crankshaft oil seal would leak first. Not sure if six
> cylinder is different, but on the four, the oil pump seals can leak
> also.
> I simply change all the oil seals on the front of the engine when
> replacing the timing belt.
> The labor is to remove the engine mounts to access the timing belt,
> but with experience the job goes more quickly.
> FWIW I also make it a practice of replacing the tensioner and idlers
> at the same time.
> Regarding the camshaft seal, it is very close to the strut tower. I
> have a special tool for installing cam seals that makes it easy.
> Essentially a cup shaped device matching the width of the seal, with a
> bolt through the center to thread into the end of the camshaft and
> press the seal into place.
> You might want to get a second opinion. I don't see how you would use
> air tools to install seals. He may mean, you can't fit an air gun to
> remove the pulley covering the cam seal. For that I remove the valve
> cover and hold the cam shaft with an open end wrench on the hex
> portion cast into the cam shaft.
> I do the work myself and having done it several times now, don't think
> it would take me that long on the four cylinder, but mechanics usually
> charge a "book" rate based on a standard estimate of time for each job.

Thanks Daniel, your reply is exactly the information I was looking for.