Cam Plug oil leaks!
07-16-2006, 12:13 AM
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Cam Plug oil leaks!
:pat: I have a 93 4runner 3.0 V6 that I did a head gasket/valve job on...The work went great but now I have an oil leak...I can see the oil leaking from the passenger side/right cylinder head CAM PLUG...When I put the head on I used the old CAM PLUGs and it was leaking pretty bad, dripping...So I decided to get new ones from the dealer and now they still leak...They dont leak as bad as dripping oil but seeps out...There is a bracket that holds these plugs in place...When I REV the motor up you can see the bracket moving back away from the CAM PLUG...It seems like the oil pressure is pushing on the plug which is suppose to but the CAM PLUG bracket is not holding it in place on the cam cap...The driver/left CAM PLUG is the original one and does not leak at all...Someone please help!!
07-16-2006, 05:21 AM
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Is it leaking from the back or front of the head? The front is an oil seal and the back is a camshaft housing plug.
Here is the FSM diagram:
I just did the rear camshaft seal (housing plug) on mine. You also have to use RTV all around the seal when you put it back in. The seals themselves were like $6 and the RTV was $16 from the dealership.
I probably should have done the front as well but I wanted to get everything back together (my first time with plenum off). Maybe next time I'll replace more stuff.
Here is the FSM diagram:
I just did the rear camshaft seal (housing plug) on mine. You also have to use RTV all around the seal when you put it back in. The seals themselves were like $6 and the RTV was $16 from the dealership.
I probably should have done the front as well but I wanted to get everything back together (my first time with plenum off). Maybe next time I'll replace more stuff.
07-16-2006, 08:01 AM
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It is the rear CAM seal housing plug in the back..I did put a new one from the dealer with silicone..But it seems like the Cam rear plate is the one that needs to be replaced beacause it is not holding the CAM plug flush inside the CAM CAP..Like I said when I REV the motor up you can see the CAM housing plate and CAM plug itself moving out from the CAM CAP..Then when you bring the RPM back to idle it moves back into place..?!?!?What the heck is going on here?!?!?! 
07-16-2006, 10:35 AM
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Is your PCV system operating correctly? If not you can build excessive crankcase pressure and squeeze oil out of every seal. Sad thing is it seems certain that you will have to tear it down to find out why it isn't sealing. Once you get oil on most RTV it won't seal.
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07-30-2006, 09:14 PM
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confirm fix..
i sealed the cam plug with putting silicone on the head and pluged up the oil return port under the rear cam bearing..unplug silicone from plug and free the passage and now its fine..thanks for all your help!!..
i sealed the cam plug with putting silicone on the head and pluged up the oil return port under the rear cam bearing..unplug silicone from plug and free the passage and now its fine..thanks for all your help!!..
07-31-2006, 02:27 PM
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NICE!
I wasn't sure so I only put RTV on the back of the plug where it contacts the ring of the head... I didn't think the FSM told exactly where to put it. Good to know a little more about it, now. Congratulations on the cheap fix, though.
I wasn't sure so I only put RTV on the back of the plug where it contacts the ring of the head... I didn't think the FSM told exactly where to put it. Good to know a little more about it, now. Congratulations on the cheap fix, though.
05-29-2009, 12:37 PM
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Ok, I know this is an old thread but mine is leaking from the back of the drivers side cam housing plug. My mechanic told me it would be about a grand to fix. Obviously the drivers side is a little more complicated since you really cant reach it. Has anyone done this? I am no mechanic but was going to attempt to tackle this one myself. (I would drop it off at the high school and let them do it since they only charge for parts but sadly school is out and i would have to wait all summer.) Also do you have any advice for me? there was a reference to RTV....don't know what that is. Also how much should i remove to get to it or could be done with a couple extra hands strategically placed lol? Any help would be awesome.
05-29-2009, 02:07 PM
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I just got finished replacing the rear cam housing plugs not too long ago.
The only thing I wish I would have done better = labeling the hoses that get disconnected from the intake plenum. When it was time to put it back together, I got confused on which hoses went where.
Obviously the job can be done by yourself. I don't see any real advantage to having multiple people do this job at the same time.
While I had the valve covers off, I checked the valve clearance (lucky all were still in spec). When putting everything back together, I also put in a new PCV grommet, PCV, and replaced about four different electrical connectors that had gotten brittle and broke when I removed them.
I didn't use RTV around the plug in my case. Nor did I loosen all the bearing caps like the factory Repair Manual says (I only removed the rear caps).
A few things I was extra paranoid about & made sure to do:
1) cover the intake passages after removing the plenum (didn't want to drop anything in there)
2) cleaning the mating surface on the head & removing the old FIPG from the corners of the #1 and #6 bearing caps.
3) cleaning the area where the cam housing plug sits.
4) cleaning all debris away from the bearing cap before re-installing
The only thing I wish I would have done better = labeling the hoses that get disconnected from the intake plenum. When it was time to put it back together, I got confused on which hoses went where.
Obviously the job can be done by yourself. I don't see any real advantage to having multiple people do this job at the same time.
While I had the valve covers off, I checked the valve clearance (lucky all were still in spec). When putting everything back together, I also put in a new PCV grommet, PCV, and replaced about four different electrical connectors that had gotten brittle and broke when I removed them.
I didn't use RTV around the plug in my case. Nor did I loosen all the bearing caps like the factory Repair Manual says (I only removed the rear caps).
A few things I was extra paranoid about & made sure to do:
1) cover the intake passages after removing the plenum (didn't want to drop anything in there)
2) cleaning the mating surface on the head & removing the old FIPG from the corners of the #1 and #6 bearing caps.
3) cleaning the area where the cam housing plug sits.
4) cleaning all debris away from the bearing cap before re-installing
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05-31-2009, 12:11 PM
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Okay, maybe this is a stupid question but is it possible to replace these without tearing off the valve covers? Next stupid question, can you replace the head gasgets without taking apart the valve and cam assembly?
05-31-2009, 01:33 PM
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no to the first and the second i didn't try, i think the cam shaft was in the way of the head bolts on the outer edges of the head. and there is a plate holding the cams together behind the cam sprockets that has to either be removed or cut to do eitther one side or the other. if you don't cut it and can't get the sprockets off you have to remove both cam shafts at the same time and then try to reinstall them the same way. it's a bitch either way, just tear that thing apart and try not to forget where everything goes.
05-01-2010, 07:22 AM
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Long live the old threads!!
I found reading this helpful so I'm bumping with my experiences. YES, you can remove the rear camshaft plug (FSM calls it the "Camshaft Housing Plug") without removing plenum or valve-covers. I done just did it! Use a small suction cup to give you some pull on the plug and it pops right out!
Especially when no-one put any sealant around their edges. Thus likely causing the leak you're fixing when you pull them out. YMMV.
I'll let you know how the "fix" goes after I put them back in with FIPG around their edges to seal the housing but not block the oil return port at the bottom of each housing.
I found reading this helpful so I'm bumping with my experiences. YES, you can remove the rear camshaft plug (FSM calls it the "Camshaft Housing Plug") without removing plenum or valve-covers. I done just did it! Use a small suction cup to give you some pull on the plug and it pops right out!
Especially when no-one put any sealant around their edges. Thus likely causing the leak you're fixing when you pull them out. YMMV.
I'll let you know how the "fix" goes after I put them back in with FIPG around their edges to seal the housing but not block the oil return port at the bottom of each housing.
08-06-2010, 08:52 AM
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Long live the old threads!!
I found reading this helpful so I'm bumping with my experiences. YES, you can remove the rear camshaft plug (FSM calls it the "Camshaft Housing Plug") without removing plenum or valve-covers. I done just did it! Use a small suction cup to give you some pull on the plug and it pops right out!
Especially when no-one put any sealant around their edges. Thus likely causing the leak you're fixing when you pull them out. YMMV.
I'll let you know how the "fix" goes after I put them back in with FIPG around their edges to seal the housing but not block the oil return port at the bottom of each housing.
I found reading this helpful so I'm bumping with my experiences. YES, you can remove the rear camshaft plug (FSM calls it the "Camshaft Housing Plug") without removing plenum or valve-covers. I done just did it! Use a small suction cup to give you some pull on the plug and it pops right out!
Especially when no-one put any sealant around their edges. Thus likely causing the leak you're fixing when you pull them out. YMMV.
I'll let you know how the "fix" goes after I put them back in with FIPG around their edges to seal the housing but not block the oil return port at the bottom of each housing.
I have a leaking passenger side Camshaft Housing Plug and want to fix without having to do a completed tear down of that side. Your description of a fix seems, faster, easier, and cheaper. Sounds like all I need is some time and FIPG.
Where did you find a small suction cup? Do you think Lowes, HomeDepot, or Walmart have this item? What does it look like?
Last edited by 93BlackYota; 08-06-2010 at 08:53 AM.
12-14-2010, 12:20 PM
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Glad to be of help and glad to take a break from what I'm working on right now! If you've felt around back there you know there are two bolts that hold the sealing plate over the cam plugs in securely. Not much room between them and the firewall so you'll be using a regular wrench or if you have a ratcheting box wrench that'll work great. Probably 12mm or 14mm bolts if i recall.
Once you have those bolts out and the sealing plate off, you can remove the cam plug. Here's what I did.
BTW, if you've got an inspection mirror and flashlight you can use to look at them that'll help you understand what you're doing A LOT. They are also helpful when cleaning out the plug housing and making sure you don't have anything stuck in the return hole.
I took a small suction cup (about 1 inch or 1.5 inches in diameter) off of a thing that sticks on the shower wall to hold soap and razors. Sometimes you'll see them with metal wire hooks on them for hanging dishtowels at the sink. They all seem to be pretty much the same with a kind of hourglass shaped protrusion molded into the back of them. The skinny part of the hourglass is where the wire hooks wrap or where the suction cups snap into slots on the plastic shower caddies. That shape is important. Yours might look more like just a really short mushroom. No matter so long as there is some kind of cap or notch to help you pull on it. You can see a picture of a good one here:
http://www.motorera.com/dictionary/su.htm
So I just wiped off the plug as well as I could, then held the protrusion on the back of the suction cup between my first two fingers like I was holding a cigarette. If you fold your fingers down toward your palm, the cup side of the suction cup is facing your palm.
Now reach over the top of the valve cover so that you're sliding the cup down behind the cam plug. Once you're pretty much centered over the plug, push (you're really pulling towards yourself) the suction cup onto the plug. Smash it down good so it gets a good suck.
Now you might be able to keep your kung-fu cigarette grip on the back of the suction cup and pop the plug out. Pull slowly so the cam plug moves and not the suction cup.
I had no kung-fu grip. So I took one of those two-pronged weeding tools that has a slight bend in the shaft. If you don't know what that is look up "dandelion weeding knife". It looks like a flat-bladed screwdriver where you filed a V-shaped notch into the blade and put about a 10-degree bend into the shaft.
Anyway, you reach down with that tool and slide the notch into the skinny part of the hourglass protrusion on the back of the suction cup. Make sure the handle is angled toward the windshield. Once it is in place, slowly pull the handle away from the windshield and the bend in the shaft makes it work like a lever to apply some pulling force to the plug. Both mine came out on the first slow pull.
Good Luck! BTW, once you pull that plenum a few times, it's not so bad and it sure makes working on anything back there much easier.a
Oh, and what I thought was a leaking cam plug was a headgasket. Easy for the oil running down and dripping to look like it is coming out of the cam plug.
Once you have those bolts out and the sealing plate off, you can remove the cam plug. Here's what I did.
BTW, if you've got an inspection mirror and flashlight you can use to look at them that'll help you understand what you're doing A LOT. They are also helpful when cleaning out the plug housing and making sure you don't have anything stuck in the return hole.
I took a small suction cup (about 1 inch or 1.5 inches in diameter) off of a thing that sticks on the shower wall to hold soap and razors. Sometimes you'll see them with metal wire hooks on them for hanging dishtowels at the sink. They all seem to be pretty much the same with a kind of hourglass shaped protrusion molded into the back of them. The skinny part of the hourglass is where the wire hooks wrap or where the suction cups snap into slots on the plastic shower caddies. That shape is important. Yours might look more like just a really short mushroom. No matter so long as there is some kind of cap or notch to help you pull on it. You can see a picture of a good one here:
http://www.motorera.com/dictionary/su.htm
So I just wiped off the plug as well as I could, then held the protrusion on the back of the suction cup between my first two fingers like I was holding a cigarette. If you fold your fingers down toward your palm, the cup side of the suction cup is facing your palm.
Now reach over the top of the valve cover so that you're sliding the cup down behind the cam plug. Once you're pretty much centered over the plug, push (you're really pulling towards yourself) the suction cup onto the plug. Smash it down good so it gets a good suck.
Now you might be able to keep your kung-fu cigarette grip on the back of the suction cup and pop the plug out. Pull slowly so the cam plug moves and not the suction cup.
I had no kung-fu grip. So I took one of those two-pronged weeding tools that has a slight bend in the shaft. If you don't know what that is look up "dandelion weeding knife". It looks like a flat-bladed screwdriver where you filed a V-shaped notch into the blade and put about a 10-degree bend into the shaft.
Anyway, you reach down with that tool and slide the notch into the skinny part of the hourglass protrusion on the back of the suction cup. Make sure the handle is angled toward the windshield. Once it is in place, slowly pull the handle away from the windshield and the bend in the shaft makes it work like a lever to apply some pulling force to the plug. Both mine came out on the first slow pull.
Good Luck! BTW, once you pull that plenum a few times, it's not so bad and it sure makes working on anything back there much easier.a
Oh, and what I thought was a leaking cam plug was a headgasket. Easy for the oil running down and dripping to look like it is coming out of the cam plug.
07-15-2013, 03:59 PM
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Glad to be of help and glad to take a break from what I'm working on right now! If you've felt around back there you know there are two bolts that hold the sealing plate over the cam plugs in securely. Not much room between them and the firewall so you'll be using a regular wrench or if you have a ratcheting box wrench that'll work great. Probably 12mm or 14mm bolts if i recall.
Once you have those bolts out and the sealing plate off, you can remove the cam plug. Here's what I did.
BTW, if you've got an inspection mirror and flashlight you can use to look at them that'll help you understand what you're doing A LOT. They are also helpful when cleaning out the plug housing and making sure you don't have anything stuck in the return hole.
I took a small suction cup (about 1 inch or 1.5 inches in diameter) off of a thing that sticks on the shower wall to hold soap and razors. Sometimes you'll see them with metal wire hooks on them for hanging dishtowels at the sink. They all seem to be pretty much the same with a kind of hourglass shaped protrusion molded into the back of them. The skinny part of the hourglass is where the wire hooks wrap or where the suction cups snap into slots on the plastic shower caddies. That shape is important. Yours might look more like just a really short mushroom. No matter so long as there is some kind of cap or notch to help you pull on it. You can see a picture of a good one here:
http://www.motorera.com/dictionary/su.htm
So I just wiped off the plug as well as I could, then held the protrusion on the back of the suction cup between my first two fingers like I was holding a cigarette. If you fold your fingers down toward your palm, the cup side of the suction cup is facing your palm.
Now reach over the top of the valve cover so that you're sliding the cup down behind the cam plug. Once you're pretty much centered over the plug, push (you're really pulling towards yourself) the suction cup onto the plug. Smash it down good so it gets a good suck.
Now you might be able to keep your kung-fu cigarette grip on the back of the suction cup and pop the plug out. Pull slowly so the cam plug moves and not the suction cup.
I had no kung-fu grip. So I took one of those two-pronged weeding tools that has a slight bend in the shaft. If you don't know what that is look up "dandelion weeding knife". It looks like a flat-bladed screwdriver where you filed a V-shaped notch into the blade and put about a 10-degree bend into the shaft.
Anyway, you reach down with that tool and slide the notch into the skinny part of the hourglass protrusion on the back of the suction cup. Make sure the handle is angled toward the windshield. Once it is in place, slowly pull the handle away from the windshield and the bend in the shaft makes it work like a lever to apply some pulling force to the plug. Both mine came out on the first slow pull.
Good Luck! BTW, once you pull that plenum a few times, it's not so bad and it sure makes working on anything back there much easier.a
Oh, and what I thought was a leaking cam plug was a headgasket. Easy for the oil running down and dripping to look like it is coming out of the cam plug.
Once you have those bolts out and the sealing plate off, you can remove the cam plug. Here's what I did.
BTW, if you've got an inspection mirror and flashlight you can use to look at them that'll help you understand what you're doing A LOT. They are also helpful when cleaning out the plug housing and making sure you don't have anything stuck in the return hole.
I took a small suction cup (about 1 inch or 1.5 inches in diameter) off of a thing that sticks on the shower wall to hold soap and razors. Sometimes you'll see them with metal wire hooks on them for hanging dishtowels at the sink. They all seem to be pretty much the same with a kind of hourglass shaped protrusion molded into the back of them. The skinny part of the hourglass is where the wire hooks wrap or where the suction cups snap into slots on the plastic shower caddies. That shape is important. Yours might look more like just a really short mushroom. No matter so long as there is some kind of cap or notch to help you pull on it. You can see a picture of a good one here:
http://www.motorera.com/dictionary/su.htm
So I just wiped off the plug as well as I could, then held the protrusion on the back of the suction cup between my first two fingers like I was holding a cigarette. If you fold your fingers down toward your palm, the cup side of the suction cup is facing your palm.
Now reach over the top of the valve cover so that you're sliding the cup down behind the cam plug. Once you're pretty much centered over the plug, push (you're really pulling towards yourself) the suction cup onto the plug. Smash it down good so it gets a good suck.
Now you might be able to keep your kung-fu cigarette grip on the back of the suction cup and pop the plug out. Pull slowly so the cam plug moves and not the suction cup.
I had no kung-fu grip. So I took one of those two-pronged weeding tools that has a slight bend in the shaft. If you don't know what that is look up "dandelion weeding knife". It looks like a flat-bladed screwdriver where you filed a V-shaped notch into the blade and put about a 10-degree bend into the shaft.
Anyway, you reach down with that tool and slide the notch into the skinny part of the hourglass protrusion on the back of the suction cup. Make sure the handle is angled toward the windshield. Once it is in place, slowly pull the handle away from the windshield and the bend in the shaft makes it work like a lever to apply some pulling force to the plug. Both mine came out on the first slow pull.
Good Luck! BTW, once you pull that plenum a few times, it's not so bad and it sure makes working on anything back there much easier.a
Oh, and what I thought was a leaking cam plug was a headgasket. Easy for the oil running down and dripping to look like it is coming out of the cam plug.
Last edited by m1cah; 07-18-2013 at 07:59 AM.
