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[mathewst]

Was wondering what are the possible causes for cam cover gaskets failure. If we can count them all on one place I guess it can make solving problems a lot easier to the ones in need.
Well I know two most often cause.
1. Age
2. Blocked Breathers
If anyone knows more please write them down.

[tunnie]

Was wondering what are the possible causes for cam cover gaskets failure. If we can count them all on one place I guess it can make solving problems a lot easier to the ones in need.
Well I know two most often cause.
1. Age
2. Blocked Breathers
If anyone knows more please write them down.

Is the only real cause, they should last 6/7 years before they need replacing.

[mathewst]

Ok this might be a longshot but what if the egr or cats are partiallly blocked?
I presume this can also lead to a big overpresure in the engine and could theoretically cause cma cover gaskets to blow.
I'm only assuming so could be very wrong.

[djac]

Was wondering what are the possible causes for cam cover gaskets failure. If we can count them all on one place I guess it can make solving problems a lot easier to the ones in need.
Well I know two most often cause.
1. Age
2. Blocked Breathers
If anyone knows more please write them down.

Is the only real cause, they should last 6/7 years before they need replacing.

I recently had a quote from Vx of £300 to replace the cam cover gaskets on my 3.2 which I thought was rather steep. Would that have included replacing the breathers?

My car has over 120k miles on it and I have no way of knowing if the breathers have ever been replaced.

[Ghost]

I wouldent think so.
they are to do with the cylinder/exhaust gas and not with internal engine pressure.
I might be wrong though.

[tunnie]

Was wondering what are the possible causes for cam cover gaskets failure. If we can count them all on one place I guess it can make solving problems a lot easier to the ones in need.
Well I know two most often cause.
1. Age
2. Blocked Breathers
If anyone knows more please write them down.

Is the only real cause, they should last 6/7 years before they need replacing.

I recently had a quote from Vx of £300 to replace the cam cover gaskets on my 3.2 which I thought was rather steep. Would that have included replacing the breathers?

My car has over 120k miles on it and I have no way of knowing if the breathers have ever been replaced.

You don't replace them, you clean them. Being Vx i doubt they would. We have guides to do it, its much easier on the 3.2/2.6 

[Ghost]

Was wondering what are the possible causes for cam cover gaskets failure. If we can count them all on one place I guess it can make solving problems a lot easier to the ones in need.
Well I know two most often cause.
1. Age
2. Blocked Breathers
If anyone knows more please write them down.

Is the only real cause, they should last 6/7 years before they need replacing.

I recently had a quote from Vx of £300 to replace the cam cover gaskets on my 3.2 which I thought was rather steep. Would that have included replacing the breathers?

My car has over 120k miles on it and I have no way of knowing if the breathers have ever been replaced.

that would only be the gasket and not the breathers.
bloody steep price though.

[Marks DTM Calib]

You don't replace them, you clean them. Being Vx i doubt they would. We have guides to do it, its much easier on the 3.2/2.6 

Nothing in it actually, what you gain on lack of throttle cables and EGR you loose on coil pack removal.

Only 2 causes:

Age - Rubber goes hard, in reality this will not cuase a failure unless there is pressure behind them.

Breathers - Key cause, the block runs under a slight vaccum thanks to the breatehrs connection to the inlet. Any blockage causes the crank case to become pressurised and the weakest points are found i.e. the cam cover gaskets.

Note: The metal covers on the Vectra V6 are not a solution, fitting these does not address the cause i.e. he blocked breathers. In fact, there is a down side, Vectra V6's with blocked breathers also find the weakest point and its often the crank shaft seal!. There are further issues with respect to filling the oil (can be overcome) and alignemnt of the plug leads to the spark plugs (more of a problem)

[Marks DTM Calib]

Ok this might be a longshot but what if the egr or cats are partiallly blocked?
I presume this can also lead to a big overpresure in the engine and could theoretically cause cma cover gaskets to blow.
I'm only assuming so could be very wrong.

Blocked cats would cause excess back pressure, the result of this would be exhaust gases not being fully purged from the cylinder on the exhaust stroke and hence power loss (not possible to get a full dose of air in). The blow by gases would not be increased significantly as a reslt becasue this is worse on the initial stage of the power stroke. 2.5 and 3.0 V6's havea  nice method of withstanding this anyway, they blow the air injection rubber couplings!.

EGR would have no impact, it is doing nothing more than dosing an inert gas (inert to the combustion cycle as there is no fuel or O2 left) into the inlet. If stuck fully open then a poor idle would occur and a drop in WOT power. If shut, then no impact. 

[tunnie]

You don't replace them, you clean them. Being Vx i doubt they would. We have guides to do it, its much easier on the 3.2/2.6 

Nothing in it actually, what you gain on lack of throttle cables and EGR you loose on coil pack removal.

Only 2 causes:

Age - Rubber goes hard, in reality this will not cuase a failure unless there is pressure behind them.

Breathers - Key cause, the block runs under a slight vaccum thanks to the breatehrs connection to the inlet. Any blockage causes the crank case to become pressurised and the weakest points are found i.e. the cam cover gaskets.

Note: The metal covers on the Vectra V6 are not a solution, fitting these does not address the cause i.e. he blocked breathers. In fact, there is a down side, Vectra V6's with blocked breathers also find the weakest point and its often the crank shaft seal!. There are further issues with respect to filling the oil (can be overcome) and alignemnt of the plug leads to the spark plugs (more of a problem)

Maybe its just a phycological thing? I look at the cam cover area on the DBW's and there is much less 'stuff' over the cam covers, it just looks a whole lot easier!

[Marks DTM Calib]

Sadly there not, there are more cables and the coil pack on 2-4-6 takes a bit of manouvering to get it out.

[mathewst]

I did post today that my cat converter seems to be on it's way out.
And the power has droped a little it seems.
Marks is there any way to check this (probably emission test but beside that)?

[Abiton]

It may have been mere coincidence, but on ours the (as far as I know original) camcover gasket only started to leak once the headgasket started to go.

Coolant was getting into pot #4 and I suppose this would be causing additional pressure within that pot as it vapourised, which would, I suppose, result in more blow-by.  Breathers could (and did) certainly clog up more rapidly in these circumstances, trying to deal with coolant-degraded oil.

Although it never overheated scarily, I'd imagine that an engine that was overheating would tend to put additional stress on camcovers and their gaskets.

[mathewst]

Looks like nobody is checking my other post regarding cat converters so here are a couple of questions.
Aftermarket cats any good or not (any problems with them)?
I also read that it is possible to renew the old catalysators, did anyone do it, does this actually work??