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[amba]

Sorry to bring up this "old chestnut " but would welcome some advise.

Both cam covers are bone dry and no traces of oil from any edges.

Pulled up at fuel stop tonight and noticed smoke comimg from drivers side gap between wing /bonnet so assumed the worse .When checked have a visible oil leak comimg from the 3rd bolt from the front outer edge of o/s cam cover bolt .No other bolts have any markings and entire cover except where oil has dripped from just this single bolt.Put an E10 socket on it and it wasn.t loose so have undone it ,cleaned up mess and refitted it torqueing it down to 8nm as should be.

Would the "0 " ring have perished,or gone brittle and caused the leak  as its just this 1 area, which I will check again after drive to work in morning.Seems like a lot of work and expense  just to resolve 1 possibly not missing "0" ring or could I just remove the bolt,fit a rubber washer underneath it and then refit the bolt and ...hope for the best 

[Webby the Bear]

''Would the "0 " ring have perished''

i would say that as long as your cam cover has never been overtightened (and therefore warped) then this would be the first port of call 

if you suspect the cam cover is warped i'd (personally) replace the cover

[tigers_gonads]

Agree with the bear 

At the end of the day, its pressure that is forceing the oil out so i'd give the breathers a good clean 

[tunnie]

Those O rings do fail if breather system is struggling, when where the gaskets last done?

[tigers_gonads]

Those O rings do fail if breather system is struggling, when where the gaskets last done?

Thats half the problem 

To replace the "O" rings you will probably end up doing the lot which costs time and money 

I have just removed the offending screw and put a blob of sealant in there in the past as a temp measure.
As long as the breathers are ok, it should hold for a while 

[tunnie]

Also depends who last did them, they may have only done the main gasket and not bothered with O rings 

[amba]

Both cam cover gaskets and "0" rings were done by himself..Mr Daz Low kness  ..around 2 years ago..50k and car has had oil changed every 3k since.

Breathers were cleaned at oil change before last some 3700 miles ago and were cleaned to within an inch of their lives  ...properly and all pipes spotless.

Strange actually as removed entire bolt this morning and refitted and torqued down to 8nm..have driven 140 miles this morning and just check car on driveway and not a single spot of oil anywhere on bolt head or cover.

Will keep an eye on it but my thought is the little "0" ring might have not been quite sealing tight and just releasing it and refitting has got it back correct again.

Might just pop a small blob of black sealant under bolt just to be safe ...but really strange why is suddenly decided to leak for just a short time ..then completely stop ...I hope 

[tigers_gonads]

Are you sure that is were the leak was coming from ?

[amba]

Yes,just the 1 bolt was wet and had oil dripping from its join with cam cover

[tigers_gonads]

Yes,just the 1 bolt was wet and had oil dripping from its join with cam cover

Hopefully its just a dodgy o ring seal.

A blob of the black stuff and torqed it down should see it ok 

[Fenton1]

Will you please upload some potos of you problem then I can tell you the better solution.

[martin42]

I've had this happen before,1bolt started to let oil by,just tightened it down and was fine again 

[amba]

Well it looks like it has stopped its little leak .

Took bolt out and clean up area  .Replaced bolt and torqued down to 8nm  and after driving over 200 miles today its not shown any leak so  ..perhaps it had worked slightly loose

[feeutfo]

They do work loose. Every 3.2 I have come to own has had loose cam cover bolts. Particularly by pot one, as that's the most obvious and shows an oil weep, then others then found to need a nip. Usually towards the front of the engine for some reason.

Presume the seals give a little, then add in a bit of vibration...

[amba]

Well since I torqued it down yesterday havent seen a spot of oil from it  ...and have covered just shy of 300 miles  , so expect your conclusion could well be correct,Chris