Rebuilt head on, cam oil leak, no cam seal? NOT THE VENDOR'S FAULT!!!

So the rebuilt head is on and the car is running good. Nice smooth 1000 rpm idle, 19" vacuum and pretty steady. No "puffing" from the exhaust. Seems to run great and pulls good.

I didn't check real carefully but I assumed there would be a cam seal on this head. The front of the cam area didn't look the same as the old head but I didn't give it a second thought. I did put teflon tape on the pulley bolt. I just pulled the bolt to put RTV on it and it seemed dry. The leak is not massive (I've only driven 5 miles though) but the front of the head was wet and there is a thin stripe on the underside of the hood.

I'm guessing the cam seal is not under full pressure so it would not be a huge leak. Any other ideas? Anybody else get a head from Clearwater with/without a cam seal?

Thanks,
Clay

Did you check for a cam seal? Looks a lot like a wheel bearing seal.

No, I didn't even know there was such a thing. I just assumed the head would be ready to bolt on. I looked behind the pulley best I could and I don't see anything. I guess I really just need to remove the pulley and see...

Also check the tensioner pulley spring bolt. Sometimes it will leak there.

I don't think so in this case. The oil is above that on the head and is being slung by the pulley.

I think I am over analyzing this and wasting everybody's time. The difference I noticed between the 2 heads is because the old head had already been torn down by the machine shop and the cam seal is just barely sitting in place, not pressed back against the front of the head.

I'm gonna retest since I put RTV on the cam bolt...

It didn't have a cam seal!!!
http://natomessageboard.com/uploads/0000...m_seal.JPG
http://natomessageboard.com/uploads/0000...m_seal.JPG

Wow! That's crazy. Oh well, no serious harm done. At least you got it fixed.

Yup, no harm done and I have gotten really good at setting the cam/ignition timing even without a front cover...

Good find lcdearman. I definitely need some training from you. I received some bad news when I went to renew my registration. That inspection sticker I got from "shady place" wasn't legit. So my last failure for trying to get my car inspected was still in DMV databsse. My registration has "TCEQ Non-compliant". "Failed inspection". Now to add insult to injury, I have to get my car reinspected to get my 2012 registration and I was in New Braunfels, TX and got a citation for EXPIRED REGISTRATION from New Braunsfel PD. So I have until Feb 10, 2012 to get my car inspected. Last time it failed bad. I'm running rich and the spouts been out during the inspection.