Damaged Camshaft when removing Seal

[ctbale]

Anyone care to admit if they did the same bone head move I did when removing my 97 4cyl cam seal? I drilled it, (4 times) and nicked the shaft (4 times) Everything was going so well too. I was changing the 4 seals under the timing belt. One of the lower ones were leaking. I found only 6 out of 7 bolts in the oil pump, the top one was missing. I took a small points file and knocked off the high spots, and blended the nicks with scotch brite. I think they all are outside the inner lip, two are visible, so they are outside the outer seal lip. That metal is soft, and so is me brain! Any links or thoughts? Thanks.

[hairball]

Well, since my last job was as a Cam Grinder, I won't say I've done that. But I will shake my head and wonder why you would mess with the cam when replacing seals. Damn, I hope you didn't do too much damage. But hey, the good thing is that you can get it reground to almost any specs for cheaper than a new cam!

[ctbale]

It was the cam sproket seal I was removing.

[hairball]

Oh, now it makes more sense. No problem though. But did you have to pull your cam out? If that's the case, don't worry. It takes quite a bit to ruin one from just a nick or two.

If you believe you may have ruined anything, please ask my former boss:
http://deltacam.com/camshaftgrinding.php

If you want, you can just call my former boss/still friend Jon (owner) at 1-800-562-5500 and get Jon's opinion (or whoever answers). The only people who answer are folks who have been grinding cams for 30+ years. I only did it for about a year.

[ctbale]

You dont have to pull your cam shaft out to pull the cam sproket seal, just pull off the drive sproket

[carsrus]

Dont freak out. Fel pro makes a kit for this. You put a sleeve over the cam and the seal it comes with is a tad smaller.

It happens alot. Dont leave it or it will leak oil like a sieve.

[ctbale]

great tip!! I will check it to see if its leaking, I can pull back the upper belt cover to check it out