justablkv8

iTrader: (2)

Long story short - Took my car there and was told that couple things needed work, valve covers gasket was leaking (left side), and crank seal needed to be done.

1st thing is that he called me and told me my cam gear left side was leaking. He said he replace the seal and not charge me at this point for it

2nd thing, he proceeded to remove the vvti timing tube and take it apart -- no reason why, and I never gave consent to this.

3rd thing, he then needed to find a gasket or o-ring for the damn thing that he took apart.

He stated to me that he didn't want me to spend the money to get a whole new vvti gear; although I was dead set on getting a new one.

He then couldn't find an o-ring so he used sealant like all of the 2j guys do on their vvti tube.

He puts the car back together, bam - timing is off a bit, and it still leaks.

He says his friend who works at the dealer is going to come take a look at the car and check it out. This guy never shows up so i tell him to get the car done.

He takes everything back off, decides to somehow find a new o-ring and removes all the sealant from the timing tube.

Then it gets put back together -- he states he has to charge me, I agree -- whatever, at this point I just want the car back.

Car gets put back together, timing is apparently "on" and it still leaks. Only from the camshaft/vvti tube.

So I just got fed up, and asked him what the issue was. Basically he stated to me he doens't know what the problem is, and he would need to take the car apart again, he then proceeds to tell me that the cam might be scratched around where the seal is but he can't be sure unless he takes it apart and inspects it.

So I tell him to do it -- he then states he has to charge me. I get pretty mad at this point and in keeping things professional I just tell him that I'll come pick the car back up later.

I call a tow truck, get the car out and pay him for the parts and some of the labor -- minus the camshaft work, he stated he didnt' want payment.

I paid him, and professionally told him that he had no clue what he was doing and if he couldnt work on my car he should have told me so. I don't know what option to take now as I have the car in my garage and I dont know what to do.

I'll be having my reg. mechanic come take a look at it sometime next week.

Hopefully you guys can help.

I just hope at worst its either me having to purchase a new cam, vvti tube and thats it.















$20 to the person that guesses it and I'm serious about that.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Im guessing cam seals are leaking. I would file a complaint to the B.A.R. And get your justice.

justablkv8

iTrader: (2)

Cam seals were replaced, i was thinking it would be the vvti tube?

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Anything related to the cam would be the culprit. Yes, the tube would be it.

tiger4life

iTrader: (16)

Most likely your problem. That gear is not supposed to be taken apart. I had my timing belt done on a gs300. The mechanic put the whole car back together started it and then told me he found a leak in the gear. I paid for a new gear and he took it apart again.

Now where's my $20.

tiger4life

iTrader: (16)

The timing was probably off afterwards because of him using sealant instead of replacing it. The gear probably become fixed. The way it works I believe, is that oil pressure is allowed to enter the gear and allow it to slip to change the timing.

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

At first he prob timed it both gears aiming up, like non-vvti. The the proper procedure of the intake gear positions the gear to account for the few degrees of movement that it has. And then turn it over by hand 2 full compression cycles to make sure it's still good. Easy mistake, they just didn't follow the manual.

But as for the VVTI gear leaking. Buy a new one they are like $140, I am not aware of anyone that has found the correct replacement for the square oring it uses. And the rtv route commonly doesn't last very long before leaking again.

What sucks is that you have to let the timing belt loose everytime for every try of sealing the cam gear, so it's kind of a hassle. So replacing it makes most sense, and if it's not holding oil pressure it may have effects on the intake timing adjusting ability.

That gear is getting full oil pressure to the solenoid straight from the block. These engine can make 80-100psi pretty easy, so that's alot for a rtv seal to hold back. It's not like a cam seal, valve cover, oil pan, rear diff, that seal great with rtv because those are only holding in unpressurized oil.

justablkv8

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for all the help guys.

I was standing there when he turned the motor over by and and there were no issues. I'm going to go ahead and get a new vvti timing tube.

The silicone issue makes sense, now that I understand how it works.

Sent you a pm 99 gs3.

thanks!

VVT-i

To replace the cam seals or VVT-i cam gears on 3uz v-8 engine your technician need to remove valve cover and both cam shafts. Then separate the intake cam shaft from the VVT-i cam gear in order to replace the cam seal.The cam seal have to be install from the back side of the cam shaft. Those 4 -10mm bolts in the picture are the one that you can remove and those 4-torx bolts are the one that repair manual stated "DO NOT REMOVE THESE BOLTS,IF REMOVED YOU WILL HAVE A VERY BAD DAY"
I bet your tech try to short cut and remove those torx bolts.You probably need new VVT- gear.
It's a time consuming job and most independent shop don't want to mess with.I've done so many of them to the point that I don't need to look in the repair manual anymore.

Ltec

Sorry i did not get back to u hope u got leak takin care of if not get back to my we will exchange ##

japspec

iTrader: (4)

The Vvti cam gear doesn't have an o ring replacement you have to change the whole unit.