A Mopar Tech Question

[rampage84]

1997 Plymouth Breeze, 2.0 with 55k. Had a streaming oil leak on the passenger side of the engine. I got everything apart and there was the camshaft seal just hanging on the shaft, out of its mounting hole. Went to the local dealer for a new seal and the gal there said there was a service bullitin on this seal and a $25 tin retainer plate should be installed with the seal to hold it in. I think the plate should have been free because Mopar must be aware of the seal walking out of its hole. Excuse my venting!!

[Hemi-K]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rampage84 1997 Plymouth Breeze, 2.0 with 55k. Had a streaming oil leak on the passenger side of the engine. I got everything apart and there was the camshaft seal just hanging on the shaft, out of its mounting hole. Went to the local dealer for a new seal and the gal there said there was a service bullitin on this seal and a $25 tin retainer plate should be installed with the seal to hold it in. I think the plate should have been free because Mopar must be aware of the seal walking out of its hole. Excuse my venting!!

By that theory, everything on your car that breaks should be free then. Every manufacturer knows things will fail on their products, this is why they make spare parts to begin with. If it wasn't going to fail, then why have spare parts?

The reason its not free is because it is a TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLITIN, NOT A SAFETY RECALL. A seal walking out and causing a minor oil leak that will not drip on the exhaust is not a safety related thing, just an annoyance. If it was in a spot where it could leak on the exhaust and cause a fire, then it could be made a safety recall, but safety recalls are usually instigated by the US Government if the manufacturer has NOT developed a fix on their own, or if it gets really out of hands with many safety related deaths or injuries. (Hello.....Ford Pinto???!!!???) I seriously doubt that the seal that walks its way out will cause any deaths or injuries.

[rampage84]

I don't consider the retainer plate a spare part. It's a fix for probably a design flaw. I pushed the new seal with just finger presssure. Now thats not right.

[Shadow16V]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rampage84 1997 Plymouth Breeze, 2.0 with 55k. Had a streaming oil leak on the passenger side of the engine. I got everything apart and there was the camshaft seal just hanging on the shaft, out of its mounting hole. Went to the local dealer for a new seal and the gal there said there was a service bullitin on this seal and a $25 tin retainer plate should be installed with the seal to hold it in. I think the plate should have been free because Mopar must be aware of the seal walking out of its hole. Excuse my venting!!

The plate would have been free if your seal had happened to fail with in the factory waranty period.

You complain about the seal pushing out but when was the last time your PCV valve was changed? Excessive crankcase pressure due to a partially pluged PCV system probably helped push that seal out. You may want to change your PCV valve before you experience the same thing with your Rear main seal.

I've changed many of cam and Rear main seals. I would say a good 80% of these could be traced back to PCV.

[rampage84]

PCV valve, good point. I'll grab one tomorrow. It's the wifes car, 55k. We got to get a little more usage out of it. Thanks for the info.

[Kowalski]

Put that puppy in with loctite.

-K