camshaft seal leak

[tulanian]

I've a 2001 Protege with a leaking camshaft seal. I've had the seal replaced three times but it's still leaking. The mechanic says that a thin groove has been made in the camshaft housing that's preventing the seal from actually sealing properly. He's proposing to apply some JB Weld to the groove and then sand it down to smooth it out. Does this sound anything like a reasonable thing to do?

Thanks,

Bill

[TheMAN]

have you tried using OEM mazda seals? what engine oil do you run? is the seal pregreased (with bearing grese, assembly lube, or dielectric grease) before installing?

it's more advisable to just replace the cams if that's the problem.. this is the first time I heard of such problems with mazdas, they normally don't go bad! there's pleny of used cams to be found on this board as people upgrade

[kyle's protege5]

i deal with this problem all the time where i work. call around and find a place that will machine it down then spray weld tungston carbide in. They will then machine it back to spec and polish it. shouldnt be more than $50 - $100. It will be 100x stronger than oem and will never wear again.

dont even think of jb weld. thats the funniest thing i ever heard.