cam plug leaking

[jrobe]

on the back of the passenger head the cam plug is leaking.

I've searched with no luck on how to remove.

Any tips? Can you pull it out and goop it up and reinstall? or does it ruin it when you pull it?

Thanks' Jeff

[green97gt]

by cam plug do you mean that half moon piece of plastic on the back of the head inline with the valve cover gasket?

to fix this, you will need to replace the valve cover gaskets, as that most likely whats leaking, if not that, then its the plug itself or the RTV equivalent.

you can get these helf moon plugs from the dealership for not to much, get a valve cover gasket set from ebay or wherever you like, then you take the valve covers off, replace/re-goop the plugs, set the gasket, and tighten the bolts again.

just be careful. theres a DIY here that mentions how easy it is to get these steel bolts to strip out the aluminum head...and they arent kidding.

i messed up one of mine when i did it on the old motor, luckily it was one of the top bolts, i had to heli-coil it.

EDIT: if your wondering how they come out, you have to remove the valve cover, then just pull them off, they have a U shaped grove that goes on either side of the head(inside/outside) you must remove valve covers to remove without damaging.

with a good cleaning they can be re used. but if found cheap enough, might be worth gettin new ones.

[jrobe]

Nope, I'm talking about the rubber cam plug on the back side of the passenger side head. Right by the EGR tube(automatics, 95 and up).

[ouch1011]

2.2 or 2.5?

2.5 DOHC uses rubber coated plastic half moons that seal with RTV into the head and a couple dabs of RTV between it and the gasket.

Not sure on the SOHC models.

[green97gt]

^ thats what i thought he was talking about.

i eyeballed my FSMs and in the "97legacy" one i noticed on the SOHC model there seems to be a round plug on the back of the heads thats independent of the valve cover gaskets.

on the RH (pass. in the states) has a bracket around it w/ two bolts in it. the LH(drivers side) does not....in my diagram.

almost looks like it should just pop out.

im pretty sure hes talking about a 2.2. ive never played with them.

can you find one of these seal/plugs at a parts store to eyeball?

im sure someone knowledgeable in the 2.2 will chime in.

or check out the literature section, might find the FSM for your car and you can check out the diagrams.

wish i could be more help.

good luck.

[Grafton]

the plug is ~1-2 no idea on how to remove it, mine came out when the heads got cleaned

[ouch1011]

Typically they are either press fit (like the cam seals) or held in with the cam bearing caps. Would need to remove the valve cover to see how it comes out. I don't know how they are on Subarus specifically.