When I bought my car I made a note-to-self to change the weepy VVT seal, which I promptly forgot to do. Four years later, the weepy seal decided to become a leaky seal.


As would be expected, my wife and I were on holidays in the vicinity of Woop Woop (that is an Australian term for 'back of the Black Stump', the middle of nowhere...you get the drift) so there was absolutely no chance of getting a replacement seal in anything like a reasonable timeframe.


I could, however access degreaser, sensor-safe silicon sealant, a packet of toothpicks and the cardboard tube from the centre of a roll of paper towel.


The purpose of the degreaser is obvious. By chance the inside diameter of the cardboard tube was exactly the same as the outside diameter of the VVT Seal. I carefully cut a 12mm slice off the end of the tube and slid that over the seal. Then I squirted the silicon into the 'dam' I had made and used the toothpicks to ensure the silicon had been pushed right down against both the body of the VVT unit and the seal. The final step was to fill the void completely and smooth.


That was a couple of thousand kilometres ago. So far no sign of oil leaks or weeps. But I will definitely change the seal very soon..............

 

Much more 'colorful' than the originals!!!!!

bob

 

Necessity is the Mother of Invention. Great Job!

 

Great temporary fix, I bet the locals in Coober Pedy impressed!

 

Interesting to know what Boom Boom means!
In the US we have a similar term; Somewhere outside of Bum****, Egypt.

Or the middle of nowhere.
.
.
.

 

Another 4 years? Hahaha

Great patch job though!

 

I was beginning to wonder if anyone had picked up on my hint that this repair may be there for while, Joycesjag. Problem is I am a scientist, so of course I now have to test the hypothesis the repair will last four years.

 

I had completely forgotten about this post, but just happened upon it. I will probably forget to do my promised four-year check next November, so I thought I would submit a 3.5-year, interim report:

So far my temporary seal has been there ~40000 km, and still not sign of a leak. Maybe try for 8 years?

 

I note your comment about being a scientist, Roger. Your approach to car repairs actually looks like the work of an auto mechanic working on his own car after hours...

 

Nice to see after all these years your fix still is holding, congrats! Thank you for the update.

 

Genius

How much did you save on the DIY repair?

 

Hi Susie Q, As I mentioned in my very first post the oil leak became much worse over a fairly short timeframe while we were holidaying in a location where there was zero chance of quickly purchasing a replacement seal. The real driver for me doing a 'field repair' was that oil was dribbling onto the exhaust, and hence stinking. So, while saving money wasn't my primary driver in adopting this method, out of interest I did price the replacement seals when I returned from our vacation. In 2017 I was quoted AUS$55 each. So not hugely expensive - about $110 for two seals vs $10 for a tube of silicone and $3 for the tin of degreaser. I do still plan to change the seals one day.

 

Yes, but one should never rush into such things…

 

i just put the v6 vvt seal on the v8

idiot proof installation with super gummy rubber and not leaking yet