I bought a 2.2 engine (ebay) that I could do a dry run on before I actaully do the timing belt for real on my production 2.2. I noticed a leak on the mock engine behind the pully on the rights side. I then checked my working sub and it has the same leak (real wet). What seal is this and is this common.

Hey that's a cool idea buying that engine. Maybe that leak is from the o-ring in the cam (retaining?) cap (from what i've seen in another post). At first I thought the leak was coming from the cam seal but I don't see any oil in the timing cover.

 

I'm interested in knowing which seal/o-ring that is too as I'm about to do the t-belt on my '96 2.2 and it appears to be spraying a little oil in that exact same area.

That's what it is, the big thin O-ring between the head and the camshaft support. Like with shaft seals, the leaking oil is not under pressure. Same O-ring is found under the cam support at the other end on the right side. Both of mine used to leak. It's probably a good idea to replace the one on the left with each t-belt replacement. The one on the right can be done as needed.

Be careful when sliding the cam support off the camshaft and back on, so as not to scratch the journal.

Here's the scoop.

 

NA heads are the same left/right. And I don't mean there's enough similarities between them that they will work without incident, I mean the part numbers are the same.

 

So... yes, there is an O-ring behind the cam retainer on the driver-side head, and it will spring a leak. I made the same mistake, replaced just the cam seal on that side and got pissed when it was still leaking.

 

So, subyluvr, if the heads are the same left/right, then that means that there would have to be an identical hole somewhere on the passenger side head that needs to be sealed by that same O-ring, right?

 

Right! That hole is on the BACK of the passenger head, and is blocked off by a little plate with the same O-ring sealing it (same part number for both O-rings). That O-ring is just as susceptible to leaking as the other one is, although that one is MUCH easier to replace (takes about 10 minutes).

 

So yeah, porcupine is on the right track. But there's the skinny on it. I don't have the part numbers for those O-rings in front of me, but if I get over this crummy sickness by Monday , I'll try to look it up and post it.

The two heads are different on EGR-equipped engines, meaning 1.8l and 1995+ 2.2 used with AT. But camshaft bores are still the same on both sides.

The ring part number is 806946030.

When I go in to replace it will it spin freely thus causing me problems.

If you mean camshaft rotating independently of crankshaft, on this engine you know it won't harm anything. The support does not make any difference here, nor will the camshaft pop out when that piece is removed.

Plus you can try it first on your practice engine before trying it where the money is.