I finally found where my remaining leak is - the cam plug on the back of the head, passenger side.

I saw where people recommended jamming a screwdriver into it to pry it off, but there's no possible way - first, it's a metal cap (covered in plastic), how do you puncture that? Also, there's no room back there for a hammer or any real leverage.

So, I took the valve covers off, but still can't see how to get to the damn thing without taking the cam out, which obviously I don't want to do.

Am I missing something here? Is there a trick to this with the covers off?

Thanks!

Justin

 

if you are talking about the round plug you dont have to take the cams out just the end cap on the cams then you can slip the new cam plug into place. if its the half moon plug thats a different story as you should change it and the tensioner gaskets at the same time as these are what usually cause the leaks in that area of the engine. To change those you must remove the cams.

 

Thanks. It's the cam plug on the end, not the tensioner gasket and half moon. I did both of those a couple months ago, but didn't do the end plug. Just can't figure out how to get the end plug out.

 

Ok, finally got it off. What a PITA. I was able to eventually drive a pick through the side of the cap to make a hole, then wedge a screwdriver in there and pry it off. Looks like you *have* to do this through the side - the top is way too tough to break through.

 

When I changed the half-moons and cam tensioner gaskets on my '99, I found it was easier to do them without removing the cams, which looked like it would have been a lot of work. You just have to loosen each inboard cam a little so you can get the old gaskets out and slide the new ones in.

 

When I did the cam chain tensioner/half moon seals, I did it without taking the cam off as well. Just used the tensioner tool (VAG 3366) to release the tension on the chain, unbolted the tensioner and replaced the seals. It's a tight fit, but it's not hard. Once I had the tensioner unbolted (it rises up and leaves a gap where the seals can slide in/out), it only took 5-10 minutes to replace both.