[paanta]

Everything was going along well on my timing belt replacement, and I figured I'd replace the camshaft oil seals. I might be regretting that decision.

Put a sheet metal screw in the seal, pried it out and my f-ing vice grips slipped off and put a noticeable gouge in the nose of the camshaft.

What's the best way to proceed? Should I get some super fine grit sandpaper and try to smooth it out? Leave it alone? I'm concerned that any roughness to the surface AT ALL will cause the new seal to leak like crazy pretty soon.

Looking for solutions short of putting in new cam.

 

[AzB5wagon]

is it on a part that rides on the seal? If not, sand it down a bit. If so, sand it down alot, good luck.

 

[ScottPassat2.8]

can you get a few pics on here of it?

 

[paanta]

Well, it seemed like it was not in contact with the seal, but I could be wrong. Hopefully I'm not back in there next week trying to fix this.

Sigh.

 

[TwoManyPassats]

If its under the seal, that's not particularly good. Whats most important is that the gouge isn't raised up. That will tear up the seal. If anything sticks up, stone it down with a fine stone. Anything that goes in may make it weep a little, but won't hurt the seal.

 

[AzB5wagon]

it's probably not on a sealing surface, but you need to smooth it before you put the seal back over it...

 

[PZ]

it's probably not on a sealing surface, but you need to smooth it before you put the seal back over it...

Agreed. If the seal was in place, the vice grips would not have made contact far enough in to damage the sealing surface. Just smooth it out so the new seal is not torn going over it.