03/09/2026
Some oil leaks are remarkably good at hiding.
This is one of the camshaft oil seals on the 3.0 TDV6/SDV6, tucked away behind the camshaft drive sprocket. With the sprocket in place, there’s very little of the seal itself to see, which makes it an easy area to overlook.
The engine has three of these seals in total: two at the front and one at the rear. The front two are accessible as part of the cambelt work, so even though the additional strip-down shown here isn’t necessary to inspect them, it’s important to look specifically for signs of leakage while the belt is being replaced.
If one of the front seals is leaking, we replace the two front seals as a pair. The rear seal is a different proposition, requiring considerably more work to access.
It’s a good example of how a cambelt replacement isn’t simply a matter of removing the old belt and fitting a new one. With so much already exposed, there are a number of things worth looking at while you’re in there.
This particular leak was hiding behind the sprocket.
You just have to know to look for it.
