AM or OE for Cam oiler Tube seal rings?

[anderzen]

Hello All,

Wondering about options for part# 0159973148 (cam oiler seal rings as MB calls them). Require 32, 2x 16 for each of the tubes.

Victor Reinz seems like the common after market supplier of these seals from the typical online suppliers. FCPeuro which I am placing an order from for vc gaskets and upper timing chain guides, only has the Victor Reinz seals also and not OEM...
Price is negligible at $0.39 vs $0.90 from MB wholesale, but lifetime part + quick shipping from FCP made me curious so figured I reach out to the gurus...
Worth the lifetime/fast shipping or, not a chance go OEM because it's a one time job likely?

Victor Reinz was once carried by FCP for M113 valve cover gaskets, but their quality was iffy and now only Elring is carried, thus confidence in VR is ehh.

Thx,
ANDERZÉN

 

[gsxr]

VR is OEM for some things, for example the M119 5.0L head gaskets, and the lower oil pan gasket. But for other stuff they are not OEM.

I don't know specifically about the quality of the O-rings, but if the cost is not hugely different, I'd spring for OE / Genuine. The lifetime warranty is kinda useless for a low-cost item like this.

I've gotten heat for this in the past, but I've yet to see old/used O-rings on oil tubes that are in bad condition. I think whatever material MB used in the early 90's was very good, and seems to last a very long time. I've swapped out tubes and left the original O-rings in place. Even if a small amount of oil were to leak past the O-ring, it would have a negligible effect on anything...

 

[gerryvz]

You can go with the aftermarket sealing rings that you can get on AutohauZ. They are cheap. They are the green rings. No need to for the MB factory o-rings for this application.

I'm not a fan of Reinz for anything (although they do tend to make a bunch of MB gaskets and seals for various applications; I prefer Elring over aftermarket VR when both exist), but again for these o-rings, VR is fine.

It is a good idea when working on these cars, "when in there" (i.e. replacing the cam oiler tubes), just to replace all soft parts out of hand. Not that we have ever seen a failure of these cam oiler tube o-rings, but they are cheap, and it is very incremental effort to replace all 32 of them. Takes about 15-20 minutes of work.

The o-rings do get their rounded edges smashed down over time and heat cycles, but as said it is not likely that this would or could ever cause an issue with the application. Basically the tubes are in there to GENERALLY direct oil between two places. If an incremental amount were to leak past the o-rings, it would NOT cause ANY sort of issue.

But, again, my philosophy is to replace soft parts (rubber, plastic, gaskets, seals, etc.) whenever doing a job ("when in there"). Others may not agree with me, but that's why we have a diverse forum with diverse viewpoints.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[gsxr]

That reminds me... if the valve cover is coming off, replace the gaskets with OE only, unless they are very recent. And if the PCV hoses are not soft, you'll need to replace those also ($$$) as they'll likely break when you remove them. All of this should be a once-per-ownership expense though, unless you own for decades...

 

[LWB250]

That reminds me... if the valve cover is coming off, replace the gaskets with OE only, unless they are very recent. And if the PCV hoses are not soft, you'll need to replace those also ($$$) as they'll likely break when you remove them. All of this should be a once-per-ownership expense though, unless you own for decades...

And what about the upper chain guides or whatever they're called? Might as well do those while you're in there, too...cheap and easy.

Dan

 

[anderzen]

Thanks for the feedback!

Yep, already have OEM vc gaskets, timing guides, VR seal rings and timing guide gaskets ready to order. Timing guide gaskets are VR also, but should be fine?...
The cam oiler tube seals from the ones I pulled off of the car with 322k miles look pretty much new and feel great, but its a one time job likely might as well replace them.

Went back to the car today and grabbed a few more pieces, NSS, nicer than mine metal gas cap and a few pieces of hardware I needed. Got lucky the same time I buy my E420, that car showed up to the Pick n Pull...

 

[Stevester 500E]

...I've gotten heat for this in the past, but I've yet to see old/used O-rings on oil tubes that are in bad condition. I think whatever material MB used in the early 90's was very good, and seems to last a very long time. I've swapped out tubes and left the original O-rings in place. Even if a small amount of oil were to leak past the O-ring, it would have a negligible effect on anything...

My experience is that most used oiler tubes have reusable o-rings. I have seen a very few sets with baked and flattened edges. On those very baked sets I would replace them, but agree they would still function.

I did see one set, which had very supple and what seemed to be slightly oversized outside diametered o-rings. I regretted removing those o-rings. The o-rings we probably a first gen o-ring, as they came off first gen metal oiler tubes. But perhaps the o-rings swelled due to a type of oil that was once used in the particular engine the tubes came out of.