A few days ago I noticed some oil leaking from the left (front) valve cover area and I suspect it's the gasket. Fortunately, I didn't see any leaks from the back cover. It seemed like an easy job to replace the gasket, but as I started to disconnect the wiring, e.g., cam sensor, spark plugs, etc., I can't seem to find a way to remove the black plastic wiring harness 'housing' out of the way.
View 1 RepliesSo I'll be taking on a project to replace the valve cover gasket on my 2002 Camry V6. There's a bit of leakage through the gasket. And while I'm at it, I'll replace the spark plugs as well. I'm looking for a write up on this project. did a lot of searching but couldn't find anything.
View 14 RepliesHow difficult is it to replace the valve cover gasket on a 2001 Santa Fe with a 2.7? Can I just do the 'front' valve cover? Are there any tutorials with plenty of pictures while doing this?
View 4 RepliesHow to replace valve cover gaskets on 2002 430sc???
View 14 RepliesI did a valve cover gasket replacement. Changed all spark plugs and coilpacks. The car is still misfiring. I also just did the timing belt and water pump. Why it's still misfiring?? I'm new to this whole forum thing so bear with me lol. I'm wondering if it would be my cat, fuel pump, fuel filter. Or could it be a sensor?
View 2 RepliesReplaced this gasket that seems to be leaking oil. Looks simple enough, is there anything i should do or know before taking on this job? It's a 2002 Accent GS 1.5L ....
View 8 RepliesI noticed the oil smell that can be associated with a leaking Cam Tensioner Adjustor Seal from my 2003 1.8T Passat a few months ago. The dealer confirmed that it was leaking and that it was covered by my extended warranty since my car was 5 years old and at 70K miles. I had the work done and after I picked up the car I noticed that the oil level was at the top of the hashes not at the top bend like it was when I took it in.
I don't know what caused it to drop to the hashes but I do know that the level has dropped to 3 visible hashes in the little over 1K that has been put on the car since then. I am concerned because in it's first 70K miles the car did not visibly lose a drop of oil.
Any logical cause for this annoying trend, the only thing that changed was that the Cam Tensioner and Valve Cover Gaskets were replaced. Is it possible something else was messed up during the repair?
I've got a 2004 Mazda 6 with the 3.0L V6 & a 5-speed, with about 128k miles.
The car runs fine, but was leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold and so I recently had the valve cover gaskets replaced. the mechanic could not get replacement gaskets from Mazda, and so changed the valve covers themselves also, and consequently needed to replace a couple of hoses that connect to the valve covers.
Since the repair, the car drives fine - acceleration seems normal, I don't notice any performance issues. The CEL is NOT lit.
1) When the car is in neutral, but rolling, the idle consistently bounces back and forth precisely between 1250 & 1500 rpm. This occurs always, and happens whether the gearshift is in neutral or the clutch is depressed. With the radio off I can hear the engine surging when this is going on. As soon as the car comes to a complete stop, the idle immediately drops to the a rock-steady position just below 1000 rpm, as it always has.
2) I assume related to the above, but since the repair my gas mileage has dropped from its usual 18-19mpg to 15.7-15.9mpg as recorded at two fill-ups, and my current tankful is looking to return equally low mileage.
I brought the car back to the shop and the mechanic took the car out for a drive with me, with his computer hooked up while we drove. He found nothing wrong, nothing out of whack, and saw no evidence of any air leaks.
1) Seems strange to me that the valve cover gasket couldn't be obtained, and new valve covers were needed. I want to believe the garage is being straight with me. Is this really plausible?
2) What could cause the idle to behave this way? I understand what a valve cover does (in my earlier years I changed the cylinder head on my old Saturn) and can't figure out how or why changing the valve covers would have an effect like this.
That leads me to conclude this is more likely caused by the new, slightly different hoses attached to the valve cover, but I don't know exactly what those hoses do or why they connect to the valve covers, so I'm stuck here.
A couple of days ago, I was driving my car around when the oil pressure light came on. Having recently changed the oil myself, I figured I had neglected to tighten something down there and it had become loose and was leaking oil. I stopped at two different shops. Both shops told me the leak was coming from the valve cover gasket. Instead of paying $200 for them to replace it, I did it myself. I didn't use any sealant or silicone, or anything like that. The old gasket was hard as a rock and had some sort of red cement around it.
After I had everything back together, I had a partner start the car for me. The oil leak has become much worse--probably a quart a minute. The thing is... I can't see any oil leaking from the valve cover gasket. You would think that an oil leak of that volume would be visible if it were coming from the top of the engine, no? We're going to take the gasket off again to inspect and perhaps use some gasket sealant in select spots, per some YouTube videos we watched.
I have a 2002 F250 5.4with Air Conditioning. The valve covers are leaking and the gaskets need to be replaced. I am attempting the valve cover gaskets. I was able to get the drivers side cover off with some difficulty. For the passenger side valve cover. There is very little " no" room to get at the bolts. I read somewhere that I may have to drop the engine on that side. I will do that if I have to.
View 5 Replieswhen replacing valve cover gasket, using the cork based one. Do you use any gasket sealant or any kind of silicone or just put it in by its self.
View 5 Repliesso I have a 2azfe engine
So there's an oil leak coming from the valve cover gasket (just purchased vehicle dirt cheap with 220k)
found this
Notice all the oil sitting on top of the exhaust mani gasket
In the left(lower) part of the picture it appears to be scraped.
the gasket appears to be newer, I did NOT use a screw driver to remove the valve cover, which is what this appears to have been done..
Can this be sanded down then filled with jb weld, and then regasketed?
I've got a coolant leak here (I wiped away some of it before taking the picture):
Close up
This is the only place I can find coolant leaking and it's running down all the way to the water pump:
When I wiped away from just below the valve cover gasket it flaked right off and it doesn't appear there is any oil mixed in. I changed the oil today and it didn't appear to have any coolant mixed in either.
The coolant doesn't appear to have any oil in it's nice and pink as it should be. I started the car from a cold start and sat and watched the area waiting for it to leak but nothing ever came out, of course.
I know there shouldn't be coolant leaking from this area anyways but I don't know how else to explain the trail pictured. I definitely have a small leak somewhere as I've found coolant on the floor of the garage before.
Do I just replace the valve cover gasket and move on or is there something else I should be concerned with here?
I have a 99 passat 2.8 v6, that closing on 200k miles, and its a car i'd really like to keep, lately i've had a few leaks coming from valve cover gasket, which i replaced, and now from the front drivers cam, and the rear passenger cam, the smell is terrible and the smoke is worse, i clean out the pcv but its still happening, i talked to a mechanic he says with that many miles i should just do the timing belt and get the seals done.
View 19 RepliesMy son-in-law came by tonight and showed me his ticket from his oil change at the dealer on his '08 Azera, 108k miles. Tech remarked that both valve cover gaskets AND the oil pan gasket were leaking. I've walked through his garage many times when my daughter has the car at work and I've never noticed any oil on the floor. Should have I seen any? I told dealer I would just drive it and monitor the oil level and any other signs of oil leakage. Since he bought the car with 101k miles and a fresh oil change ticket and never checked the level over the next 7k miles I don't think it's leaking bad.
View 2 RepliesI had a very slow oil leak that dripped onto the garage floor and i brought it into the dealership. They said it was a leaking left valve cover gasket; I searched and came up with nothing? The engine has just over 30K miles on it.
View 20 RepliesI just noticed what appeared to be an oil leak around the valve cover gasket, which the VW dealer has determined to be a defective cam sensor. Apparently the VW parts distribution center in Wisconsin has 530 of these in stock, so it may be a common failure. This is on a 2010 GTI with 28,xxx miles. Thought the community would like to know.
View 2 RepliesChanging the valve cover gasket on the 4 cylinder 2.4l. I was going to change mine's. Didn't know if there are any special tips like sealant to be used, loosening bolt sequence or tightening sequence, torque values.
View 9 RepliesI'm thinking of purchasing a 2001 GLX VR6 Jetta with lots of deferred maintenance (shocks/struts, brakes, exhaust). Most worryingly, the valve cover gasket is leaking oil. The price is pretty low, but is such a beast worthwhile at any price or is it better parted out? And the interior is about as beat up as the mechanical--screeching passenger window motor, broken glove compartment ... Is this thing worth being brought back to life?
View 6 RepliesAfter taking my 2001 Toyota Tacoma into my Toyota dealer for a routine oil change they informed me that I had a leaky valve cover gasket and that it needed to be replaced. The repair would have been expensive, and since it was just a leak I decided to not make the repair. I have been driving with the "leak" since May of 2013 and have put about 29,000 miles on the truck. I have never had to add oil. There is no oil spot on the concrete where I park the car and I do not smell burning oil when the truck is running. If this thing is leaking, what the heck is leaking out of it? And if I haven't had to add oil or any other fluids do I even need to replace it?
View 14 RepliesTwo mechanics have told me that I need the valve cover gasket in my car replaced. I have all of the classic signs of needing one--the smoke coming from under the hood, the drops of oil on the pavement after the car is parked for a few minutes, etc. The problem is that I won't have the money until around Memorial Day. I drive about 300 miles a week. How desperate a repair is this, and what are the signs that I need to have it fixed immediately?
View 5 Replies