Valve Covers leaking
- Thread starter Turbo85
- Start date
Welcome!
By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.
TexasT
Texas, Where are you from
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2002
- Messages
- 7,117
Are you over tightening the fasteners?
Are the fasteners loosening over time?
Is it leaking at the rear? If not where?
Is the cover warped? Set it on a flat surface? Head and vc clean when installing new gasket?
I like cork and use some contact cement at the corners of the cover to retain and a coat of oil around the head to seal but not stick so I can reuse if I don't rip it on removal.
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
Are the fasteners loosening over time?
Is it leaking at the rear? If not where?
Is the cover warped? Set it on a flat surface? Head and vc clean when installing new gasket?
I like cork and use some contact cement at the corners of the cover to retain and a coat of oil around the head to seal but not stick so I can reuse if I don't rip it on removal.
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
The drivers side is leaking from the rear. I tighten them at install and lasts about 2 weeks and start leaking again. I retighten, probably over the recommended specks. But flurstration sets in. I set the covers on the bench they are not warped.
robzombie
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2012
- Messages
- 1,760
Think of of it like this; every great warrior that goes to war loses some blood, sweat and tears.
I like to think of the oil in my car as the life BLOOD, and with the amount it bleeds it's one hell of a warrior!!!
I like to think of the oil in my car as the life BLOOD, and with the amount it bleeds it's one hell of a warrior!!!
BARRACUDA1968
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1,270
I have been fighting the passenger side. I installed a new felpro cork gasket and it still leaked. I removed the valve cover and noticed I did not tighten the bottom rear bolt tight enough. No squish on the gasket. I then dry fitted the valve cover to the engine and noticed my copper header gaskets where real close the valve cover. I clearance the valve cover and they fit a lot better.
I check the bolts every other time I drive it. I didn't want to over tighten the bolts but once they heat cycle a few times because of the cork they will loosen up. I thought I had everything tight the first time but I didn't. If your using cork keep snugging them. You might try loosening the other three and start tightening the lower rear bolt first. If that doesn't work just pull the valve cover and look at the cork for a god seal. Chances are at that point you don't have a good contact to the head or it tore during install.
I check the bolts every other time I drive it. I didn't want to over tighten the bolts but once they heat cycle a few times because of the cork they will loosen up. I thought I had everything tight the first time but I didn't. If your using cork keep snugging them. You might try loosening the other three and start tightening the lower rear bolt first. If that doesn't work just pull the valve cover and look at the cork for a god seal. Chances are at that point you don't have a good contact to the head or it tore during install.
H
Heisenberg
Guest
robzombie
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2012
- Messages
- 1,760
Don't fight the inevitable, embrace it.
If you get the covers to stop leaking it will leak elsewhere.
These cars love to bleed and not just once a month.
If you get the covers to stop leaking it will leak elsewhere.
These cars love to bleed and not just once a month.
TexasT
Texas, Where are you from
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2002
- Messages
- 7,117
X2 on the locktite if fasteners aren't staying tight. Blakeclean is good in the holes to clean em out. Careful though it comes back at ya and you don't want it in your eyes.
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
robzombie
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2012
- Messages
- 1,760
X2 on the locktite if fasteners aren't staying tight.
Is that really a good idea?? Especially as the gasket shrinks and hardens after a few heat cycles.
I just snug them up every once in awhile to prevent leakage.
It's not that the fasteners loosen up, but the gasket shrinking that causes the gaps and leakage.
Is that really a good idea?? Especially as the gasket shrinks and hardens after a few heat cycles.
I just snug them up every once in awhile to prevent leakage.
It's not that the fasteners loosen up, but the gasket shrinking that causes the gaps and leakage.
GNONYX
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2009
- Messages
- 1,754
I went through the same thing of having the valve cover leaking of oil.
I use Victor Reinz Valve Cover Gasket Set, and these gasket has a thin metal sandwich between two cork materials.
I used Hi-temp RTV on the cover side and not on the heads side since you may one day want to remove the valve cover and be able to use the valve cover gasket again.
No more leaks on valve covers, no more leaks on rear end seal, no more leak on oil pan, and finally no more leaks on transmission cover. Finally my GN is leak proof for now, and trust me I do look.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&vxp=mtr&item=300977562676
I use Victor Reinz Valve Cover Gasket Set, and these gasket has a thin metal sandwich between two cork materials.
I used Hi-temp RTV on the cover side and not on the heads side since you may one day want to remove the valve cover and be able to use the valve cover gasket again.
No more leaks on valve covers, no more leaks on rear end seal, no more leak on oil pan, and finally no more leaks on transmission cover. Finally my GN is leak proof for now, and trust me I do look.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&vxp=mtr&item=300977562676
Attachments
TexasT
Texas, Where are you from
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2002
- Messages
- 7,117
How much heat and shrinkage do you experience with your installations with cork? Maybe five years down the road if you drive it daily. Even trans pans I have used cork on I haven't experienced excessive shrinkage. Though I do like the black trans pan gaskets I have gotten the last two times. Not near as sensitive to over tightening.
If over tightening he could be squeezing gasket out and causing the leak. Correct torque and a fastener that maintains it would be better to me than having to retorque multiple times and resqueeze the gasket multiple times. Our results obviously differ.
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
robzombie
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2012
- Messages
- 1,760
And they are reusable and can be put on wet [fluid on them] and still won't leak. Those gaskets ROCK.
I have one on the trans right now and have had the pan down three times with same gasket and have no leaks.
First off I only snug them when I install them so as not to over tighten them.
If you can find the gaskets that come with the metal washer in them you can tighten away and not over tighten them.
I know they will shrink within a few hundred miles of first installation and I will have to re-tighten them and then maybe every few thousand miles until they become hard as a rock and lose their resilience and then they won't need any more attention until you take the covers off.
At least that's been my experience with cork gaskets since I've been using them the past 30 years.
Glue the gasket to the valve cover and let it dry. I use the weather strip glue. Then after that has cured I put some gasket sealant on the gasket to head surface. This is with cork gaskets. I have installed about 8 different sets. None are leaking even after several years.
