Valve cover leak

MYBAD79

MYBAD79

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Smelled some burnt oil yesterday while driving the '79 and found a nasty valve cover leak on the passenger side.

Valve cover gaskets range from under $10 to $30 - anybody using the fancy $30 Felpro gaskets ?? They sure look cool with these seal lips in the rubber part...

For now I grabbed a pair of MrGasket rubber gaskets. I hope it's just the gasket, going to remove the cover today - hope it's not cracked.... I have cast aluminum covers that I got cheeep on Ebay..... :ill:
 
nothing wrong with the covers..... the gasket wasn't in very good shape, looks like "somebody" tightened the cover bolts a little too much :blush:

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I have had better luck with a good degreasing, and then sealing with RTV....but that's with steel Pontiac covers.....same 4 on the flange shit though.....it worked for some years with iron heads on the vette too....but never had iron heads on long enough to really know the total lifespan of the RTV....never had a rocker problem, but surely some guys would with them cams and shit....

:crap::banghead:
 
those thar gaskets look fine, someone forgot to put a full tube of RTV or better yet, clear silicone on them, that's what's wrong

I had clear silicone all over the oil pan on my gray camaro's 700R4, it never leaked even though all the bolts were loose. That stuff works like a champ man!
 
I use RTV to glue the gaskets to the valve covers, no RTV between gasket and head surface, never had a problem until now.... BUT.... I figured out why I overtightened it:
I am using these long valve cover nuts that look like a "T" - too bad that they interfere with the push in style breather and oil filler cap... had to give it another 1/4 turn to get the oil filler in place.... not this time: I used a washer under the nut .... smart huh ???
 
big2bird said:
DeeVeeEight said:
Aren't the $30 FelPro's reuseable?
Click to expand...

yep. Best gasket out there for the money. Reusable, never leak, just like the 1 piece pan gasket. No sealant necessary. No over torquing, can't beat em.
Click to expand...

That's one small advantage to the L98 heads with center bolt covers, I think the skirt if higher too, not sure on that one though....and for some reason the header bolts don't seem to work loose....

knock on wood....

;)
 
Why don't you use the special valve cover clamps that spread out the clamping surface area a little better.Instead of just bolts,the ones I have are
about 3" long and helps hold the down better.
 
Spreading the clamping force over a larger area works great with stamped steel covers that bend and warp if you apply the clamping force to a small area .. when I bought these cast aluminum covers I was convinced that warping or bending is not a problem with these covers.
Apparently the clamping force was distributed over a few inches - that's how long the crushed area on the gasket is :huh:
 
did i ever tell you what happened when i installed my new aluminum valve covers that came with bolts and i eagerly installed them with a new gasket but with out checking for the depth of the tapped hole in the head...... yup broke the freaking bolt right off in the head......took a happy moment and made it into a sad moment......
 
You have to love it when that happens. You sound like you have a little of my luck sometimes. The problem with cheap covers is the tend to be warped, so not matter how tight they are or how good of a gasket holding them down, they will still leak. The prob I have seen with the expensive Felpro, while the gasket is better, they don't tend to work as well because they are not pliable like a cheap set of cork gaskets. The newer cars that use the material like the FelPro's have skirts on the valve covers that block 90% oil that hits the gasket and your do not have that.
A set of cork gaskets and a small amount, very small amount of RTV smeared on them seems to always work for me. I also don't tighten the valve cover down tight. Apply a small amount of RTV to the threads of the bolt and just snug the bolts down. The RTV will keep them from backing out. The sealing surface on the head on those older cars is not great, it helps cut the gasket when you over tighten them. Good Luck
Justin
 
I went through multiple attempts to get rid of a valve cover leak and finally got the fel pro 1628 rubber gaskets and NO MORE LEAKS. They are worth the expense.
 
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