mj1pate

I have had an oil leak since the valve cover gasket replacement 6 or so years ago. All pertinent bolt rubber washers, etc were replaced and properly torqued.

The picture doesn't quite show the drip source, but I thought it was coming from the bolt that secures the passenger side engine lift hook to the head. At least that is where I usually see the drip. I assumed that bolt was a "feed thru" bolt, and perhaps oil was seeping along its threads. Maybe not.

Bear in mind that then as recently, I have had the air pump removed. I also had the timing belt tensioner removed for the recent TB/WP job, but realized that the some tensioner bolts (thanks Dwayne!) are fed thru and needed to have thread sealer. The tensioner area seems dry.

The drip really is appearing right at about the passenger engine lift hook securing bolt area. But I don't know if that bolt really has anything to do with it. Ideas are appreciated!

zekgb

Neither the bolt nor the threaded boss feed through to the oil passages in the S3 head. That corner of the mating surface is one of the areas that should have honda/dreibond applied prior to installing the valve cover, did you do that when you did the covers?

FYI the engine that I have on a stand in the garage (used to be BC's) was leaking heavily from that very spot at some point.

Lizard928

It looks more like the valve cover gasket.
But it could be a rear cam plug seal too.

zekgb

That's passenger side, so cam seal's all that's there, do they fail around the external circumferance typically? If the front cam bridge has been off at some point and not resealed with Loctite 574 it could be weeping from there.

I would clean that area as thoroughly as you can and see if that helps you pinpoint a source, but chances are that at the very least the valve cover will have to come off again to deal with it.

mj1pate

I honestly can't remember how much or if I applied a sealant along surfaces of the valve cover gasket. The cam plugs were replaced and the front plugs were easy. I suspect that the valve gasket seal is insufficient and yes, I'll eventually replace the gasket. I'm suspecting that retorqueing the gasket would be of no avail... So little torque is applied in the first place.

zekgb

Yeah retorquing the bolts is a good way to end up with broken studs as the valve cover bolts are actually designed to bottom out in the studs. Just be careful as you remove the bolts and if you meet any resistance on the way out STOP and go the other direction as that means the bolt has probably seized in the stud and you are twisting the stud and not the bolt.

FYI when reinstalling the valve covers you don't need sealant everywhere on the head side, just a bit in each corner where the cam bridges meet the cover sealing surface. You should also put a bead of sealant in the groove of the cam covers prior to placing the gasket in the groove. Some people use Hondabond and that's what used the first time, but it's not that easy to work with and on Greg's recommendation I switched to Dreibond the second time around.