TLMikey

I have what appears to be some oil coming out of the valve cover (near cylinder 2 exhaust manifold) on my 87 944 NA. I would like to know 1)how do I pull off the valve cover? 2)Is that really a valve cover gasket under there...or is it a head gasket?

Thanks,
Mike

Martin

Just doing this right now, it is not a valve cover, it is the entire cam housing, the gasket is cheap (about 12$US) I found two collapsed lifters so am waiting on those to reassemble, mine was leaking from the same place.
The housing is held in place by 6mm Allen bolts, to get to the top ones you need to remove the 8mm Allen plugs and use a long reach 6mm Allen tool. You need to remove the fuel rail to get this off (easy). Set the engine at TDC before you do this as the cam belt has to be slid off the cam pulley to remove the cam, make sure you put it back in the right place and everything should be ok. Be careful not to drop the lifters as you remove the housing, they can fall out.

TLMikey

So, i'm assuming that you need to remove the camshaft as well? Can you leave it in place?

Martin

leave it in place in the housing as you remove it, I see no reason to take it out of the housing.

jordanolder

before you replace the gasket, try just tightening the bolts that hold the cam cover on. This might do the trick.

Let me know if it worked.

Martin

These bolts are torqued in to 15 foot pounds, if you attempt to stop a leak by tightening them (I doubt it will work) do it with a torque wrench. The bolts are only going into the aluminium Head which can strip easily. The gasket is only paper thin to maintain the distance between the cam and valves.