Robert Henriksen

I've had the smell of slow-cooked engine oil for a couple of months, finally decided to take a stab at replacing the drivers-side exhaust valve cover.

I think I picked the easiest of the four choices for an oil leak - removing the manifold/heat exchanger was pretty straightforward, and there was only a few ounces of undrained oil lurking behind the cover.

I was surprised to see the cover's made of
plastic, and the gasket's quite 'tall' - much higher tech than my old Chevy small block! The cover's got a ~1/4" deep channel along the path of the gasket, which receives the rubber gasket. No worries about the gasket sliding out of place; and it doesn't appear that any 'gasket goo'/sealant was used when originally installing it.

Any DIYers out there have advice on:

to lube or not to lube the nuts for the cover & heat exchanger on reinstallation?

whether or not to replace the heat exchanger gaskets?

Other tips/secrets on getting the new valve cover gasket to seal successfully?

Anything else I should look at while I'm in there?

I'll probably try & take pictures of the exhaust valves tomorrow & post them here. One looks a little oily around the guide...

chris walrod

I would certainly use anti-seize compound on all exhaust fasteners. As for the valve cover, since it uses a rubber type gasket, I would use a little silicone grease, I think vaseline would work as well.

Dont overtighten the valve cover hardware!

Chris

Robert Henriksen

Yup, I'm going to be very careful w. those (valve cover) bolts - get the torque specs, probably need to buy a smaller-scale torque wrench - and tighten in a pattern back & forth across the cover.

thanks,

RNH