Leaking valve cover gasket - should I replace it myself?

[caverman]

Back about 4k miles ago when I had my headers put on my tuner told me that I had a small leak in the back passenger side valve cover. It was real minor. You could barely see and the and had to really look for it.

Well....a few days ago I hit about 7200 miles (planned on changing the oil at 7500) and while I had my car on the rack installing some sway bars I decided to change the oil. Then all of a sudden the next day or so I noticed oil on my garage floor.

I first checked make sure it wasn't the drain plug or filter and noticed it was coming from the passenger side....drain plug and filter are on the driver side.

Pulled the engine cover and it looks like I have a valve cover leak all around the passenger side now. Enough where I can see a drop of oil collecting on the side of the head just below the valve cover.

I'm not sure how the oil change could have had anything to do with it. I'm guess it was just a coincidence.

I've never had to take my car in to the dealership yet so I'm going to call my salesman tomorrow and get the name of the service mgr he recommends there. Then I'll touch base with him and see if he thinks they would warranty it because I now have a tune on the car. If not, I obviously don't want to deal with taking it in.

Even if he says they would warranty it I'm wondering if I should go ahead and replace the gasket myself. Usually they aren't that hard and I'm worried that the dealership my dog out my car or screw something else up worse than before.

I don't really have much experience with LS motors but have done plenty with old chevy small blocks. There isn't anything specific I would have to do with the LS motor would I? Just take the coil packs off and then the valve cover should come off? Beyond that it should be the same as replacing the valve cover gasket on a 350?

What about suggestions on a good valvecover gasket? Is the OEM one good enough. Kind of thinking not since it's already gone out in basically 7k miles. Is there any brand or type I should use instead? Should I go ahead and replace both valve cover gaskets while I'm at it or do just the one that's leaking?

[Stingr69]

Take it apart.

The OEM gaskets are very tough rubber strips and they work well. You can replace it with ease. No sealer required but BE SURE TO PAT ATTENTION TO TORQUE SPECS. These engines are screwed together with very light torque and you can easily tear threads up by overtightening stuff. Look carefully at the sealing areas for a reason for the leak. It might be some casting imperfection.

Good Luck!

-Mark.

[caverman]

Anyone know the torque specs for the bolts?

Called the Service Mgr this morning. He said he's never seen or heard of a valve cover leak on these cars. He said he couldn't tell me if it would be covered or not until they look at it. He also said he thinks that the tuner must have removed the valve cover when installing the header even if the told me he did or not. I don't believe that one bit because it was done by Andy @ ADM. I can't imagine he would need to remove the valve cover since he has done so many header installs. I'm sure he could do them in his sleep.

Based on the comments already made I'm worried they'll come back and blame installer and want me to pay. Not including it's a hassle to drop of the car and wait all day to hear that...they are about 30 min drive one way.

I'm concerned there might be a casting imperfection though which is why it happended in the first place.

Part of me wants to just do it but once I take off the valvecover myself I'm sure they'll never fix anything with it if it is determined later to be a casting issue.

[BowlingSS]

Originally Posted by caverman

Anyone know the torque specs for the bolts?

Called the Service Mgr this morning. He said he's never seen or heard of a valve cover leak on these cars. He said he couldn't tell me if it would be covered or not until they look at it. He also said he thinks that the tuner must have removed the valve cover when installing the header even if the told me he did or not. I don't believe that one bit because it was done by Andy @ ADM. I can't imagine he would need to remove the valve cover since he has done so many header installs. I'm sure he could do them in his sleep.

Based on the comments already made I'm worried they'll come back and blame installer and want me to pay. Not including it's a hassle to drop of the car and wait all day to hear that...they are about 30 min drive one way.

I'm concerned there might be a casting imperfection though which is why it happended in the first place.

Part of me wants to just do it but once I take off the valvecover myself I'm sure they'll never fix anything with it if it is determined later to be a casting issue.

How would they even know that you replaced the gasket yourself? Have you checked to make sure the bolts are torqued? I would just replace it yourself.

Good luck.
Bill

[Stingr69]

Caverman,
If you are concerned about the warranty you need to go ahead and try to have the dealer look at it. No reason to hold back. Denied warranty NOW is no worse than denied warranty some time later so no need to hold back. If it IS a casting flaw or some other warrantiable problem, they need to be the ones to find it. If they get in there and fix it (and it is not warranty) then it isn't going to cost you an arm and a leg.

Hope it all works out for you,

-Mark.

[caverman]

Originally Posted by BowlingSS

How would they even know that you replaced the gasket yourself? Have you checked to make sure the bolts are torqued? I would just replace it yourself.

Good luck.
Bill

I don't know how they would know and I already don't like the fact they he is prepping up an excuse to not cover it.

Anyone know the torque specs on the valve cover? I need to find that so I can double check them first.

[BowlingSS]

Originally Posted by caverman

I don't know how they would know and I already don't like the fact they he is prepping up an excuse to not cover it.

Anyone know the torque specs on the valve cover? I need to find that so I can double check them first.

Torque is 106in/ils (9ft/lbs) using an 8mm socket.

Bill

[1977and2010]

I think I have the same leak, rear passenger side. I've been putting it off. But it seems to be getting slowly worse. I have almost 10k miles now. Interested to see how this plays out for you, keep us posted.

[BowlingSS]

I would check the torque first. Maybe GM did not get that one torqued right. That would be the easiest fix.

Bill

[caverman]

Originally Posted by 1977and2010

I think I have the same leak, rear passenger side. I've been putting it off. But it seems to be getting slowly worse. I have almost 10k miles now. Interested to see how this plays out for you, keep us posted.

Look at post #8
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92333

This is why I'm slightly concerned about it being a casting issue. The valvecover gasket shouldn't be leaking with this few a miles.

[themossman]

Originally Posted by caverman

Back about 4k miles ago when I had my headers put on my tuner told me that I had a small leak in the back passenger side valve cover. It was real minor. You could barely see and the and had to really look for it.

Well....a few days ago I hit about 7200 miles (planned on changing the oil at 7500) and while I had my car on the rack installing some sway bars I decided to change the oil. Then all of a sudden the next day or so I noticed oil on my garage floor.

I first checked make sure it wasn't the drain plug or filter and noticed it was coming from the passenger side....drain plug and filter are on the driver side.

Pulled the engine cover and it looks like I have a valve cover leak all around the passenger side now. Enough where I can see a drop of oil collecting on the side of the head just below the valve cover.

I'm not sure how the oil change could have had anything to do with it. I'm guess it was just a coincidence.

I've never had to take my car in to the dealership yet so I'm going to call my salesman tomorrow and get the name of the service mgr he recommends there. Then I'll touch base with him and see if he thinks they would warranty it because I now have a tune on the car. If not, I obviously don't want to deal with taking it in.

Even if he says they would warranty it I'm wondering if I should go ahead and replace the gasket myself. Usually they aren't that hard and I'm worried that the dealership my dog out my car or screw something else up worse than before.

I don't really have much experience with LS motors but have done plenty with old chevy small blocks. There isn't anything specific I would have to do with the LS motor would I? Just take the coil packs off and then the valve cover should come off? Beyond that it should be the same as replacing the valve cover gasket on a 350?

What about suggestions on a good valvecover gasket? Is the OEM one good enough. Kind of thinking not since it's already gone out in basically 7k miles. Is there any brand or type I should use instead? Should I go ahead and replace both valve cover gaskets while I'm at it or do just the one that's leaking?

From this thread...which is AWESOME...(I used it to replace my oil pump, timing chain, and tensioner.

Torque the four 8mm valve cover bolts to 9ft/lbs and no more or you risk snapping one of their heads off.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125123

There's EVERYTHING you need in that thread to get your job done...


I would not even bother with the dealer...GM has taken a hard stance on voiding warranties if you modify the 'calibration'(read --->tune)

If the dealer takes it apart and then GM denies your warranty then you're going to be paying for a tow to bring it home...might as well avoid that cost.

[JEP]

Have you tried just checking the tightness/torque on the valve cover bolts?
This few miles, it could just be loose from factory?

And before you have your warranty voided, you could have the header installer tell you whether or not he took the valve cover off, and if so, he could probably take care of this for you, professionally so to speak.

Once a warranty is voided at ONE stealership, it voided Everywhere.
At least that's what I heard.

good luck and please get back to us all about this possible manufacturing snafu.
We might all need to take a look for small leaks in this area.
thanks

[caverman]

Originally Posted by themossman

From this thread...which is AWESOME...(I used it to replace my oil pump, timing chain, and tensioner.

Torque the four 8mm valve cover bolts to 9ft/lbs and no more or you risk snapping one of their heads off.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125123

There's EVERYTHING you need in that thread to get your job done...


I would not even bother with the dealer...GM has taken a hard stance on voiding warranties if you modify the 'calibration'(read --->tune)

If the dealer takes it apart and then GM denies your warranty then you're going to be paying for a tow to bring it home...might as well avoid that cost.

Thanks for the thread. I've seen that one before but didn't think to go back and look at it.

Looks like I'll have to remove the coil packs just to check the bolts. I'll probably take a look at this later tonight.

[caverman]

Well.....checked my bolts with the in/lbs torque wrench and they were all set correctly.

I think I'm going to just replace the gasket myself. Called JEGS to see if they made any better aftermarket ones but doesn't look like they do. I'll have to call around tomorrow and try to find me a set locally and probably do the change on Wednesday.

BTW: I looked closer at that TSB I posted earlier and it looks like that's a leak around the engine block/head area. Mine is definately coming from under the valve cover so it's not the same issue.