I had my car at the mechanic for a burning smell and was told the valve covers are leaking (again.) I replaced the gaskets a little over four years ago for the same reason. I'm surprised they are leaking again so soon. Is it normal for these gaskets to give out after only four years? If not, how long should they last? I know I've got to get them fixed, so what is the recommended brand of gaskets and that other stuff? I forget what it's called but I remember there being some kind of sealant that forms another gasket that has to be scraped out and reapplied. I found a guide on here for how to do it myself but given my ability, I'm leaning towards letting the pro handle it.

But that leaves me with a couple of questions, as well. The estimate I got was for 2.8 hours of labor at $125 an hour plus parts. Do those numbers sound reasonable, or should I be looking for another shop?

I think I'm posting here for advice as much as I am peace of mind.

Thanks in advance.

 

Generally speaking, it is not the valve cover gaskets that leak. It is usually the breather covers (which sit on the valve covers) that leak; the sealant used is RTV.

If the actual valve cover gaskets are leaking, try retorquing the bolts that hold the cover on. USE A TORQUE WRENCH so you know how tight they are, those bolts will break off if you go too far with them.

If it is the breather covers, then you must remove the breathers from the valve covers, clean off the old RTV from both surfaces, reapply RTV and smooth it out so there are no bubbles (and use ONLY enough to fill the valley, "more" is TOO MUCH). Then you put the breathers back on and tighten the bolts.

If you got four years, you did good. I did my own (you will see my posts in that thread) back in 2015 or maybe 2016. Just this year I had some oil seeping from around the driver's side breather - I made it over eight years. But that's because it is hard to do a good job by just removing the breathers and reapplying RTV, I went way farther and did it RIGHT:
1) I did the work myself.
2) I used Max's "tongue depressor method" of applying the RTV.
3) I put probably 6 hours in the project, including:

• taking all covers off the car, separating them, cleaning them with gasoline (to get all the RTV off)
• Then cleaning them with Purple Power to completely clean all oil/gasoline off
• Then I left all four parts separated and sitting in front of a fan overnight so all the tunnels and crevices are dried out.
• When applying RTV, I applied ONLY enough to fill the valleys with RTV, then scraped excess off with a tongue depressor, then let the RTV sit for maybe five minutes to set up a bit
• I put the breathers on the valve covers and tightened the bolts only to their spec (it is not much), let them sit for a little while
• I then put the breather/valve cover assemblies on the car and used a new set of bolts from NEEDWINGS, along with new valve cover gaskets from NEEDSWINGS.
  DONE!

No garage is going to do what I did, because they could not do so without charging you at least $750 labor. If you insist on paying someone to do it, if they got you four years before, I'd go back to them.

CAN YOU DO IT? Well, if you read that thread, you can tell the most "Mechanic" work I've ever done, was that job right there. It's the most I've taken on in my life insofar as working on a car - and eight plus years later, I am happy I did it. Keep in mind I started on Saturday morning and ended up leaving the thing torn apart till the next weekend - you should be able to move faster that that, but I saw no reason to. I gave the parts overnight to dry out and took my time applying the RTV, etc.

Hey, one thing, my oil cap is leaking, so you might look at finding a new gasket for the oil cap seat and make sure you tighten the bolt under there really well before putting it all back together.

 

Good advice from pizzaguy about re-torqueing the Valve Cover screws. When I did the Crankcase Breather Covers repair back in 2010, I found the Valve Cover screws nearly all somewhat loose (lower than torque spec). So every couple of years, I check all the Valve Cover screws for proper torque & re-tighten if needed. And I've never had to change the Valve Cover Gaskets on my 2007 Coupe.

And I suggest you get M5-0.8x16mm Socket Head Cap Screws made from steel but with an anti-corrosion coating (typically a marine grade spec) for the Crankcase Breather Covers. These do not have to be thrown away and can be re-torqued if needed down the road. The factory aluminum screws typically are a 1x use fastener and have to be replaced. Re-torqueing these typically 'stretches' the screw and it's holding capability is lost.

 

Thanks guys, excellent advice.

I have moved since I had the gaskets done the first time so going back to the first mechanic isn't an option. All I know about the guy I went to the other day is he specializes in European cars.

What steps should I take to protect the engine while I have the valve covers off? I don't have access to an enclosed space to leave it; just my carport. Is closing the hood enough to keep the engine safe?

 

zxf Where in Alabama? I'm near Dothan and Abbeville and am willing to help if you are near and I have enclosed work space.

PS best to throw a clean garbage bag over the engine if left for any length of time. I like using Pentax " High Tack "non hardening sealant on the lower half of the valve cover gaskets.

 

@zip439 I appreciate the offer, but I'm up in the northwest corner. Good advice about the garbage bag. I'll make sure to do that if I undertake this job myself.

 

I did mine in my Uhaul storage unit (I stored my car for perhaps three years when I was living in an apartment without a garage). I remember sticking a microfiber towel in the cavity around the timing chain out of fear I'd drop something down there. Other than that, I did not concern myself much about it.

 

You can do this yourself and you will save a ton of money!. I did this last year and documented it in a post with plenty of pictures, descriptions and torque values.
It wasn't hard, it was just time consuming. Like pizzaguy said, if you're going to do it do it right. Be careful with the coil pack plugs, they are fragile and may break. No big deal, they are available and easy to replace.
Here's a link to my post, there are 3 parts do to picture limitations:

LINK: Valve covers, breather covers, and spark plugs

 

Here's a video to re-seal the breather covers for the m-112 engine, it's Mercedes but same as our Crossfire. I would first re-torque the valve cover bolts to 7 ftlbs before I would replace the gaskets and do the re-seal. The breather cover screws are aluminum so just snug them, let the RTV

sealant do the work

 

Excellent suggestions from everybody. I really appreciate the comradery of everyone here. Thanks guys I'm starting to feel better about tackling this myself. I think the biggest thing that was eating at me was how recently this had been done.

 

Moderator Note:
I am going to look into seeing if I can copy those few posts and create a new DIY thread. I think it would be worth it if members could search "valve cover oil leak" and find those posts. I know I can MOVE posts, I want to see if I can DUPLICATE them in a new thread.

 

That would be awesome!
I have to keep searching my posts every time I try to help someone out.
I keep all of the pictures from when I do these posts. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Thanks,
John