valve cover gasket question

[hampsternazi]

ok my valve cover is leaking and its starting to get bad, theres oil now in the place where the spark plugs are. since i dont know what the thing where the spark plugs are are called, u can tell im not that mechanically inclined. i put a short ram on my car about 2 weeks ago, thats about the extent of my work on cars. never really wanted to learn till i got my 93 EX, anyway, i need to change the gasket (hope thats all it is), how hard is it???? should i even attempt this myself, or just go take it to a mechanic and get it done?? is it easy to do?? can someone give me some advice, or if its not difficult a walkthrough on here? im really broke and the help would be very much appriciated. thanks alot

[h22sparkle]

my boy shonuff has done this bro you should listen to him i think you have to change your valvecover gasket. Its not hard at all just do it yourself wratchet wrench. Use a socket wrench and tighten it firmly tighten one side and tighten the corner in a criss cross motion

[Slateboy]

1. do not overtighten those bolts uptop. that solves nothing. it is easy to overtorque those bolts and snap them off. been there, done that, got the headache.

2. replacing the gasket is simple. remove the spark plug wires, pcv valve (grey plastic piece with vacum tube going to plenum) and the air line going to the intake (in this case, your ram air). Remove the four chrome nuts holding the cover on. Be weary not to drop the nuts, or the metal/rubber pieces underneath them. Then just yank up the cover, it should peel up. Inside the edge, where it meets the head is one stringy gasket. Gank off the gasket, and put in the new one. Using a tiny bit of gasket sealant in the edge helps hold the gasket in when you go to put it back on, kinda like a glue. There are four rubber circles on the inside of the cover, where the holes are for the spark plugs. Remove those, and replace them with new ones. clean the surface of the outer edge of the head, where the cover meet it. put the cover back on, and torque down the nuts to snug but not crazy. it might be a good measure to replace those metal/rubber pieces under the nuts, as they also hold the oil in.

Voila.

Make sure you'r camseal is also not leaking while you're at it. That can cause oil to fling from under the timing belt cover.

ATTN: don't do this when the engine is hot.

[h22sparkle]

slateboy check your pm bro.

[mrhonda]

all very good advice....but this will not take care of your "oil in spark plug tubes" problem. For that, you must replace the LOWER tube seals.

[Slateboy]

Originally posted by mrhonda
all very good advice....but this will not take care of your "oil in spark plug tubes" problem. For that, you must replace the LOWER tube seals.

News to me. How do you do that?

[accordztech]

Originally posted by Slateboy
News to me. How do you do that?

inside where the electrode is if u have oil on there your spark plug tube seals are bad. these are located under the rocker arm assymbly.

mine were bad, but i never had oil on my sparks...it was slightly seeping and getting worse...when my mechanic took out the seals they were plastic and not rubber hahaha....

for the wise: to check that camshaft seal u have to take out that cover i think to see...but not sure.

dont be over whelmed...changing the valve cover gasket and stuff is really easy.

make sure u get the old gasket off of the cylinder head, by using a bit of gasoline or acetone on a rag....dont scratch the head...just lightly scrape it.