2012 Civic Valve Cover Gasket?
- Thread starter maverickfhs
- Start date
I suggest buying the Mahle/Clevite valve cover gasket. Not sure about the Civic, but all of the Honda VC gaskets for the J35 V6 engines are supplied by Mahle. While Hondabond is great stuff, you can use Permatex Ultra Gray or Gray Right Stuff as well. FYI, the FelPro VC kits come with a mini-tube of Ultra Gray RTV.
Take pictures of the valve train. We all love valve train porn.
Kibi or Ishino Stone from Partsgeek or other legit site
The spark plug tube seals are under a huge nut under the ignition coils. It's a 32mm nut. Use something like this if you want to replace them.
Unfortunately, Mahle has gotten cheap and is using Chinese gaskets now
The spark plug tube seals are under a huge nut under the ignition coils. It's a 32mm nut. Use something like this if you want to replace them.
Unfortunately, Mahle has gotten cheap and is using Chinese gaskets now
If you’re removing the valve cover, it is also time for a valve adjustment. The OE Honda gaskets are very good.
Listen to @The Critic
Second the Honda gaskets. I've had very poor luck out of Mahle and Fel-Pro with my J series cars, and you can't screw those up. Can't overtighten them, so those gaskets were just garbage.
I'm talking less than 6 months before they leaked again.
Tube seals from different manufs I've had good luck with, even the aftermarket ones seem to be fine, but not for the VC.
Appreciate all - OEM is the way to go.
Did some minor work on the '12 Civic that our daughter drives and noticed what appears to be leaking from the valve cover gasket. 176k miles - not surprised. Looks like the consensus is to stick with Honda gasket and considering it lasted 160k+ miles (I never noticed anything previously), that's the way I'll go. I know someone that works for Honda and I'll see if they can buy them at discount for me.
Anything else to do while in there ? Spool valve solenoid gasket has been replaced already. Valve adjustment is probably beyond my skill set or at least it's something I have zero experience with.
It needs to be done. It is a car that is relatively easy to adjust, so probably a good one to learn on.
Watched a couple videos and it does look real simple. I may even have feeler gauges that will work. Do you have access to the specs ? I I found
Intake clearance: 0.18-0.22mm
Exhaust clearance: 0.23-0.27mm
Locknuts: 120 in/lbs
Valve cover: 84 in/lbs
I remember them being .008" for intake and .010" for exhaust. The trickiest part of the adjustment is learning what the drag is supposed to feel like; the appropriately sized gauge should slide in and out with a minor amount of drag. The drag will also feel different if you insert the gauge at an angle.
Yeah, in inches, those line up with 0.22 and 0.27mm. Regarding the drag feel, that's probably why most people appear to use angled/bent feeler gauges. Mine aren't, but can be!
If in doubt, loose is better. Slightly loose valves won't hurt anything.
I just did my 2012 crv valve cover gasket replacement 3 weeks ago. My engine is very similar to your Civic's. Definitely watch 1 or 2 youtube videos before starting. Always get original Honda rubber. Before anything else, clean off the dirt at the valve cover edges and engine block. I used a nonfoaming engine degreaser where you wash it off after 5 minutes. This makes it easy to see if you have an oil leak after the gasket replacement job. Before you remove the old gasket, pay attention to the small protruding tongues near the 2 opposite corners of that gasket. One is larger than the other. The replacement should be of the same position.
I used a tough tissue paper wetted with gas to clean off all oily and dirt residue from the edges of the engine block. Take great care no dirt falls into the engine. I was already in there so I checked the valve lash. Use only a dab of RTV where the timing chain aluminum cover mates with the engine block - they form a small line where they mate. I used carburettor cleaner aerosol can with a nozzle to clean off the valve cover groove the gasket fits into.
For some reason, the part of the gasket at the very left of the valve cover (furthest away from the timing chain side) kept falling off as I inverted the valve cover to put it on top of the engine block. Solution: 3 small dabs of RTV there, 3 cm apart in the valve cover groove where the gasket fits into, then insert the gasket in the groove, wait 4 minutes and voila! it stays put. And finally, remember the bolts take only 7 ft lbs of torque! I don't have a torque wrench for that, but I've done enough wrenching in the past 55 years to know how to do 7 ft lbs. The RTV I used says 24 hours to achieve full strength. Couldn't wait that long, I needed the car so after 16 hours I was on the road. No leaks.
I used a tough tissue paper wetted with gas to clean off all oily and dirt residue from the edges of the engine block. Take great care no dirt falls into the engine. I was already in there so I checked the valve lash. Use only a dab of RTV where the timing chain aluminum cover mates with the engine block - they form a small line where they mate. I used carburettor cleaner aerosol can with a nozzle to clean off the valve cover groove the gasket fits into.
For some reason, the part of the gasket at the very left of the valve cover (furthest away from the timing chain side) kept falling off as I inverted the valve cover to put it on top of the engine block. Solution: 3 small dabs of RTV there, 3 cm apart in the valve cover groove where the gasket fits into, then insert the gasket in the groove, wait 4 minutes and voila! it stays put. And finally, remember the bolts take only 7 ft lbs of torque! I don't have a torque wrench for that, but I've done enough wrenching in the past 55 years to know how to do 7 ft lbs. The RTV I used says 24 hours to achieve full strength. Couldn't wait that long, I needed the car so after 16 hours I was on the road. No leaks.
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I had already asked the person I know about buying the gasket for me to get their employee discount but it's $15 so I told her not to worry. I've done the gasket on my old Accord with the 2.3L and it had the same design where you had to add dabs of sealant. I do have a 1/4" torque wrench that works in in/lbs. On that Accord, someone (before me) must have over-torqued one of the valve cover bolts as it just spuns in the hole ! 
Believe it or not, the remaining fasteners must have provided enough clamping force that it didn't leak.
I'm going to copy and paste your post plus The Critic's comments into my Notes app for reference. I'll likely put this off until spring or later when it warms up.
Believe it or not, the remaining fasteners must have provided enough clamping force that it didn't leak. I'm going to copy and paste your post plus The Critic's comments into my Notes app for reference. I'll likely put this off until spring or later when it warms up.
CleanSump
Site Donor 2026
RTV in corners or the long side that won't stay put. I've even used the RTV where needed to hold the gasket then placed the VC on a flat surface like my work bench or kitchen table to cure for a few hours if I wasn't in a hurry to get the cover back on.
Dots of super glue works better and is less messy.
The genuine gasket generally fits pretty well into the cover groove. You only need super glue for when you are using Fail-Pro gaskets.
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