Is this a bad valve cover gasket? w/Pics...

[Jimmy9190]

This is about the 2001 Dodge Dakota in my signature. 3.9 liter V6, 5-speed manual, just shy of 164,000 miles on it now. Recently I started noticing a burning oil smell when I park the truck after driving it. I changed the oil yesterday and did not see any leaks underneath. Today I got a better look at it and I have oil and greasy gunk all along the lower edges of both valve covers. The right valve cover has a breather tube grommet with a hose leading to the air intake hat on top of the intake manifold. My truck does not have an EGR system.

Today I drove the truck around the block, got home and noticed a thin stream or flow of oil coming out from the bottom side of the breather grommet. So I know I need to replace it. The PCV is brand new, I replaced the hose that leads from the PCV to the intake about a year ago because it was cracked, and the PCV grommet is clean, there is no oil or gunk coming from it. However the left valve cover looks pretty much the same as the right, it has oil and dirt collected along its lower edge and there are oil spots on the exhaust manifold just below.

Check out these pics of the right side valve cover. Does it look like they are leaking too? I did see greasy spots and what looked like oil spots on each exhaust manifold, which also makes me think I have bad valve cover gaskets. It's not leaking enough to smoke but it does smell bad like burning oil when I park the truck, and I have also noticed the smell at a red light when I have the window down.









As always, thanks for your help on this.

 

[eljefino]

Fix the grommet. Stuff rolls downhill.

 

[Trav]

+1

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks guys. The Napa site shows they have my grommet in stock. I will pick one up tomorrow after work. The burned oil smell is not very strong, kind of faint but it is there. It does go away within a couple of minutes after I turn off the engine. I will get a new grommet and see how it goes from there.

 

[bdcardinal]

clean everything up as best as you can and replace the grommet. Then keep an eye on it. You may want to add tracer dye if you have a UV light to check for the source of the leak.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
clean everything up as best as you can and replace the grommet. Then keep an eye on it. You may want to add tracer dye if you have a UV light to check for the source of the leak.


I cleaned the right valve cover and right side of the intake the best I could with a shop rag and brake parts cleaner. I can get a new grommet tomorrow and will see how it goes from there. Thanks.

 

[oldhp]

Make sure the valve cover bolts are still snug also. No more than 1/4-1/2 turn to snug up.

 

[Quest]

while you are at it: why don't you replace the VC gasket with fresh new ones?

Saves a whole lotta grief down the road, I tell ya.

Q.

 

[Jimmy9190]

I put in new plugs, plug wires and valve cover gaskets today. I also cleaned as much of the oil/grease/gunk as I could. So far my truck seems to be doing fine. There was some smoke from the right exhaust manifold when I first started the engine after doing the work but it dissipated pretty quickly. I think some oil may have dripped on that manifold during the process today and it just burned off when the exhaust got hot enough. I drove it around the block, seemed to be doing fine, went out to dinner with my wife and back home again and so far the burned oil smell has not come back.

I need to drive it the next few days to be sure but I think the new valve cover gaskets did the trick. I studied my engine a long time with it running and I did not find or see any leaks. My oil pressure has returned to normal as well. During the time I had the leaking gasket/oil smell problem the oil pressure read higher than usual, even at 1800 RPM and 60 mph. Now it reads back where it always has. I also replaced the breather hose grommet and elbow today, and I ordered a new PCV grommet from the Dodge dealer, will pick it up on Monday.