valve cover gasket leak

[gtp405]

hey,

I am going to be doing an oil change (hopefully this weekend) and really want to switch to synthetic oil however I have a leak in my rear valve cover gasket. Now I don't have the time or money to get that fixed anytime soon, so I cannot afford it getting worse, so I was wondering if I should stay away from the synthetic oil for now. The car has 81,000 miles and always has used dyno oil at 3,000 intervals.

thanks

 

[ThirdeYe]

Yes, the synthetic will most likely exploit that leak. I would only recommend synthetic for a car without any leaks and a good maintenance background. It's weird that it would leak with that low of mileage and 3k intervals... Try using MaxLife Synthetic Blend, that helped with my sister's car with a slow leak.

 

[XPR]

No, go ahead and run synthetic, just keep checking the oil level.

 

[gtp405]

yeah I think it's a typical gm problem, although the leak is not that bad, or at least not bad enough to cause a noticeable drop in the oil level or smell bad

 

[kokopelli]

might want to try a high mileage oil, these are "supposed" to have additives that help gaskets and so forth; ThirdEye recommended Valvoline Maxlife, which is a high mileage oil, so try that. It's a synth-blend, but it's also made as a full synthetic, so be sure to look at the label. Or just go with Pennzoil High Mileage, that should work just as well.

 

[meep]

kind of car?

Sometimes just tightening the screws/bolts is all it takes. Some makes tend to loosen w/time.

 

[kokopelli]

the OP said something about it being a GM, but other than that, no info. it could be something just as simple as re-torquing the cover bolts

 

[PW01]

Give Auto Rx a try

 

[gtp405]

it's a 99 pontaic grand prix gtp

3800 series II engine

I never thought of re-tightening the bolts, I'll try that, although everyone I've ever talked to made it sound like a gasket failure, but maybe they are wrong, that would be nice lol.

 

[Merkava_4]

Quote:

---

3800 series II engine

---

Get you a 10mm flex-head socket, about a 6 inch extension, and a little 1/4" drive ratchet for snugging them up.

 

[boxcartommie22]

this is what i did i put some silglyd sicone on the gasket and that stops the leak...really works!!

 

[Durango]

gtp405,

I've noticed in my past experiences that some people will replace the gasket without using any gasket seal! When your ready make sure you use the proper amount to seal up any leaks. At that time go ahead and use a synthetic oil of you choice. This also includes the oil pan gasket as well.

Durango