Valve cover gasket leaking

[Finklejag]

This is on my 06 Acura TL. I had a shop fix every oil leak on this car three years ago when I bought it from my friend. This is the gaskets and O-rings I replaced. Valve covers, spark plug tubes, cam plates, cams, front and rear crank seals, spool valve, vvt valve, oil pump seals. It been dry ever since. I have only put 12,000 miles on the car in the last three years because I ride my motorcycle on most days. After I drove the car this week I smelled burnt oil after I got home and popped the hood. I saw oil on the front valve bank above the exhaust manifold. I bought oem Honda valve cover gaskets, not aftermarket either. What a bummer.

I also replaced every front suspension piece on this car and I hear a clunking from the driver side. Most of the suspension was aftermarket parts. The car is 18 years old with 171,000 miles and I’m not putting any more money into it.

Moral of the story is parts just don’t last these days.

 

[cptbarkey]

So you are not second guessing how the valve cover gasket was installed and possibly torqued incorrectly and instead blaming parts quality? ok.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Where did you buy the OEM gaskets? If you bought them on eBay or Amazon, they're probably counterfeit

 

[loneryder]

Try tightening the VC down.

 

[CarlB]

I also replaced every front suspension piece on this car and I hear a clunking from the driver side. Most of the suspension was aftermarket parts. The car is 18 years old with 171,000 miles and I’m not putting any more money into it.

Moral of the story is parts just don’t last these days.

Weird perspective, since any maintenance will be less costly than replacing the entire car. Check the gasket before blaming the part, since if it isn't dry/hard then it was probably an installation issue.

 

[Bill7]

This is on my 06 Acura TL. I had a shop fix every oil leak on this car three years ago when I bought it from my friend. This is the gaskets and O-rings I replaced. Valve covers, spark plug tubes, cam plates, cams, front and rear crank seals, spool valve, vvt valve, oil pump seals. It been dry ever since. I have only put 12,000 miles on the car in the last three years because I ride my motorcycle on most days. After I drove the car this week I smelled burnt oil after I got home and popped the hood. I saw oil on the front valve bank above the exhaust manifold. I bought oem Honda valve cover gaskets, not aftermarket either. What a bummer.

I also replaced every front suspension piece on this car and I hear a clunking from the driver side. Most of the suspension was aftermarket parts. The car is 18 years old with 171,000 miles and I’m not putting any more money into it.

Moral of the story is parts just don’t last these days.

I had a bad experience when my mechanic did a valve cover gasket job 3 years ago and he took the liberty of using aftermarket valve cover gaskets. Last month, those after market gaskets failed, causing oil to heavily soak some coil packs causing electrical arcing, and between the parts and labor to do the fix it was close to $1,000. I attribute this $1,000 unexpected repair to be due to the aftermarket rubber valve cover gaskets used 3 years ago.

I refuse to use any aftermarket parts, and prefer to use OEM parts only from a few close to wholesale priced dealer online parts departments. Any money saved on aftermarket parts gets eaten up by your mechanic's parts markup. I prefer to buy my OEM parts myself online, and I have a local mechanic that lets me supply the parts for him to install.

 

[Finklejag]

I bought the valve cover gaskets at a Honda dealer. The engine has been dry for the last 3 years, I wouldn’t think it was an installed error?

 

[zzyzzx]

Is gluing on the valve cover gasket with RTV (on both sides of the gasket) an option?

If you do take the valve cover off, check the head and valve cover for warpage. I've had it happen where the top of the head was warped down on one corner and I ended up gluing on the valve cover gasket and it stopped the leak.

 

[CarlB]

Is gluing on the valve cover gasket with RTV (on both sides of the gasket) an option?

If you do take the valve cover off, check the head and valve cover for warpage. I've had it happen where the top of the head was warped down on one corner and I ended up gluing on the valve cover gasket and it stopped the leak.

On the B/F/H/D series Honda engines they actually call for RTV facing the VC around the rocker section that curves around the camshaft. Helps hold it during installation, but also deals with the 90 degree corners on the gasket possibly not making good contact.

 

[cptbarkey]

I bought the valve cover gaskets at a Honda dealer. The engine has been dry for the last 3 years, I wouldn’t think it was an installed error?

So what are your next steps?

 

[Eddie]

Is it possible that the engine is building up too much internal pressure? Check the PVC system. Ed

 

[Finklejag]

I did replace the PCV valve during that time frame also because of the rear main seal leak. It was an aftermarket one. I will pull it and check for the rattle.

 

[Finklejag]

I opened the hood to check the oil seepage and saw dried coolant all over the engine bay. Sure enough, a hole in the radiator next to the cap. I guess I will be replacing the radiator before I worry about the valve cover gasket.

 

[AZjeff]

It’s an 18 year old car acting like one. Either accept there will always be the next thing to fix or buy that Leaf.

 

[cptbarkey]

Good catch, finding it now is always a better situation. The rad hoses, heater hoses, thermostat and any other misc hoses are best replaced about now as well.

 

[CarlB]

I opened the hood to check the oil seepage and saw dried coolant all over the engine bay. Sure enough, a hole in the radiator next to the cap. I guess I will be replacing the radiator before I worry about the valve cover gasket.

View attachment 233622
View attachment 233623

Plastic endcap radiators always seem to eventually fail. Koyo or Mishimoto should have an aluminum tig welded replacement.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I am with Eddie on the PCV system. My SIL has a Dodge Dakota that she had the valve covers replaced twice. Opened the oil fill cap and had pressure. I cleaned the PCV and leaks stopped. How about that. She was blaming the parts and the installer.

 

[brages]

Does your engine have a spool valve that could be leaking?

 

[Finklejag]

I replaced all the spool valve o-rings 3 years ago.

 

[Finklejag]

I picked up the car from the shop this morning, new radiator and upper and lower hoses. When I got home I opened the hood and checked out the new radiator. I noticed new oil coming from the pcv valve location. So maybe it isn’t the valve cover gasket? I decided to buy a OEM Honda pcv from the dealer. It had a louder rattle than the cheap auto parts store one I bought 3 years ago. It’s made in Japan also. I cleaned everything with brake cleaner again and will check under the hood in a week and see if the oem valve cured the problem.