hi I'm Mike the 1a auto we've been
selling auto parts for over 30 years
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how to tell if your car needs new valve
cover gaskets so on the top of your
engine this here we have a four cylinder
in-line engine that will be similar for
other engines as if they are v sixes or
V eights
underneath this plastic cover there is a
secondary cover that is actually
covering all of you or valve train
components and where that meets the top
of the engines head there is a gasket
that seals and holds in the oil when
this gasket fails you'll get a bunch of
oily residue leaking out and because oil
is sticky dirt and debris will stick to
it so this is the number one easiest way
to tell that you need a valve cover
gasket it's very obvious very obvious
that this is leaking however some other
things that would be a problem attribute
attributed to a leaking valve cover
gasket would be oil loss so if you're
checking the oil right regularly and the
engine oil keeps going low it could be
leaking from the valve cover gasket also
if you've got a rough running or engine
misfire the valve cast valve cover
gasket also seals around where the spark
plugs go in to the engine so there could
be oil leaking down the spark plug
openings and then leaking past the spark
plugs they'll give you a rough running
and misfire so the valve cover gaskets
are typically near the exhaust manifold
so if there is oil leaking this exhaust
manifold is of course hot when the
engine is running the oil will burn off
you'll get a burning oil smell sometimes
you'll even see smoke coming from
underneath the hood and a faint whiff of
burning oil worst case scenario if this
is really leaking very badly you could
cause a fire some engines have plastic
covers over the valve cover gasket so
this is basically just like an
appearance cover what I'm going to do is
remove it so we can get a closer look
now you can better see the top of this
engine some engines use a plastic valve
cover this one is aluminum it matches
the same
metal that the engine is made out of
there is some oil that's been spilled
from when the cap has been when the oil
has been abs the engine
it's spilled underneath the oil fill cap
but the majority of this oil is coming
from a failed gasket because you can see
the seam between the valve cover and the
engine head so the gasket seals between
that seam it goes all the way around we
can see some oil leaking in the back so
this is what a valve cover gasket can
look like on this particular one so it's
kind of looped around here so this is
flexible rubber it would be in the
outline of the valve cover and just the
way it's packaged in here it kind of
looped around and then in the center
part there are little seals for each
spark plug some valve cover gaskets
these are all one piece sometimes these
come separately as little bow rings that
need to be replaced
but they all work in the same manner and
in this particular one it's all in one
piece so it'd be pretty easy to change
and on a overhead cam engine like this
where it's a four cylinder and the valve
cover is right on top these valve cover
gaskets are very easy to change these
six valve cover gaskets the eight valve
cover gaskets me a little more difficult
you might have to remove the intake but
they're a pretty simple procedure for
anyone that wants to do it at home right
here on your valve cover is the PCV
valve a positive crankcase vent and this
vents pressure from the engine back into
the intake manifold this can get clogged
over time and dirty if it gets clogged
up and the pressure can't vent it will
push the crankcase pressure out of the
valve cover gasket that could also cause
a valve cover gasket leak so these
should be changed according to your
owner's manual so just in general what
you do on your engine is if you've got
coils on the top just like this you'd
remove each coil pack you can leave the
spark plugs in the head you don't need
to take them out the spark plugs are
underneath the coils you find all the
valve cover bolts that are holding it on
you loosen all those you loosen all of
the vacuum hose
is any type of electrical harnesses that
are bolted to it this is the PCV valve
on this engine you'd get those all out
of the way you'd remove your valve cover
you don't need to drain the engine oil
because when the engine is cold all the
oil is in the pan you can take your
valve cover off replace the seal you'd
need to remove the old one they can be
dried in there you might have to work at
it to get it out then you put your new
seal in replace the valve cover tighten
all your bolts reinstall your coil packs
any hoses you may have taken off then
you can clean with brake parts cleaner
around the engine get rid of any excess
oil that's been spilled here you could
use an engine degreaser anything you
just want to clean up all this oil so
that if the valve cover gasket fails at
any point in the future you'll be able
to tell because you'll see the fresh oil
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