Finally tackled my super leaky valve cover gaskets today, took me 3 and a half hours from start to finish. The absolute worst part by FAR was getting the old gaskets and bolt grommets out, they turned to STONE and was a nightmare to remove.
What everything looked like before I started tearing her apart
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After a little bit of time removing parts
![Image]()
A decent pile of parts
![Image]()
Look how clean that top end looks 😍
Definitely had good oil change intervals, with good full synthetic oil before I scooped her up!
![Image]()
2 of the worst parts of this project:
1. Getting the old valve cover gaskets off, especially where the sleeved bolts go into the gaskets on the bottom side, the gaskets came off in hundreds of pieces! Was like an old, brittle plastic. Those heat cycles did not do any good for the gaskets!
2. Getting the PCV valve out of the rear valve cover. I thought it would be a valve that threaded into the cover, but it instead was pushed into the PCV opening in the cover with a rubber sleeve around it. Was very stressful putting the old valve in the vise, and GENTLY wiggling while pulling, to get it out. The PCV valve gasket was also stone, and broke off in the valve cover. CAREFUL prying and digging with a screwdriver and pick, and it was out.
![Image]()
All in all, not a very bad project to do. I hope this can help someone in the future wondering what they are getting into!
What everything looked like before I started tearing her apart
After a little bit of time removing parts
A decent pile of parts
Look how clean that top end looks 😍
Definitely had good oil change intervals, with good full synthetic oil before I scooped her up!
2 of the worst parts of this project:
1. Getting the old valve cover gaskets off, especially where the sleeved bolts go into the gaskets on the bottom side, the gaskets came off in hundreds of pieces! Was like an old, brittle plastic. Those heat cycles did not do any good for the gaskets!
2. Getting the PCV valve out of the rear valve cover. I thought it would be a valve that threaded into the cover, but it instead was pushed into the PCV opening in the cover with a rubber sleeve around it. Was very stressful putting the old valve in the vise, and GENTLY wiggling while pulling, to get it out. The PCV valve gasket was also stone, and broke off in the valve cover. CAREFUL prying and digging with a screwdriver and pick, and it was out.
All in all, not a very bad project to do. I hope this can help someone in the future wondering what they are getting into!
