valve cover gasket replacement

[afpj]

Just replaced valve cover gasket in trying to stop an oil leak. This is an easy procedure, in theory, but I couldn't actually find a guide so this is a little one to help other noobs who don't have a clue, like me.

First, take off the coil packs. The pics show the driver side. They are held on by 5 bolts that bolt onto the valve cover (orange arrows). You only have to disconnect the ONE electrical connector harness in the middle (green arrow)...the individual electrical connectors do not have to be removed. Didn't know that at first so the pics of the parts on the ground show the coil packs disconnected from the little wiring harnesses. remove the spark plug wire from the coil packs (yellow arrows). I do not recommend removing them off the spark plugs themselves (I broke the first one by trying this--10 year old wires beak). Leave them dangling from the spark plugs.

After you get the coil packs off, then clean the dirt from around the valve cover. Then you can back out the 4 bolts that hold down the cover running along the center of the cover.

Remove PCV valve from cover...it just pulls up and out, ( near the firewall), then remove cover.

The third pic shows whats under the valve cover. 4th pic shows the underside of cover, with hold-down bolts.

The gasket sits in a groove around the base of the cover, easy to remove and replace. Since it's rubber, it does not require any sealant, or so I have been told.

Replace in reverse order. The hardest part was discovering I did NOT have to remove the spark plug wires from the spark plugs themselves, and that cost me..had to buy a new set of wires since I broke one (wire came off the plug but the conductor stayed with the plug. I used dielectric grease on the electrical connector and the spark plug wire before replacing. Hope this helps someone else, and sorry if it's been shown before but I couldn't find it.

 

[jericho121]

Need to do the gasket on mine too. Do you remember how much you torque down the bolts when you re-install the cover? Nice diy info.

 

[imi4tth3w]

valve cover bolts should be 106 INCH lbs of torque. please note the inch pounds, not foot pounds.

i recommend doing each bolt in increments by hand until you reach the final torque. that way one isn't being fully torqued down while the other 3 are still completely loose. make sure to thread them by hand as much as possible first to ensure your not cross threading. replacing heads are no fun and $$$$$.


i semi recently replaced my valve cover gaskets as well. went with a kit that provided new rubber seals for the bolts. cleaned up my coil packs and valve covers in the process.



you can see a lot of grime that might have been leaking slowly over the years here.

 

[jericho121]

What brand gasket kit did you use? Do the GM gasket comes with the bolt grommet? Thanks for the torque spec.

 

[livingez_123]

The rockers and upper head area looked real clean. Did you spray them down with cleaner? Change your oil afterward?

 

[PR RAY]

Nice write up! I need to do mine soon too

 

[H8 PVMT]

Nice, thank you for taking the time to do this. I'll be replacing mine next week. I got my gaskets off rock auto.com for like 17.xx with the grommets. Victor Reinz brand.

 

[afpj]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Had to do this again chasing down an oil leak. I used felpro kit with grommets. I don't remember having a hard time keeping the gaskets from falling off when putting the cover back on, but I sure did this time. I had to use some dabs of silicone glue/sealant in a few areas (like little spot welds) to keep the gasket in the cover groove so it won't fall out. If anyone has better method please chime in. BTW, dealer here wanted $480 to do this, so doing it ourselves makes me feel even better now.

 

[mattbta]

So how the heck do you replace the grommets? I did VC gaskets and have the grommets but couldn't figure out how to get the damn bolt out to put the grommet in...i feel foolish because I used to swap cams in my old LS1 like changing underwear.

 

[afpj]

So how the heck do you replace the grommets? I did VC gaskets and have the grommets but couldn't figure out how to get the damn bolt out to put the grommet in...i feel foolish because I used to swap cams in my old LS1 like changing underwear.

In short, brute force. It helps to have it slightly warm, and the bolts slightly oily. I pulled on the bolt to remove it from the valve cover and the grommet comes with it (170k miles on these grommets though...didn't change them on the first go). Then I pulled the grommet over the lip of the bolt. Getting the new grommet back over the bolt was far harder...lots of twisting, pushing , pulling, cursing in disbelief, but it does manage to pop over the bolt lip eventually. I didn't warm up the new grommets, and I should've as an afterthought. Then pushed the grommet and bolt combo back into the cover. Hopefully someone has a more elegant method, but that's just not my style.