Sealing Valve Covers

Dealing with Persistent Valve Cover Leaks I wanted to share a trick I've learned for replacing valve cover gaskets that seems to solve the common issue of continued slight oil leaks even after replacing the gasket. I've found that both rubber and silicone gaskets can still allow small leaks over time when re-installing valve covers if you don't take some extra steps.

The key things I do are:

• Carefully hammer out any warping on the valve cover flange so that it sits flush on the head

• Apply a 1/8" tall by 1/4" wide bead of high-quality gasket sealant like Permatex Right Stuff on the cylinder head surface

• Set the new gasket in place over the studs

• Run another bead of sealant on top of the gasket

• Hand tighten the valve cover nuts just enough so that a little sealant squeezes out

• Let it sit completely undisturbed for 2-3 days to fully cure

• Finally, go back and torque the nuts to spec

  • This is also a great place to use our valve cover plate kit to uniformly clamp down the valve cover and prevent further warping

Rushing through the install allows leaks to develop. But allowing adequate cure time for the sealant before really wrenching down the nuts has worked for me every time.