Replacing Valve Cover Gasket On Honda Passport
 

i have a 1997 Honda Passport that i stopped driving over a year ago because of some serious smoke coming from under the hood. I'm no mechanic, but knew it couldn't have been good so i just let it sit in my carport.

I have recently decided to sell the car but thought i should go check to see if the smoking was an easy fix... i was told the Valve Cover Gasket needed to be replaced and sure, the part is $30-$40, but the labor was 6 hours... so about $350 to fix. My dad said they should be able to just do a half turn on the bolts all the way around and they should stop the leak for awhile, but again...i'm no mechanic... the mechanic showed me the oil sitting at the base of the engine and could see like charcoal just sitting there....he told me i should NOT be driving the car as it could catch fire pretty easy.

Does $350 sound right? I thought i'd post a message on a Honda site to get some honest input...

The check engine light is on also... will this correct that problem or is un-related? Freaks me out too because sometimes it blinks...

I'm more interested in knowing if the car is worth fixing or would i be better off just selling it off as junk...

anyone?

J

Re: Replacing Valve Cover Gasket On Honda Passport
 

I did valvecover gaskets on a 98 Isuzu Rodeo a few months back. Should be about the same process since theyre the same vehicle, just different badges...

6 hours seems a little steep. It took me about 4 hours total(my first time), including stripping down and re-finishing the valvecovers. If your semi-mechanically inclined, you should be able to handle this job with no problem. Bring patience. You will need it for the coil screws for cylinder 6.
Turning the bolts 1/2 a turn prob wont fix it. The gaskets get brittle and turn to plastic. Tightening the bolts will most likely cause them to crack even more. Theres only one way to fix this and thats to replace the valvecover gaskets.
The CEL coming on and blinking is probably unrelated. If the valvecover gaskets spark plug tube seals are leaking (they probably are), oil can saturate the ignition coils causing misfiring and the resulting CEL to come on and blink.
You did the right thing to stop driving it. Valvecover gaskets are a fairly common problem on older higher mileage vehicles, not just rodeos/passports. I wouldnt sell it just for that reason. Just be prepared that this job does take some time so as mentioned, BE PATIENT.
Oil consumption is also a known issue on these vehicles so make sure you check the oil often. Good luck!

(Wrong forum, so dont be surprised if the mods move this.)