I recently noticed I have a very slow seep from one of my valve cover bolts- the front, driver side. It seems oil is coming up from inside the washer/gasket and under the bolt head. Are there little o-rings or something for these bolts? My oil pan gastket needs replacement also, but I don't really lose any oil between changes.

Another leak I saw is at the passenger side steering rack boot. This looked more like and active leak than a seep, but the p/s fluid has been at the correct level for over 15,000 miles since I bought the car. I recently changed my oil and wonder if the old oil could have dripped over that far when I pulled the filter...seems unlikely tho.

Any ideas will help me out. Thanks!

 

Change your valve cover gasket along with the grommets that come with it.... As far as the other leak IDK

 

x2 on the grommets. They sometimes begin to leak.

 

replace all said leaky gaskets including the oil pan gasket.

As for the steering arm boot replace that aswell. There is grease in there and it will trap alot of dust. You don't want dust and dirt in there.

 

Thanks for the replies. I thought there might be little grommets in there. The valve cover seal is good, so I may try to get away with just the grommets for now. There's only one tiny leak so it would be nice not to take the whole cover off.

I cleaned up the boot when I saw the build-up and will inspect it again this weekend. If there's new fluid there, the boot is probably bad. If not, it could have been motor oil from the last change, and even ones before that I just didn't notice. The oil in the filter goes everywhere when I pull it off.

 

the steering boots are known for breaking. Especially the drivers side.

It's not hard to remove the valve cover. It takes all of 5 min.

Just remember to snug the valve cover bolts back on DO NOT TORQUE THEM or you will break them off in your head.

 

Right.

The boot is not broken from what I can see. It is actually in pretty good shape- not cracking or rotting. That's why I cleaned it up- to see if fluid and grime begin to build up again...