I have a valve cover leak and am wondering if a leaking valve cover could cause clutch chatter. When I first take off in the morning the car shakes horribly. Only in first. If i'm driving down the road and tap the gas the car shakes like it does off the bat.I have a valve cover leak and am wondering I I fix that will it fix its self or do I need to change the clutch.

 

If the clutch is soaked in oil, it needs to be replace with a new one. It won't fix itself. But how does a leaking Valve Cover contaminates the clutch disk? It's gotta be something else like the rear main seal or something near by.

 

Best thing to do is run down to a mechanic shop and have someone else drive it for you. Most small indy shops don't charge for a quickie test drive. Sounds to me like a random misfire or clogged fuel filter and not a clutch issue.

 

The whole motor is soaked thats the only reason why I though valve cover. My plug wires are old and cracked. Lately the car hasn't started right up like it used to are these to related?

 

the whole issue is the leak. its causing a misfire and making it shake like that. u need to replace valve cover gasket set,new plugs,wires,cap,rotor and clean all the oil and crap up and u should be good to go.

 

Does my problem sound like a miss fire to anyone else. I am only curious if you think the problem will stop if I fix the leak then do a tune up?

 

Is there oil in the spark plug tubes as well.

 

Yes cylinder 3 is full of oil.

 

I'd start with the tube seals before getting into the clutch....could still be the clutch but I would like to rule out the easy stuff.

 

Ok so I will do the valve cover gasket and plug gaskets. But the oil has been on the plug wires since I got it in August 2010, just recently it started to shake like that like March 2011. So I will try valve cover gasket and plug gaskets. If that doesn't fix it are there any other ideas/

 

Sounds like cylinder 3 is just misfiring from all the oil and maybe the wires are now breaking down. Normally the flywheel sprays the oil out of the casing and even in the most extreme cases of leaks the oil won't make it to the clutch since there just isn't enough leaking out at one time.