I just painted (or DEpainted if you will) my valve cover last night (thanx ryan!) and I put it back on. Is that all right if I reuse that gasket? I have heard not to, but then again i heard it isnt that bad to reuse it.

But after that, I couldn't find one 10mm bolt. And so then the next morning (today) i put one in (after like 15 miles of driving last night) and i checked the others, and one of the main ones is stripped. And now its leaking oil form the left part of the gasket. How can I fix this?

thanx so much.

 

I've reused mine probally 5 times (the gasket).

As far as the stripped bolt, is the actual bolt stripped or is the head where it goes in? If it's the bolt, buy a new one. If it's the head, time to get out the tap/die set.

 

The only time i ever had a problem with my valve cover gasket was when i left my valve cover on the hot floor and the floor melted it like butter. But Acura has them (well mines for a GSR so i went to Acura) for like 4 bucks. If it looks like its leaking form the valve cover just buy a new one.

What exactly is stripped?

 

Maybe I am missing something, but how is the floor hotter than the head to melt the gasket?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rxse7n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe I am missing something, but how is the floor hotter than the head to melt the gasket?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Take your valve cover off and place it on the hot concret floor and leave it there for about 30 mins (or however long it takes you to do a valve adjustment) and youll see what happened.

But face it so you could read "HONDA" or "VTEC" or whatever you have on the cover.

 

I am gonna try that. I have a new one to install when I do a valve adjustment and change out my timing belt. I cant believe it would melt...weird.

 

Its thin rubber, and rubber melts. But see when the valve cover is connected with the head it is pressed on, so even if it gets hot it wont melt like it would on the street. And by melt i just mean expane so it cant be used again. Not melt like youll have a bowl of liquid.

 

the bolt isn't stripped... so it is time to tap it.

and news flash. i just drove it to buy my mom some b-day presents and the valve gasket blew. yay im screwed.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Atlas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">and news flash. i just drove it to buy my mom some b-day presents and the valve gasket blew. yay im screwed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wouldnt say your screwed. You could still drive but when you stop CHECK YOUR OIL right away. And get a valve cover gasket for like 4 bucks.

Oh yea, buy some degreaser, trust me your going to need it.

 

right on. im getting a new gasket and im tapping the head as soon as my dad gets home to help me tomorrow.