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Well, i think I cracked my valve cover gasket, nothing major, just a bit of oil leaking from it, well, leaking from almost all around it now, lol. not major, just slow, unnoticeable really
how hard is it to change the gasket itself, time consuming, any special processes, and would a basic valve cover gasket, say from AutoZone be sufficient enough to replace it with!?
thanks all.
not hard at all.
BUT.. before you do it, try mearly snugging the 6 attaching bolts. They're usually pretty loose from the factory, and loosen even more with age. The gasket itself is not likely to fail, as its a thick, soft rubber compound.
you can get a valve cover gasket at autozone. you might want to try the dealer too. i checked some online catalogs, including the a mitsu dealer and autozone and the one at the dealer was cheaper than the one at autozone. so if you have a dealer close you might want to see how much it was there.
or you can just get a tube of some gasket maker and use that.
if you are replacing the valve cover gasket, make sure you get all of the old gasket off or its still gonna leak.
and make sure you torque the bolts to spec. if the bolts are too loose, you get leaks. if its too tight, it will leak.
I think an OEM valve cover gasket is like $15. When you take the old one out, be sure to take a razor blade and clean any old remains of gasket off both the head and the valve cover, be sure to do this in a motion that moves the debris away from the inside of the head, last thing you want is junk falling in there. then put either some brake cleaner or degreaser on a rag, wipe down the sealing surface on the head and cover then install the gasket and bolt it back up. be extremely careful not to overtighten the bolts or the valve cover will crack, or you will break a bolt in the head and that will cause a HUGE pain in the ass
much appreciated for the info guys! i'll try and work on it this upcoming week!