Saturn Valve Cover Gasket

[Ian Christiansen]

My girlfriend has a 1997 Saturn SL2, 1.9 DOHC and the vavle cover gasket was leaking. I replaced it with a rubber Felpro gasket and now it is leaking worse. Does anyone has any experience with these?

 

[Benzilla]

Get rid of it!

Kidding...

Wipe it down and see where the new oil is coming from...

Did you use RTV in the corners where the valve cover goes over the cam bearing caps on either end?

 

[yossarian19]

Did you re-torque all the bolts after warming up the engine?

Also

The shop I work in, we use Toyota dealership sealant on *everything* and haven't had it leak yet. Its expensive but seals REALLY well. Called FIPG or some such.
I'd use it all along the gasket in a thin layer, both sides of the gasket. Bolt it down, give it 15 minutes, warm it up, re tighten and forget about it.

 

[Ian Christiansen]

Get rid of it!


Did you use RTV in the corners where the valve cover goes over the cam bearing caps on either end?

The valve cover is a flat surface all the around. The bearing caps on both ends are under the cover. The Felpro gasket is a rubber gasket that pushes into a channel in the valve cover. The valve cover is also plastic, and the torque spec is only 22 ft. lbs. I don't want to retorque when the engine is warm because the aluminum head might not like that.

 

[yossarian19]

Don't horse-F&*! it, just make sure it is "snug" when warm.
Even if you don't tighten everything when it is warm, I'd remove it and use some sort of RTV in a thin bead on both sides of the gasket when you reinstall.

 

[Ian Christiansen]

Even if you don't tighten everything when it is warm, I'd remove it and use some sort of RTV in a thin bead on both sides of the gasket when you reinstall.

That's my next plan. That's for the help. I posted this on a Saturn forum and got no replies. This forum rocks.