ucfswimmer

I have a small oil leek coming from the middle left and right front sides of my valve cover. I had a mechanic take a look at it and he said the oil was leeking from a bad gasket more than likely.

I can find the gasket for $10--$20 but the few mechanics I've talked to all want to charge me $80-$100 to replace it (parts&labor)

from what i've heard, removing the valve cover isn't all that difficult on a 1.8L SOHC ('94 Pro DX).

Has anybody gone through this process and if so, would you mind helping out, or do you guys recommend I just get it done at an auto shop?

I don't see the point in paying $60-$80 for what many people have told me is a pretty straight forward process, but if it is a tough thing to do, then I guess I'll have to pay it.

The oil leek isn't *too* bad but it is annoying, and some of the oil drips down onto the top of the transmission (which worries me). Not to mention the burning smell that the oil makes.

Thanks for the replies guys.

~jeff~

Identity_X

Do it yourself. It's as easy as it gets. Remove all the bolts holding the valve cover. I think they are 8mm or 10mm at the most. Take out the old gasket and replace it with the new one. Then, to make sure it doesn't ever leak again go over the gasket with silicon and put it back on. Shouldn't take you more than 10 minutes and there is no point in paying a shop when you can easily do it yourself.

zchild92

$10 for a valve cover gasket? Where??? Last time I checked the gasket was a dealer item and expensive as ****! Like "X" said take the 10 mins and do it yourself.

Identity_X

I replaced mine a year ago that way and I haven't had a problem with it leaking ........and I don't think I ever will.

so instead of being an ***, tell the guy how to do it 'the right way'

beachnut

er, not trying to be an *** here, but I got to disagree -

I don't think it's a good idea to silicone the entire gasket; it'll be a real pita to get off next time. All you really need to do is apply the silicone in the cam corners. The gasket is sufficient to seal the other areas, unless your cover is bent or warped, in which case you need to get a new cover. The best stuff to use is Permatex Ultra Grey #599BR.

If you find a gasket for $10-$20 then great! I've only seen them on eBay that cheap. I bought mine from the Mazda dealer for $32. Plan on spending more than 10 minutes to do the job right also. I did mine in about 1.5 hours. I removed all the old gasket material then thoroughly cleaned the cover with brake cleaner, paying particular attention to the gasket groove. I also cleaned the area on the head where the gasket seals very carefully so as not to drop anything inside. Btw, even before doing this job I degreased and cleaned my engine compartment to minimize the risk of knocking grit and crap off of something else into the head. Plus I wanted to make sure as much of the crud on my valve cover was gone before I lifted it.

Last but not least, I followed these instructions on miata.net, which I found here by doing a search - they were very informative:

http://miata.net/garage/valvecover/index.html

Identity_X

I don't see that much of a difference between what I said and the link above.
First off, I don't think that the silicone will be that hard to remove if the valve cover needs to ever come off again. A sharp razor will do the job in minutes.
I cannot agree that replacing the gasket is a 1.5 hour job, although I forgot to mentioned that cleaning the cover with rubbing alcohol (or break cleaner) is a good idea. It took you 1.5 hours because you degreased and cleaned the whole engine compartment and that is not necessary at all. It is a good thing to do, but not necessary.
There is a certain order in which you have to tighten the bolts???
You gotta be kidding me right? I think that this is complete BS.
I am sure that one will not have any problems even if the given order is not followed.

You guys make it sound like it's rocket science.

beachnut

Nope, I cleaned the engine before the valve cover job, like a week before. Maybe it took me 1.5 hours because I had my three y.o. son who kept trying to *help* me, lol. I still say you can't do it in 10 minutes though. But now I'm splitting hairs ... Jeff, it definitely isn't hard - go for it!

demoninvictus

10 minutes?? thats if you want to do a hack job on the thing... i helped my friend replace his valve cover gasket on an 88 or 89 turbo-charged chevy spectrum (104 or so hp). that was quite a bit of work, with turbo charger intakes and **** being in the way... but we did a total hack job on that, no sealant, just the gasket, and took us about 25 minutes in all on labor. my suggestion is if you're not comfortable with a socket wrench, don't even bother, eitherwise, save the 50 to 100 or what have you to have someone replace it... and likewise, a clean motor is a happy motor, sounds like degreasing the entire engine or the entire area might be overkill, but still, better to do it right the first time than to have to go back and do it again.

and one question, whats the idea behind using a torque wrench, the bolting sequence and that ****, i thought that as long as the engine was cold, it didn't matter how tight you snapped those bolts in, i mean, usually, what you have to do to get white knuckles is usually enough, am i right?

ucfswimmer

you guys are great, i love this forum.


I'm going to go ahead and do it with the help of a friend. I did have 1 more question...in my infinite ignorance of cars I don't know if it's necessary or not to drain the oil before i remove the valve cover? Anyone? Thanks again.


~jeff~

BadAzz92DX

Couldnt hurt...

midnightblue97

No its not really necessary. The oil will drain back to the pan. Just do it when the engine is cold and you shouldn't have a problem. You'll also avoid burning yourself.

The torque wrench is so you don't over tighten the bolts. Some idiot in my auto class in highschool was changing the valve cover gasket on a teacher's car and he torqued the bolts to 65 and broke 3 of them off. I'm not suure about Protege's but for alot of them its no more than 10-15 ftlbs.
As for the sequence It makes sure the gasket is tightened and seals evenly.
I usually just go from the middle and work my way out to both sides evenly and have had no problems.

Davard

The torque for the valve cover bolts is 3.5-6.5 ft.lbs. About what you can do with a nut driver.

Identity_X

Let us know how it goes and make sure you time it so we know exactly how long it takes

ucfswimmer

well i just did the swap and to settle any arguments, i'm a COMPLETE newb to the car scene and it only took me about 40 mins to disconnect my battery, take off all the hoses and pcv valve to the valve cover, remove the cover, take the old gasket out, clean out the grove, replace the new gasket, place some gasket silicone strategically around the bolt areas and put it all back together again. all in all i think it went pretty well...so now im going to degrease my engine a second time and see if the oil leak comes back (i hope not!) thanks again guys.

~jeff~

Identity_X

Scott, 40 minutes is closer to 10 then to 1.5 hours

Jeff, I don't think that oil will be leaking from there any time soon. Nice job I hope that you'll agree that it was better to do it yourself then to take the car to the shop