leaking..but not able to isolate

[Zim_Zim]

hey its me once again to talk about my stoopid valve cover gasket. well i finally got off my *** and took it back to the mechanic who originally replaced the gasket. he said it is leaking a little but he cannot figure out where. the seal is fine, the gasket is fine. ?????
so all he could was put a bead of seal around it to hope that does the trick. now what i want to know is. how is this possible? how can a leak not be seen, do i just have a retarded mechanic? we know it is leaking that is for sure. there is just no place for it to be leaking from. argh! well ill let you all know if the problem is solved once i take her for a drive. the mechanic figures the sealant should do the trick

<small>[ December 10, 2004, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: TriSha_mx3_96 ]</small>

[93SOHC]

he shoulda put gasket sealer on it when he did it the first time!!!!

[Zim_Zim]

hehehehe...ya i here ya..well he put silicone around it so there should be no leaks..i hope

[LongJohn]

You need to make sure you carfully clean up all the oil on both the gasket and the surface before putting it back on. If you don't there is a layer of oil and that allows oil to flow under the gasket even though there is no apparent gap. Sealer won't fix this either because it can't stick to the oily surface.

If it still seems to be leaking, then clean all the oil off the engine and valve cover, and then check to see where new deposits are forming.

It is also possible that oil is leaking from somewhere else and you think it is the valve cover. For instance, the O-ring in the distributor could be bad and the oil is leaking out of there.

[93SOHC]

true dat, John!

[Zim_Zim]

i saw some smoke coming out from underneath the exhaust manifold heat shield...where might it be coming from, there? could it be leftover from previous leakage? but it cant be my o-ring..i just replaced my distributor and this problem has been on going before than. plus it smells less since ive done the distributor. i just got her back from the shop and so far i havent smelled much other than risidual smell im assuming from when they worked on the car when im idling for awhile. the smell has started to linger the more i drive the car(im crossing my fingers) i just have to wait and see. i say one thing and then it all goes to crap, so im praying.
the shop said they cleaned up all around the valve cover gasket and stuff, wiped it all down.i havent had a chance to look too well, snowing way too much here.

<small>[ December 11, 2004, 07:51 PM: Message edited by: TriSha_mx3_96 ]</small>

[Ateana]

after disassembling my b6 I noticed where all the leaks are. the gasket on the distributer is a problem and also the bolts where the power-steering pump attaches. as for you leak im not to sure. i found the best way to find a leak is just to clean it up let it run for awhile and then let it sit for about a day and start er up. if your gettin smoke out the pipe its more then just a head cover gasket. if it leaks well you can usually see where. (usually... not always). make sure you check under the distributer i replaced the o-gasket and it still leaked.

<small>[ December 14, 2004, 12:24 PM: Message edited by: Ed ]</small>