valve cover gasket....

[Kokiriwave]

well here it is. The valve cover gasket is leaking heavily, and i want the car to last a loooooong time. So i went and got a quote from a mazda master technician and he quoted me 400-500 USD for both gaskets, 175-200 for the front gasket.

I know the back one is a ***** to replace and i don't know if its leaking or not so i'm thinking i might try to change the front by myself,

heres the thing. The most i've ever done is the integra intake for my car, besides that i'm a lil lost. I've been reading the online manuel to changing it...i seems simple if i organize everything and follow the directions...any opinions on what i should do? should i do it myself, forget about, or let mazda peps handle it and fork over 500....to be honest i'd rather do something else with the 500 dollars.

[bubba_03]

Is it your front head or back head? If its the front it will probably take 15min and you could do it your self. All you do is unscrew all the bolts lift the valve cover off turn it up side down and peel the old valve cover gasket out. Place the new one in and it will only go in one way so dont worry about messing it up make sure its in ther good and put it back on and put the screws back in and thats it. If its the back head you might want to take to a shop since you dont have alot experience with doing stuff your self. And gaskets aren't more then $20-$50 for both depending on where you get them. Try Autozone, Advanced Auto, or Pepboys or your Dealer. And what ever you do dont take it to your so called "MAZDA EXPERT" because hes a dumb *** and is trying to rip you off.

[Teal_93]

Do it yourself, take your time, follow the directions & everything will work out great!!! Front gaskets are fairly easy to change.

If you are gonna spend that much at a dealer you might as well swap engines & get something worth your money.

[mitmaks]

500 for gaskets, you ****ting me man lol, bring it to me ill do it for 200 lol, easy to do, I fixed my front one and probably will do back one in spring, and it didnt cost me anything, just some gasket sealer and it works great

[bubbaflaat]

Yea that price is wack!! The front valve cover is a cake walk. The rear one might be a little much for the ignorant do it yourselfer. But that price is waaaay to high anyways. You are in the price range of Kl-DE swap there!!

[bubbaflaat]

Oh yeah, and since you would have the manifold off. Then would be a great time to get some pheno spacers.

[Kokiriwave]

Is it your front head or back head? If its the front it will probably take 15min and you could do it your self. All you do is unscrew all the bolts lift the valve cover off turn it up side down and peel the old valve cover gasket out. Place the new one in and it will only go in one way so dont worry about messing it up make sure its in ther good and put it back on and put the screws back in and thats it. If its the back head you might want to take to a shop since you dont have alot experience with doing stuff your self. And gaskets aren't more then $20-$50 for both depending on where you get them. Try Autozone, Advanced Auto, or Pepboys or your Dealer. And what ever you do dont take it to your so called "MAZDA EXPERT" because hes a dumb *** and is trying to rip you off.

its the front one, I was checking the online manuel and it was telling me to flush my coolant out and all this ****...if its that easy i'll give it a try. Now if i check my car and the back gasket is pretty f'ed what should i do..

500 dollars......i'd rather see it put to upgrades..not repairs...

---------------

Now the part I don't understand is on the online manual it tells me to drain collant and all this stuff, you know, take the timing belt off. or maybe i'm reading it wrong?

lol i was reading the cylinder gasket replacement. ok the front one should be easy, how do i replace the back one?

[bikeguy18974]

As said, the front is easy. I would also recommend getting new valve cover seal washers. The rubber seals in those are probably cracked and rotted too. They are about $3.50/each for the small ones and $5/each for the long ones. I got all my supplies at www.thepartsbin.com

The easiest way to check the rear valve cover gasket is to pull the spark plugs. If the top is all covered in oil then you need a new rear gasket. If there is enough oil you will see it on the spark plug wire boot when you remove it. I did it myself without having done anything like it before. However, if you not comfortable with removing the intake manifold, including all electrical connections, fuel lines, vacuum hoses, etc. etc. then leave it to a professional. Plus you also may have to deal with seized bolts, stuck lines, etc. When i did mine I tried to remove a hose I didn't need to remove and ending up breaking a plastic part that took me over a month to get from Mazda.

One last bit of advice: the torque numbers for the valve cover blots are in IN/LBS, NOT ft/lbs. Too much torque and you will be asking how to removed the sheared bolt.

[TsiMiata]

advance auto sells the grommets in a kit.

[MazdaManiacMx3]

when you replace the gaskets REPLACE THE BOLTS, it will save you alot more headaches than when i just yelled at ya for it.
I broke 4 bolts putting just the front back on , because the bolts lost their temper with age , Bolts for both valve covers cost me around 30 bucks at mazda and belive me its worth it . Hovering over your head with a E-Z out is not fun stuff.
Well keep us updated and if you need anything we'll be here.
Kris

<small>[ December 18, 2004, 11:31 AM: Message edited by: MazdamaniacMx3 ]</small>

[fry_81]

you must be joking....?
i needed valve cover gaskets, so i called mazda this morning and they said that they are $35 cdn each. however i found it strange because they were cheaper than ford probe gaskets, as ive been told probe gaskets were much much cheaper.
strange.

[lakersfan1]

Originally posted by MazdamaniacMx3:
Bolts for both valve covers cost me around 30 bucks at mazda and belive me its worth it .

No it's not. ProbeSport will send you a set of nice zinc plated valve cover bolts for $15 shipped. :p

[Kokiriwave]

url? I'm getting my torque wrench calibrated next week and i'll be getting the gaskets from mazda on monday. I checked the front and back..the back was in perfect condition, makes me wonder why the hell the front is so messed up, anyway. I'll keep you guys posted.

so far i need

-torque wrenched calibrated
-front gasket
-gasket bolts

...o one more thing. should i clean under the cover or leave it as is....its going to be grimy and large oil deposits. any opinions? again, thanks.

[bubbaflaat]

$40 usd at advance auto parts. For both gaskets and all bolts.

[hgallegos915]

HHA mg some people are just getting ripped offf BIG TIME.. gaskets and bolts are cheap.I WOULD NEVER pay 30 dollars for bolts when they cost around 7 dlls a set at autozone...maybe even less haha eee :S