valve cover gasket question

[buish]

can a valve cover gasket leak lead to my car temperature rising? i checked my dipstick and oil was at its minimum point. i added a quart of oil. oil is around the spark plug holes and other surrounding areas. my car smokes after running b/c i'm guessing its burning off the oil.

how would i know if my head gasket leaks too? also, how long would it take to change the valve cover gasket?

on a side note, i can only change the thermostat with the cooling system drained?

[anchovies]

5 minutes to change the valve cover gasket. Only 3 nuts to loosen and tighten.
Check your oil for coolant or coolant for oil for head gasket failure.
Yeah, cooling system must be drained to change the thermostate. You can do it you without if you want to but it'll be messy as hell. And you have to replace the lost coolant.

[Toby]

you car temp will not rise if the valve cover gasket leaks, you will just have oil around where the seal is and as you say around the spark plugs.

to change the valve cover gasket takes about 10 min, it is very easy.

you can change the thermostat without draining the cooling system, you will only loose a bit of coolent.

[Toby]

anchovies you beat me to it by one minute :D

[buish]

thanks. damn both of you respond fast.

[89AccordNate]

No, i didnt drain the cooling system to change my thermostat. The only thing thats going to come out is the fluid left inside the housing and the top hose. It isnt that bad. You can do it easily without going through the trouble of draining it.

Nate.

[Greg]

You could change your V/C gasket in 5 min like someone said, but if I was you, I'd take the extra 10 to 15 minutes to make sure the mating surfaces are clean and free of debris. Usually little bits of crud are left in the valve cover after you remove the gasket.

Then I would take an extra 5 min to put a thin bead of silicone sealer (RTV) on the round-indentation part of the gasket (between the gasket and the head, not between gasket and V/C). The factory uses some sealer here because it will leak a little otherwise. You always see remains of a beige sealer on new Hondas when you change the V/C gasket for the first time.

But it IS a really easy job.

And your smoke is almost definitely coming from oil leaking from the front of your V/C gasket, past your plugs, and onto your exhaust manifold where it burns off.

Spray some brake cleaner all around there and use a rag to wipe up the remaining oil if you want it to stop smoking. Otherwise it will still smoke for maybe weeks.

[anchovies]

Originally posted by KAOS RACING
anchovies you beat me to it by one minute :D

haha...and my estimated gasket changing time also beat ya :tongue:

I've gotten coolant on my tranny and it isn't pretty, won't come off either if your coolant has some rust deposit. Your call.

[buish]

thanks greg. i'm going to do it in the morning.