Oil weep under valve cover - what's the fix

[Johnstra]

I remember this discussed a few times several months ago. I get a VERY slight amount of oil weeping from my valve cover. Did any of you that had this before figure out a way to stop it. I haven't tried tightening the valve cover yet. Did that stop it for anyone?



Thanks for the info.



-john

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

"I haven't tried tightening the valve cover yet. Did that stop it for anyone?"



UMMmmm, well, it IS a reasonable place to start!

 

[Johnstra]

Wise guy



Ok, here's what I should have said (but I opted for brevity)... I'm going to tighten my valve cover to see if it stops it, but since it's such a slow leak it will take at least a few days to know if it worked. Being overly compulsive by nature I'll sleep better tonight if somebody tells me they stopped their leak by doing the same

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Don't feel bad - I see there is a very minor seepage, even under the valvecovers of my superior noisy OLD 24 valver!



But then, I haven't tried tightening MY cover bolts either...

 

[Johnstra]

That's cause your oil's too clean. If you'd take that Frantz off and let it soot up a little it probably wouldn't leak anymore

 

[Prairie Dog]

I had a slight leak like you describe - Dealer found that the draft tube grommett had gotten soft and was leaking. He replaced the entire draft tube assy and it stays perfectly clean now.

 

[NextLevel]

My truck had the same prob. at 15000 mi. It was the valve box gasket not the valve cover gasket, it was easy to fix. the job only calls for . 7 hr

 

[100 Proof]

Welcome aboard NextLevel !



100 Proof

 

[lschultz]

Well what part of the valve cover is it leaking at?

 

[Johnstra]

Mine appears to seep very slowly from the valve cover gasket. There's a thin film of oil built up pretty much all the way around the valve cover right next to the gasket. It also flows back toward the firewall and has built up a much heavier film on the back of the engine facing the firewall.

 

[Johnstra]

Fixed

I fixed my leak. Like NextLevel, my leak was from the gasket between the valve box (called the lifter housing in the manual) and the head that was leaking. I didn't take the valve box off - too hard to reach the back bolt - I just took off the valve cover, tightened the valve box bolts a bit, cleaned the valve cover gasket and replaced the cover. All the bolts were very close to the torque spec so I hope I didn't turn them too much. It's been about 1500 miles and absolutely no sign of oil. Looks good.

-john

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Mine leaks too so maybe I'll give it a try Johnstra. What are the torque specs for the bolts? I might at 5 ft/lbs to it.



Vaughn

 

[Johnstra]

18 ft. lbs for both the valve cover and the valve box. I went +5 on mine. Ideally you'd take valve box off and clean the gasket and surfaces good, but as I said it was too much trouble for me.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Thanks Johnstra.

 

[DPKetchum]

Just noticed the somewhat more then a film on the back of my engine also.

 

[Johnstra]

Yeah, I think it drains back and over time can make a pretty big mess on the back of the engine and even down on the bellhousing. I cleaned mine up and haven't noticed any new oil since I re-torqued things.

 

[DPKetchum]

Don't like the idea of it running down bell-housing. Vehicles I've come across that do this eventually have oil soaked clutches!