valve cover oil leak issues
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valve cover oil leak issues having some issues with my valve covers. I bought my care used with 29000, and i noticed an oil leak on the drivers side valve cover, near the rear,,,it was slowly dripping down on to the header, causing it to smoke and smell everynow and then. I replaced the seal and had no problems,,,for a while. Now its back, not much mind you, but its there, so i took toff the coil packs, again, and tightened the 4 valve cover bolts a lil more, that seemed to stop that, for now. But i found a new leak, seems to be coming from the 1st valve cover bolt and gromet. I purchased a new bolt and gromet from GM, and installed, but the oil leak is still there. warped cover? could it be possible that the leak is from another bolt, and traveling down the 2 grooves we have on the top of our valve covers,,i dont see how since our motors are slightly leaned back, which leads me to believe that if that was th ecase, the oil would run down the valve cover, instead of up it. Any ideas you can throw me will be appreciated. Thanx all.
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i have inspected and have not found any pinches or anything,,but was focused on the bolt due to the oil surrounding the hole, and running down the valve cover directly under the bolt hole. The first time repairing the seal leak, i did torque to spec, but the second, and most recent time, i tightened them a lil tighter than spec, seemed to work for that leak, just doent quite know what to do with the bolt hole leak
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i did, but just for the one bolt showing oil around its hole,,,are you saying that i should get 3 more bolts and grommets, for a total of 4, completeing that valve cover,,and see what happens? They are cheap, like 5 bucks per bolt and grommet, so its not going to brak me or anything, its just that the oil is only around the first bolt, no where else.
Only time I seen the valve cover seals leak was on my friends car. It was from to much crank case pressure though from not having a PCV system anymore and the valve cover breathers weren't keeping up. I know this probably isn't much help for you though as his car was pretty extreme.
Dan
Dan
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Dan - so if my PCV (stock as far as i know) is not doing what it is supposed to do, i could be literly be squeezing oil out of any nook and cranny? This would make since,,if im understanding you correctly
Yes, it might be a small crack that can't be seen with the eye and when the motor gets hot it expands so check that.Second clean the motor on that side and check to make sure that the oil is not coming from elsewhere.Also make sure the pcv system is working good.
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dumb question, but can i SAFELY run my motor witht he coil packs off, so i can get a better view of whats going on as the car heats up? Not driving, just running.
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i think its been about 2 weeks and im still leaky,,looks as though the leak is coming from the rear of the drivers side valve cover as it is dirrping down on my headers back there, casueing some smell and smoke,,not much, but its there,,,hopefully my new valve cover seal is just not seated correctly, but any other ideas from any one would be greatly appreciated.
Sometimes you can pinch them just take off the valve cover and clean it up good and make sure the gasket is seated well and not pinched..it is strange that your leaking around a center bolt gromet..mine are very old an still do not leak ... same with the valver cover gaskets..6 years old and 119K miles no leeks.. 
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Look what i found,,,could the lil pin hole / patch job from the over clearance job done on this cover be causing my oil leak? In the other pic, you can see the oil hangin out directly under the rear location of the valve cover...this is where it drips down and hits my headers, casuing that annoying smell/smoke. I am in need of a non-clearanced dr side valve cover if anyone has one that they would like to get rid of.
