i replaced VC gasket

[bowlofturtle]

So i replaced the bad VC gasket with one i picked up from rockauto... i drove the first day and everything seemed ok.

it was branded ROCKS product.


My mother drove it today and told me she saw smoke. I go look and the right side of the valve cover has oily film on it. the while intake tube as well. I guess the leak is coming from the gasket.. it was a small leak before and now this has oil film everywhere. I'm not short any oil from checking the dipstick. I checked the spark plugs everything inside was dry and sealed.

Only thing points to is the VC gasket. How can i mess this up... its 4 large bolt screws. All are tight.. I guess i'll take it off and do it again... Should i use some RTV, i have some black RTV from a trans pan i did.

[fenixus]

what torque did you use on tube nut seals ? have you tighten them from middle ones to outer applying equal torque ?

you were also supposed to use RTV on all different metal cast connections. leaks are probably coming from there. also are your tube nut seals new or recently replaced ? having those old makes nuts to go loose when applying factory torque (for new ones).

i would open it up, clean VC matting surface and gasket with alcohol, get some high temp RTV handy and redo the job. there is a picture in Haynes manual showing exact spots of RTV application.

for gen4 the torque should be 17ft-lbs - try doing it in 3 passes (from middle ones to outer ones) of 7ft-lbs, 13ft-lbs and finally 17ft-lbs. not sure about gen3 specs though, should be same i think.

[Gonzo64]

They are the same for gen 3. Just did my today. Hope no more leaking. Only rtv on the back side of the vc (4 cyl). That where most of my leaking comes from also motor leans backwards. Go luck just rtv and make sure its clean. Rtv does not like sticking to oil!

[bowlofturtle]

blah pulled it off and found out why...

the curve over the dizzy area... the gasket didn't SEAT in the right way. it was on the inner edge... hence why oil shot out from there.

I re-did it and made it SIT in the right way this time. light coat of RTV. I tighten 1 3 4 2 in that order and snug them and then go little more each turn.

SHould be the fix... now i gotta clean up all the OIL mess...

[bowlofturtle]

so i drove it today adn its not pissing out oil but i think there is a small oil leak or something....

there is a hit of grey/white smoke coming from the engine. when i popped to hood to trace it it was under the dizzy area...

I saw the coolant lines in front of it and i'm trying to figure out what are the possible issues.

Obviously 1. valve cover gasket, 2 dizzy o-ring and maybe dizzy itself. What is under the dizzy that can leak?

the engine was too hot for me to start feeling around down there. I'm going to pull the intake pipe off and start cleaning it making sure its not from the left over stuff.

[bowlofturtle]

So i cleaned the engine with a degreaser, i took off the distributor cap no oil at all inside.

I drove it and 10 miles on the highway came home parked pop hood open and saw white/grey smoke. Its coming from the area under the distributor... I pulled off the intake pipe so i can more access. touch and felt around ( this is VERY hot but) nothing to show a medium leak. hell everything looked nice and dry. only 2 spots that i noticed and this might be my problem, the areas on top of the trans still held some water/oilish type stuff. couldn't clean it all. There are 2 hoses from the firewall that route under the dizzy and to 2 metal silver lines that wraps around the exhaust manifold and somewhere. I assume these are coolant lines, they were a little moist when i first saw them and before washing. I just could not clean it. One had a foam wrapping that i pulled off since it was torn already.

The smoke was from deep under so like the top of the trans area.. The smoke went away quickly once the engine cooled so i couldn;t research anymore.

WTF is causing my smoke.

[Camry LE 94]

im guessing the smoke is coming from an area under the dizzy which you cannot see. this smoke is probably hidden oil from the VC gasket leak you had coming out above the dizzy.

[bowlofturtle]

Originally Posted by Camry LE 94

im guessing the smoke is coming from an area under the dizzy which you cannot see. this smoke is probably hidden oil from the VC gasket leak you had coming out above the dizzy.

i might not be able to see it but my fingers aren't wet or anything when touching around it...

do you think this will just burn away and stop smoking...