Cracked valve cover [Merged 4-8] crack

[HighPsi92GST]

What do you guys do if you crack a powder coated cover? $80 down the drain?

pretty much

just dont crack it, then you wont have to worry about wasting money

 

[Alex_95TSI]

Buy a torqe wrench!!

I was about to follow the advice these guys gave me and tighten it with a wrench almost hand tight but i said there is no way im gonna break a bolt or crack the valve cover. TQ wrench is better thatn "hand tighten" it.

 

[HighPsi92GST]

Buy a torqe wrench!!

I was about to follow the advice these guys gave me and tighten it with a wrench almost hand tight but i said there is no way im gonna break a bolt or crack the valve cover. TQ wrench is better thatn "hand tighten" it.

in your opinion that is true. theres quite a few examples of people in this thread doing it by hand every time and not cracking it. i have heard of several people who cracked it with a torque wrench. im not saying you are wrong but

TQ wrench is better thatn "hand tighten" it

is nothing more then an opinion

 

[Thomas91169]

hand tighten it with one of those screwdrivers with the attachments for sockets at the end.

the inner ones dont have to be nearly as tight as the outers. the inner ones are the ones most prone to cracking.

do the inside ones snug, starting from the middle and work your way out, then to the outside ones starting at the middle ones and outward to the sides, doing opposites as much as possible.

then do another pass starting again from the inside out. repeat this 2-3 times till its hand tight and then start the car and let it sit for a good 10 mins, then re tighten them again, inside to outside, with a socket screwdriver, your hand will slip off the driver before you over torque anything.


as for people with cracked covers in the spark plug valley. take the head off, clean the area as much as possible, and put a generous amount of jbweld over the crack and surrounding areas, and let sit overnight. under extreme circumstances a buddy of mine cracked his cover and had to be home in a hour, we applied the jbweld and within a hour it was dry to the touch, and he was able to drive home, and the vc hasnt leaked there yet. but better be safe than sorry.

 

[kanderson111]

I'm new to DSM's but have been a mechanic in the past. On the crappy valve covers like you see on old Chevy and Ford I always tightened by hand and re tightened. But when I had the head rebuilt on my wifes 92 Talon. I was impressed by the quality and fit of the 2.0 valve cover and torqued it to 24 inch/lbs per Mitsu cd manual. I had no leaks and did not have to re tighten.

 

[tighty]

Yeah...so I JB welded it and no problems so far. I didn't use that much either so I hope it will hold for a while until I get around to gettin another one. I think I also tracked down all my boost leaks! =)

 

[AquariumPerson]

Well, I decided to take my plastic spark plug cover off to see how it was going around the plugs. (Never checked down there before) And there was indeed oil down in there. But, I remembered that my oil cap was leaking bad, but I replaced it. So I know that is not the problem. Hrmm....I cast my eyes over to the right side of the spark plug area. I notice that there seems to be wads of silicone in the 2 right hand side corners and a little bit inbetween them. Whats this??? My engine has been rebuilt once. Mabe the people that rebuilt the engine before me didnt bother to find a new valve cover, and just put silicone where it was leaking??? There is oil leaking around the outside of the valve cover too, btw. Around the seal.

What could be the problem? Could it indeed be cracked? And where would I find a new gasket and valve cover if I needed a new one? Is there a real problem to the valve cover leaking anyways, besides a little oil leak??? Thanks

 

[b4christ15]

Sounds like something I had when I first picked my car up. Valve cover is probably cracked. Just pull it off and check underneath to make sure. Also, I'd check the valve cover gasket. If that is bad, it could cause a nice little oil leak around that area.

 

[AquariumPerson]

well, wouldnt I need a new gasked if I pulled it off? because the old one is obviously bad...oil is leaking out from all around it. But anyhows I might pull the silicone off the best I can, clean up the area and get all the oil up, and run it and drive it a bit and see if more oil occurs in that area or just see if there is a crack under the silicone. hrmm

 

[vaboys2ndgen]

i had the same problem with my 96 gsx 7bolt. .

yes u should get a new valve cover gasket when u get the new valve cover.


doesnt cost that much at all from like advanced auto or someplace like that.


mine was leaking from all around the valve cover and also the bottom right bolt in the valve cover


goodluck with fix

 

[AquariumPerson]

Hi. I decided to take the plastic thing off to clean the area around the spark plugs, because I never had seen that area before. So I did and what do you know, there was a good amount of oil around them. The oil cap was leaking, but I replaced it. So this may have had to do with some of the problem. Well I took the spark plug covers/wires off so I could clean up the area the best. As I get to the right hand side. I notice there are wads of silicone in the two corners. I think........WHAT?!?! WTF So I get a screw driver and pry those things off. Then I clean the area with a paper towel. WHAT DO YOU KNOW, CRACKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The scary thing is this engine has been rebuilt once. Why in the world would somebody rebuild a engine, over tighten the valve cover, crack it, and not replace it??? But instead put silicone over the cracks. Ohh, and there has always been a huge oil leak on the right hand side of the engine. (by the cracks) now I think I know where that was coming from. I need a new valve cover new, plus a new valve cover gasket. I have seen valve covers on ebay. But where can I buy the gasket? Is there any place I can buy a gasket/valve cover combo besides ebay and in the dsmtuner's classifide's???


Thanks

 

[Opus69]

Your local auto parts store should have the valve cover gasket in stock... AutoZone, Advance Auto, NAPA etc.

 

[hereitcomes]

A valve cover gasket is an easy find at any auto parts retailer. I would go with NAPA becuase of their part quality.
The Valve cover itself can be found on ebay or in the classifieds. Locating it at your local Mits./Chrysler dealer might be a bit of a struggle since they have to special order all of those parts and usualy just take them from scrapped cars. Your best bet is to go to a junkjard and find a 2.0L DOHC valve cover. eagle/mitsubishi and early hundai cars with 2.0L from 93-97 i think use the mits valve cover as well. good luck man.

 

[RiceKiller_TSi]

Grab a Felpro Gasket from O'Reilly's.

 

[speedy13]

yeah,thats a common problem with dsms.no biggie.You do need valve cover if it's cracked.PM me i bought me 2 extra set last thanksgiving if you want to buy one.

 

[4g63t]

I just notisd that my valve cover has about an inch long crack in it by the cam gears. I would just sawp it out but I just got it powder coated. It is leaking oil onto the plug wires. Is there any way I could take the cover off and JB weld the inside of it or is there any quick fixes for this? Any information would be much help! Thanks.

 

[cb3016]

I just notisd that my valve cover has about an inch long crack in it by the cam gears. I would just sawp it out but I just got it powder coated. It is leaking oil onto the plug wires. Is there any way I could take the cover off and JB weld the inside of it or is there any quick fixes for this? Any information would be much help! Thanks.

don't jb weld it, it will be able to stand the heat no probelm but it vibrates way to much for it to ever hold, sorry man u need a new one, I had the same probelm, i bought i nice perfect powder coated granite colored valve cover, over torqued on install, try'd JB weld and well it didn't hold at all. If u want to buy a new valve cover I have 2 extra, I have one brand new from mitsu with only...get this, 35 miles on it (best friend use to work parts counter and i got it for 75 bucks, then i have a second of of a 1G with like 100,000 miles on it i was gonna make into a blank one, let me know if u want to buy one off me i'l give u a good deal.

-CB

 

[VAGRNT]

So, i was changing my valve cover gaskets that i had thought were leaking this weekend. well the bolts holding the cover on weren't very tight in the first place... so needless to say i replaced all the gaskets, then put the cover back on, well in doing this i had apparently over tightened the bolts andWTF "crack" went the cover... now a small crack is a bad thing in my mind in any case. So my quesiton is i have been doing some powder coating as a hobby, i was thinking i will just powder coat and everything will be ok... what do ya think?

 

[robs90tsi]

No, to be safe, just get another valve cover from a junkyard or somewhere cheap, strip the paint and repaint it and magically you have a nice shiny new looking valve cover.

 

[ericbev]

The inside bolts are notorious for cracking valve covers. Whenever you do a valve cover gasket job or otherwise, just snug them down at first. If it is leaking then you can always go back and snug them up a bit more. Its better to do a little more work than to crack a valve cover. I did the same thing you mentioned twice trying to tighten the same inside bolt. Needless to say I was royally pissed off and learned a hard lesson.

That crack will leak and cause a mess which is what you were trying to prevent in the first place. Like stated by rob, pick up a grungy ebay cover, clean it, and then do your powdercoating. You can usually pick them up for less than 30 dollars.

 

[VAGRNT]

thanks for the help guys....

 

[jeremy19984g63]

do you no know anyone that can tig weld it up?

 

[knighteclipse1]

do you no know anyone that can tig weld it up?

The answer is no, it can't

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

The reason they didn't feel tight is because the torque specs are VERY low on valve covers.

You may want to invest in some shop manuals if you want to work on your car.

For future reference, please be more specific in your thread titles. " will crack kill" may sound funny, but it's not an effective way to ask a question. Also, In order to assure accurate communication we insist on members trying to use proper spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization.

 

[VAGRNT]

Sorry about the spelling and grammer. I dont know how i made it through high school without learning a thing about the english language. Oh plus i have ADD, so i distract myself from myself quite often. I promise to be less careless with my words and use correct titles when asking questions. Wow i just now saw that there is a spell check...

Thanks again for all the help..