Questions about parts...Car smoking

[Former Member]

car is still smoking. pissing me off a little bit. but i have 3 questions...

1. Are the VGC's good after you put them on once? I had to take the drivers side back apart after literally 2 days and the car never got drivin more then 10 miles. wondering if after i torqued them down they compressed and could be causing my problem not sealing correctly.

2. Are the valve covers themselves known to warp?

3. how often do people loose there intake manifold gasket? Im not sure how its set up on this engine. but smoke is comming from the back of the drivers side. i cant seem to find any oil though near the valve cover. spark plugs and coils are dry too.

The weirder part is that the smoke is normally more visable after the car is shut off. sitting in traffic i can smell oil but cant see much smoke. when its shut off the smoke just kind of pours out of the top of the drivers side of the hood.

 

[FALECF4]

Your car should not be smoking and you probably should NOT drive it until you figure out what is causing it! My driver's side VCG was leaking heavily and I didn't even know it because it was running down the back of the engine and firewall and missing the exhaust, so I only got a little smoke. Then I blew my engine(extreme case but it could still happen) Are you sure your gasket got seated correctly and that all of the bolts are tightened? If you tightened the valve cover down and the gasket wasn't seated correctly then you could have pinched it or even severed it. I don't think the covers warp, they are just plastic. I would say feel all around the valve cover and try to see if you feel any fresh oil and then determine whether you need to redo that side. I know it is a BIG PITA but replacing the engine is a HUGE PITA(I know this and I haven't even started doing the engine swap yet!).

 

[SlickLS]

when you changed the VCG, did you put alittle black sealant where the timing cover meets the head on both sides? if not then could leak

 

[TDUB]

Your LS needs a nicotine patch I would take your valve cover off and make sure everything is sitting right, it sounds to me like oil is leaking onto the exhaust manifolds, which is most likely because it is pinched somehow in the back. I had an o ring break after I did the job which caused another misfire and ate the cats and 02's all because I tightened it down too much. The bolts need to be snug, not as tight as you can possibly get them. If you're worried about it go get a torque wrench.

 

[Quik LS]

this is very common - getting the bolts tight on the back driver's side is were most people leak.

The gaskets are fine to re-use over and over but - make sure it did not 'move' during installation and get pinched (meaning cut)..

 

[Former Member]

thanks for the info guys.