Anyone have a good idea for stopping the valve cover gasket from leaking on the 2.5. I know that when I worked at the dealership, we fought it on the S-10 pickups. I thought GM came out with a better gasket, but the last time I went to get one, it was the same old crap. I know I've changed it at least three times, plus, used sealer a couple of times with no positive results. I'm not above buying a redesigned cover, but don't know where to get something like that. What is the best gasket any of you have tried? Ideas?

Are you making absolutely sure that all the gasket mating surfaces are absolutely clean and oil free, are you also using a torque wrench to tighten the valve cover down? My V6 engine has Blue silicone (I think) valve cover gaskets and I haven't had any leak problems with them, do you know if you can get something similar for the 4 cylinder?

After removing old gasket and sealant, use a straight edge and feeler gauge to check cover flatness. If it is ok, the method I used to stop persistent leaks (using cork gasket) was:
clean every speck of old gasket, sealer, and oil from surfaces.
apply tacky (non hardening) gasket sealer to valve cover and gasket, mate them and let setup.
apply a very thin layer of silicone to the gasket surface that mates to the head.

Also check the bolt holes for debris, and correct depth for bolts being used, the bolt(s) may be bottoming out before securing cover.

the 2.5's have a obvious problem with leaking, i was at a shop here in town one day and thats where they fix all the mail trucks( they all have 2.5 's in them), the government has had a metal ring thats 1/4" thick made AND PATENTED , it is made to slip right over the valve cover and be bolted on top of the flange on the valve cover, i tryed my damndest to buy, borrow whatever to get one and coppy it biengs i worked in a machine shop at the time but it was a NO-GO i was talking to the mechanic that installs them on EVERY mail truck here in town, and he said that they seen to work Flawlessly!! so basically, take a spare 2.5 valve cover gasket, and coppy it,or take a spare valve cover, chop the flange off, and have a ring plasma/laser cut out of 1/4" thick steel and bolt it on, and it will keep everything nice and tightthis is somthing that i was gonna SERIOUSLY do, and sell but i no longer work as a machinist

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Rich
* '86 se: , 2" drop, coil overs, KYB's., ported manifolds
* '86se: ,350 bored .030 over,World Products s/r Torquers - ported, Manley valves, edelbrock 750cfm, carb sanderson cc90's,4:10,Spec stage 3copper puck clutch , adj.Koni's, Eibach's,polly. and lots more!!
*'92 BMW 325i : borla exhaust, ST brace, cold air intake

Go to your local auto parts store and buy some of the "oval" shaped tabs for valve cover bolts (don't know if I'm describing them right)...

I got mine in the chrome accessory section and I believe they were for small block Chevy valve covers.

They're elongated, about an inch long, and go under the valve cover bolts to spread the load on the cover. The standard pack for the small block has enough of them to do the 2.5 cover.

My experience is that RTV and the little doodads under the valve cover bolts are the key to stopping leaks here.

I stopped using the cork because of leaks.

I upgraded to a 25 or 30 dollar felpro gasket from autozone, been using for about a year and no problems.

It has built-in metal washers to prevent over-torquing and has rectangular looking washer for a bigger footprint from the bolt head. Well worth the money.

When I swapped to this I used no RTV or extra stuff of any type, just the gasket and have not had a lick of problems.

Also check the valve cover around the bolt holes. Often they are bent in from overtighting and will screw up a new valve cover gasket. I use a small hammer and a block of wood to tap them back. Its worth the few minutes to do.

Thanks for everyone's input. Lots of good ideas. I'll let you know how it turns out.

So how did it turn out?

I recently re-did my gasket on my '84. I cleaned off the old gasket using a scraper and even a wire wheel in my drill, (it was just silicone from the factory).

I made sure the valve cover gasket surface was straight and as flat as possible especially around the bolt holes.

I cleaned the gasket surfaces with laquer thinner to make sure all the oil was off those surfaces, I laid down a bead of RTV Black silicone, flatened it out so it was about 1/8" thick and put the cover on and tightened it down.

At this point it's important to let it dry/cure completly before starting the car, I let mine sit overnight.

If you start the car before it dries and have an older engine with some blow-by, (you can tell by oil in the air cleaner), you will blow a hole in the un-dried silicone and it will blow oil out for one big leak.

I did this two months ago when I replaced my valve seals and it's still dry as a bone, good luck, HoHo

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