Hi guys:

First, my apologies if this is covered in a thread in the archives. I made an honest search effort and couldn't find anything.

Second, I'm no mechanic. I can recognize things like wrenchs 2 out of 3 tries

My valve cover gasket was replaced about 600 or 700 km ago and started leaking pretty bad again just before I stored the car for the winter. So bad that the oil was running down onto the block and flicking through the engine grate onto the deck lid. Only drove it like this for a couple of days while waiting for my new car to come in.

Anyway, traced it to self-loosening bolts. They loosen up real quickly and seep oil around the heads. The worst one loosens with only a few minutes of running.

Please help...is it a matter of using threadlock on the bolts or redoing the gasket job or using new bolts or something else altogether.

Any thoughts mucho appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

Most likely the oil will contaminated the thread lock preventing it from hardening.I would try one size larger bolts and if the new bolts don't fit,then don't use it, you don't want to strip the threads.

If the threads are not stripped, use Berryman's Chemtool or some spray brake cleaner to blast the oil out of the holes and off the threads of the bolts, then use locktite when reinstalling the bolts. Or, use a lock washer under the bolt head.

JazzMan