Rocker Cover Gasket Leaking

gaillimhabu

I did a service on my car and one of the things that needed fixing was that the top of the Rocker Cover Gasket was leaking.

The garage quoted me E50 and I intended bringing it back next month. However I thought I'd check it out and see if I could fix it myself. There is no reference to it in the manual and not sure where it is in the engine.

Therefore I'm asking for pointers to the location and is this an easy fix to do when I do find the leak.

Car is 93 VW Golf 1.4 CL

Thanks

JHMEG

I had a leaky gasket in my Integra a while back, and it's quite easy to solve it properly if you have the right tools (namely a low-torque torque wrench) and materials: a new set of gaskets (24 euro in my case) and some "instant gasket" in a tube (about 7 euro).

But for only 50 euro I'd get the garage to do it... there is potential for a novice to do damage: scoring the mating surfaces, getting instant gasket in the oil passages etc.

JohnCleary

I'll do it for 40

Seriously - My rocker cover gasket was leaking on my Rover. Got a gasket (For free but theyre only about a tenner) and a set of sockets.

Time taken: 10 minutes

One thing, be careful you don't over tighten the screws. They should only be tightened to 10Nm. I know this will feel too lose and you will tighten them more and snap the screws, so don't do this job without a torque wrench.

Also, make sure you get the tightening ssequence right. ie. start on the inside and work your way out

JHMEG

If replacing the main gasket, you should really replace the 4 small gaskets around the spark plug wells too. (hence I said a "set of gaskets")

MercMad

I dont think a '93 Golf has those 4 gaskets/seals around the plugs. that is normally on 16V/twin cam engines where the plugs are down the centre.

The VW 1.4 is straight forward and you should not need gasket glue or a torque wrench. Just ensure the surfaces are clean and tighten down 'till they are nipeed. You wont need to swing out of the ratchet, just use one hand up over the head of the ratchet, leave the lever alone. this will give you close to the correct spec.

€50 my ar5e !

gaillimhabu

MercMad.
So by the looks they are charging too much if it's only a surface clean and a bit of tightening.

Haven't a clue where this gasket is in the engine. any clues?

JHMEG

If the plugs go thru the rocker cover to go into the head, then I would have thought there'd be gaskets in there. It's been a long time since I've seen one of those engines tho.

The very top of the engine is the rocker cover (aka the valve cover). It's big and metal. On most cars it has the manufacturers name or something else stamped on it to make it look good when you look under the bonnet. It covers the camshaft and other bits and pieces. Where this mates with the next bit down, the head, is where the gasket is. It's rubber and squashed in between the two. If it's leaking you most likely will see oil weeping down from it.

MercMad

.........this should be similar. The rocker cover is the piece under that cable that you can see in the sentre of the photo. It appears to be held on by 3 x 10mm nuts. Undo these remove the cover, clean both mating surfaces and you may find a groove in the cover to hold the gasket. Fit it and bolts it back down evenly and not too tight or you'll pinch the gasket !

MercMad

.........this should be similar. The rocker cover is the piece under that cable that you can see in the sentre of the photo. It appears to be held on by 3 x 10mm nuts. Undo these remove the cover, clean both mating surfaces and you may find a groove in the cover to hold the gasket. Fit it and bolts it back down evenly and not too tight or you'll pinch the gasket !

old boy

remove the rocker cover clean it put some sealent on the head tighten leave for 20 minutes, total cost 4 lids, 46 left over for fuel.

JHMEG

Or buy the gasket and avoid the "what the fsck is the blue chewing gum sh!t" look...

gaillimhabu

Thanks for all the replies folks. Will tackle it sometime this week

gaillimhabu

MercMad

I looked at the engine this morn and seen two pieces being held with 3 nuts. I'm sure the rocker cover gasket is the blue circle (see attached image) but want to make sure. I also circled the other piece in red.

Thanks

MercMad

Yes the rocker cover is circled in blue. The piece in the red circle is an exhaust manifold heat shield which you can leave alone !

As mentioned above I would avoid using any gasket sealer, it should not be neccesary and looks awful !