VCG Bolts

[Steveinnashville]

Last ditch effort to salvage a Valve Cover

There are 16 Bolts surrounding the VC
14 are 30MM deep
2 are 36.5mm deep

I had 2 of the 16 bolts come out-----

There's a possibility that when I put them back in I swapped them

Does anyone know the specific locations or for the 2 that are deeper?

REAL OEM Info Pictured

[Papa Popov]

If the sleeves for the bolts came out I wouldn't bother trying to salvage at. When I did my VCG the back left bolt and sleeve came out. Managed to get them back in, but it started leaking again and I ended up replacing the whole cover a few months later.

[Steveinnashville]

yep---thats one of them that popped out

I was thinking I may be able to JB weld the sleeves in
But I suspect your solution is the right way to go

Anyone else have any experience dealing w this>?

[MrKevinRosales]

A bit off topic, but I took my car to a shop to get the VCG done, and without even looking at my car was told that I was better off just doing a new VC instead since it was likely that it would leak again due to the repeated heat cycles that the original one had already been through.

[Josh-PA]

Originally Posted by MrKevinRosales

A bit off topic, but I took my car to a shop to get the VCG done, and without even looking at my car was told that I was better off just doing a new VC instead since it was likely that it would leak again due to the repeated heat cycles that the original one had already been through.

That is an accurate assessment on the shops part.

[jbailey895]

I am looking at an E88 Friday with a a leaky VCG. I noticed it had been replaced several years ago @ about 25k miles. It now has 60k. If I buy, should I replace the entire valve cover? Costly? (sorry if this hi-jacks OP's thread.)

[Converted1]

If you spend 5 min reading on the forum you will easily see the consensus by pros and diys alike is to change the valve cover with the gasket. ECS sells a reasonably priced one that is oem mfg.

Anyone who pays the labor to change the gasket and not the cover will likely be paying for it to be done again.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by jbailey895

I am looking at an E88 Friday with a a leaky VCG. I noticed it had been replaced several years ago @ about 25k miles. It now has 60k. If I buy, should I replace the entire valve cover? Costly? (sorry if this hi-jacks OP's thread.)

Yes. The covers crack with age and sometimes can crack just from having the bolts removed. These are often hairline cracks that don't become obvious until the engine is running. At that point, you've wasted like 5 hours in shop labor. If the cover was not replaced when that car had it's gasket done, then it's possible the cover is already cracked.

A replacement cover comes with new bolts too. I picked up the whole kit from FCP for $550 when I did my cover last winter.

[Olgeezer1]

Replacing the valve cover is the way to go. Aside from a plastic valve cover having a limited life span, the PVC system is in there and not serviceable. A gummed up PVC will cause leaks elsewhere in the engine so replace cover and gasket and be done with it.

[Papa Popov]

Originally Posted by Olgeezer1

Replacing the valve cover is the way to go. Aside from a plastic valve cover having a limited life span, the PVC system is in there and not serviceable. A gummed up PVC will cause leaks elsewhere in the engine so replace cover and gasket and be done with it.

Doesn't matter if you DIY or pay someone to do it, this ain't a job you wanna do twice. As someone that DIY'd twice, save yourself the headache to just replace the whole thing.