Ok guys, I am hoping to get some feedback from the engine pros that work on these cars and know about them. Here is my situation. I ignorantly decided to try to paint the valve covers from my SRT8 C. I took them off, ok, I painted them, ok. I get them back on, and I mistakenly forget to tighten 3 bolts on the drive side, and of course I get leaking oil. I drive lightly for only 5 minutes before noticing some smoke, engine was not over heating, so I turned around drove home. I take the cover on the driver side off completely check the rubber gasket and flatten it out (there were small raised areas but not bad). Put it all back together, and now I was getting no smoke. I drove it for 30 minutes no leak no smoke. Now been about 4 days, and I notice sometimes (after a burt of throttle) a bad burnt oil smell, and when I stop the car it smells very hot, and like oil. I notice no puddles of oil at all for the last 3 days, and also when I get home, I use a paper towel to wipe around the head where it meets the cover, and I have nothing leaking. The towel comes back white. Its very frustrating to me, and the hot oil smell is coming from the passenger side now, not the driver side that I redid and re seated the gasket. The passenger side is retarded getting to all the bolts, this is why I am dreading doing that... Is it possible that there is oil on the cats from 4 days ago when there was certainly a leak or on the headers that really heats up when on the gas giving me that smell? Or is there a leak, and I am just going to have to deal with ripping the passenger cover off even tho its a friggin pain in my ass? Andy help would be appreciated thank you all in advance.
When we did my cam swap, the very back of the gasket on the passenger side valve cover got folded over when setting the cover. It was just a trickle going down on the header, so there were never any puddles. Make sure that you DON'T slide the valve covers at all when putting them back on, its harder on the passenger side. I know why you hate pulling the passenger side. Maybe this will help use a 1/4" drive, 14" extension, universal joint, and deep 8mm socket. Pull the PCM cover and move the evap solenoid. Another tip. After you pull the valve cover, switch a couple of the bolts around so that the shortest ones are in the areas toughest to get to.
How can I check for leaks without looking for oil on the ground? And is it strange that the smell is there when the throttle is greater, or does that tend to sound like there is a leak for sure, and it will leak more when you hammer it a lil?
higher RPM = higher oil pressure The valve cover is the highest point in the oiling system. It might not leak until oil pressure is above X psi. The easiest way to check for leaks is with a flashlight and/or dental mirror to see the bottom and back of the valve covers.
So in the garage hitting the throttle will that be good to test the high rpm leakage? Revving it after it warms up?
You could do that. Don't hit it too hard or too high. Its really not good for an engine to be revved at idle. I would just pull the cover. By the time you're done investigating, you could have the job 1/2 done.
I wouldn't worry about getting new gaskets until you have the cover off to inspect it. I seriously doubt that you damaged the gasket, its probably just folded over or out of the groove.
Well the passenger side is off now, and I can see the gasket looks to be ok and the thing was almost all the way seated in the groove. There was only a small portion near the back where is was raised a lil out of the groove but not rolled at all. Here is what I found. Every morning no oil on the garage floor (5 days). Passenger side smelled HOT and smelled of burt oil. Smoke sometimes very minimal and normally occurred after WOT burst. At night, engine smelled terribly hot, and like oil. After removing the valve cover tonight I could see small amounts of oil on the edge of the head (where the gasket would sit) Also a lil oil where the gasket would sit on the inside of the head on top of the tubes where the spark plugs are (no idea what those cylinder things are called) Now the car sits waiting for me to put the covers back on, and drive to test. PRAYING Thank you all for your input, I hope this re alignment of the gasket helps.
