I am left speechless, clearer than water, very well explained, without film cuts or anything excellent, tomorrow I will change the valve cover to my mazda miata 2003, thank you very much, excellent video
I will be coming back to this video fairly soon as I've gotta do mine. Replaced my spark plugs and saw that all of them have oil in the wells, thankfully not a lot. Perfectly straight forward and easy to understand guide, thank you kindly.
this is such a great detailed video, so impressed. The thorough explanation of everything, the angles the close ups. thank you so much for this it is honestly appreciated.
Couple of general tips: 1. I like to use a brass brush and/or a brass brush Dremel attachment to get all the old RTV gunk off and get the head mating surface super clean. 2. I’ve found that it’s super important to pay attention to the RTV install specs. Some flavors require hand tightening bolts, wait an hour, then torque to spec, and ideally wait up to 24 hours before starting the engine. But the initial 1 hour curing seems critical to getting the best seal. Also Miatas seem super sensitive about what valve cover gasket is used. I’ve tried 2 aftermarket gaskets in 2 years and they both leaked. I’m going OEM next.
@@Mech-Bandit i pulled my engine out last winter and did a complete reseal project with all OEM gaskets and seals. It used to leak everywhere, and now it leaks nothing, over 6 months after finishing the project.
Hey brother I'm a fan of the podcast and you have been helped by you in the past for thank always thank you. I had a 2001 vw jetta 2.0 with your videos I learned so much about it and without you I would have struggled. Sole provider for my 2 kids honestly what you do makes a difference man thank you. I'm 25 now but I started watching ya when I was younger. Thanks Charles. Hope you have an amazing day!!
Ha, would most air-cooled VW engines qualify for having the easiest valve cover gasket replacement? Just pop off the bales with a screwdriver, pry off the valve covers with the same screwdriver, replace the gaskets, & put the valve covers back on, not even needing any tools to push the bales back in place? No breather hoses or wires to disconnect, either. Good video, always learn something new even though I've replaced many a valve cover on my air-cooled VW bus & my mk2 Jetta diesel.
Good stuff! I will say, the valve covers on the old Honda D15 and D16 engines are even more simple: Plug wires Breather hose Ground wire Nuts (they had studs instead of bolts)
Technically old Subaru valve covers, EJ18 and EJ22 are even easier. Disconnect one breather hose on each, 3 bolts on each, done. The access is just slightly tight.
Awesome as usual Charles. Did this last winter on my B6 Passat VR6 and it went great until I used a too-large torque wrench on re-install and broke one of the bolts off in the block. Tried extracting it but no dice. Luckily doesn't seem to be causing any leaking so far! Still a bummer though #sadness
thanks for this video. however, there are many videos already on yt on how to do this job. what would be better would be an explain of what might cause a valve cover to leak and what sort of hints you might have the valve cover is leaking as well as what you might expect once it is fixed. I'm a noob, but from what I understand a leaking valve cover might be a symptom of some other problem.. like a clogged PCV or something else.
@@HumbleMechanic Can it cause a problem? I've got a ducato (iveco) 1996 2.5 TDI engine and it smokes blue and I'm trying to figure out where to start. from what I understand a leaky valve cover in itself is not cause for much concern. I've got a little oil in my turbo, etc.
@@surfreadjumpsleep I replaced 3 valve cover seals, and 2 crank seals on my MINI Cooper, just to finally find that the root cause was the PCV. To confirm my theory this MIATA had a good seal, non britle but still was leaking.
I have a question. So i sandwiched my gasket between rtv sealant. Im pretty sure I did it wrong by by putting the slealent on the actual valve block. Looking for a quick reply but if not I’m going to re-do it tomorrow
I’ve done a valve cover gasket replacement on my vvt NB2. Had been running fine with no leaks until recently. I didn’t put rtv in the corners as much as he did. I wonder if that would help me prevent oil leakages. We’ll see
What size are the two bolts that hold in the coil pack and where can I get them? Mine walked themselves out on the road and now I have a free floating coil pack.
You have to apply that green vw “valve cover sealer” to every gasket surface, the head, the valve covers, the air intake, and then smear the side of the engine with a putty knife with the same stuff. Then wait for it to burn off on the turbo manifold so it melts your air intake in Ohio, apply gorilla tape and drive home. Somehow this engine lasted 40k and it still runs, somehow. It’s also like 80k over due for timing (belt, fsi). I think it runs on spite.
Are you familiar with Toyota engines? I'm about to change a valve cover gasket on a Matrix. Got the felpro gasket and have some Permatex Red RTV high temp silicone to put on the two spots near the timing chain as recommended. You think it's gonna hold? I read on the instructions not recommended for head gaskets so that's got me stressin' a bit for possible leaking. 🙈
why are a lot of people scared to replace them, on there own? I have 2016 Chevy Malibu 1.5 that the pump vacuum pump went out and broke inside, so now I have to take off the valve cover and fish out, we are lucky so far the end of the cam shaft it looks good, so i am fingers crossed here, but i am looking for the circular oil seal i believe is it call that the brake v. pump seat into the valve cover, it got a little scratched up in the inside of it and i feel like i should change it just to keep it from leaking, just to be sure. Any suggestions or help, i've never done anything like this so I really appreciate your video's ,. normally have a mechanic do it but we just do not have that option and its our only car.
Charles. Do you want causes oil to build up in Golf Mk4 intercooler ? I’m finding a lot of oil in the plastic intake pipe just before the EGR valve. Any help would be great. Thanks for the fab videos 👍
I’m hoping someone can give me an answer to this question. Most of the valve cover gaskets I’ve seen for the 3.6L alloytec engine blocks the pcv valve from the crank case on the passenger side, I believe this would negatively affect performance but I assume they did this to prevent as much oil from being sucked into the pcv valve and avoiding extra sludge from getting into the pcv. But I think this actually traps more sludge and oil in the area where the pcv is blocked off from the crank. Do I just keep it this way and clean up the inside manually when needed? Or do I get a gasket that will keep it open to the crank case ?
Did you really have to replace the valve cover gasket? It looked like it was still good. I want to know because I want to know if I needed to replace mine after retightening it
Hi, this week I also installed an valve cover gasket. But on a Toyota 4E-FE engine. Can I ask an related question? When you replace the camshaft oil seal, should you put RTV on the flat surface between the bearing halves before you mount it back? I hope I used the correct words to make myself understandable.
@@HumbleMechanic , okay, so to detention appears to be a lot more work with extra tools. You say "technically" does that mean it can be done without detentioning. Hoping this was a DIY...
Hello Charles, I have to replace the lower sump gasket on my Golf 7R. I saw the tip on using a tiny bit of rtv on this video. Would you suggest using a bit of rtv on the sump as well? I am using the same plastic sump and not changing to metal. Thanks and greetings from South Africa.
You can replace as many gaskets as you want, but chances are the problem is the PCV valve, when it fails gases will look for a place to escape, most of the times it will be thru the valve cover gasket or the crank seals.
As you are a VW god. Is there an easy way to remove the rubbish VW puts on top of the 1.4 tsi engine, I am doing spark plugs.. My car is a 2013 yeti 1.4 TSI. Love your videos.
I’m having a headache of problems and I’m scared and can’t afford to take my car in. I’m really trying and it’s my fist year driving. I have an oil leak on a 2012 vw eos and I don’t know what to do anymore. Can you please reply and possibly do a rundown of any ideas you might have for this problem? I’m begging for anything I just want a car that will last and get me to and from work. I can’t get a new one at the moment and I would like to make this one last. I had a Jetta that ended up taking $5k out my pocket just to find out it had a hole in the drive shaft. Please can anyone help me with my problems???
Another place to stick some rtv is where the timing cover meets the cylinder head of the seam only if it intersects the valve cover and timing cover. Obviously this isn’t applicable to all engines. Think like on an m5x bmw motor where the top of the timing cover bolts up on a N.V. m50b25 or the vanos bolts up on all the other later ones. Good DIY- ‘valve cover gaskets for dummies.’ LOL 😂👍🏻
Does anyone know if rolling my car in first gear primes the fuel system just like cranking without starting? I need to turn over the engine after I finish doing an oil filter housing gasket swap.
hey charles...thanks, but a leaking valve cover gasket gives my car character and also, in a round about way, helps winterize the engine block and transmission and if I'm lucky, the underside of the car. Ppl pay big money to have the underside of the car to be sprayed with oil, and with my leaky gasket, it is more or less 'free'. Thanks for the tips. [sarcasm meter should be maxing out/pegging]
I am left speechless, clearer than water, very well explained, without film cuts or anything excellent, tomorrow I will change the valve cover to my mazda miata 2003, thank you very much, excellent video
how did it go?
I’m liking the unique camera angles! 👊
😉😏
1:12 I'm just glad to see I'm not the only one who takes the "hold the air gun trigger and flail like crazy" approach to "cleaning" debris off.
Humble Mechanic is alive 🤣
I will be coming back to this video fairly soon as I've gotta do mine. Replaced my spark plugs and saw that all of them have oil in the wells, thankfully not a lot. Perfectly straight forward and easy to understand guide, thank you kindly.
Charles: _You can't put it on, even remotely wrong._
Shadetree Mechanic: _CHALLENGE ACCEPTED_
“I’ll put it on, but I won’t tighten the bolts in the back that are hard to reach.”
This video should be the template that all car repair videos are created from. Very well done. Excellent lighting. Great camerawork.
I’m in middle of doing a valve cover reseal on a new Porsche Cayenne, and the camshafts are FULLY HOUSED in the valve cover. Love it.
this is such a great detailed video, so impressed. The thorough explanation of everything, the angles the close ups. thank you so much for this it is honestly appreciated.
Finally the Miata is getting some love again :-)
Man so happy I found these videos. Thorough instructions and tips. You can tell you're passionate about your trade. Keep these videos coming.
Thank you
9:45 this is why you should be using metric system and you'll never get confused by how many NM you should torque bolt to
100%!!!
Couple of general tips:
1. I like to use a brass brush and/or a brass brush Dremel attachment to get all the old RTV gunk off and get the head mating surface super clean.
2. I’ve found that it’s super important to pay attention to the RTV install specs. Some flavors require hand tightening bolts, wait an hour, then torque to spec, and ideally wait up to 24 hours before starting the engine. But the initial 1 hour curing seems critical to getting the best seal.
Also Miatas seem super sensitive about what valve cover gasket is used. I’ve tried 2 aftermarket gaskets in 2 years and they both leaked. I’m going OEM next.
OEM or OE equivalent is recommended for any sort of gaskets or bushes are recommended.
@@Mech-Bandit i pulled my engine out last winter and did a complete reseal project with all OEM gaskets and seals. It used to leak everywhere, and now it leaks nothing, over 6 months after finishing the project.
Next time one of my friends ask my help with this job, I'm linking this video! Thanks, Charles! Saving me time and frustration!
Hey brother I'm a fan of the podcast and you have been helped by you in the past for thank always thank you. I had a 2001 vw jetta 2.0 with your videos I learned so much about it and without you I would have struggled. Sole provider for my 2 kids honestly what you do makes a difference man thank you. I'm 25 now but I started watching ya when I was younger. Thanks Charles. Hope you have an amazing day!!
I wish my valve covers were that easy! Great work.
damn, jungle mechanic showed something which didnt exist on internet before. bravo
Ohhhh it’s my guy! Hahaha thanks for the comment there little buddy
After working on VWs all these years this must feel like setting the difficulty to easy.
Yea it’s weird.
Ha, would most air-cooled VW engines qualify for having the easiest valve cover gasket replacement? Just pop off the bales with a screwdriver, pry off the valve covers with the same screwdriver, replace the gaskets, & put the valve covers back on, not even needing any tools to push the bales back in place? No breather hoses or wires to disconnect, either. Good video, always learn something new even though I've replaced many a valve cover on my air-cooled VW bus & my mk2 Jetta diesel.
You make it look easy!! Now I know why they charged me so much at the shop for this lol
Good stuff!
I will say, the valve covers on the old Honda D15 and D16 engines are even more simple:
Plug wires
Breather hose
Ground wire
Nuts (they had studs instead of bolts)
Technically old Subaru valve covers, EJ18 and EJ22 are even easier. Disconnect one breather hose on each, 3 bolts on each, done. The access is just slightly tight.
@@802Garage same with the old A series Honda engines - breather, 4 nuts.
The plugs went in through the exhaust side of the head.
@@jameshaulenbeek5931 Boo yah! Haha.
Aircooled VW has you all beat... snap off the wire bail, remove cover.
@@rennkafer13 Fax. 😂
Great video, as usual. Really enjoy your knowledge and mannerisms.
Awesome as usual Charles. Did this last winter on my B6 Passat VR6 and it went great until I used a too-large torque wrench on re-install and broke one of the bolts off in the block. Tried extracting it but no dice. Luckily doesn't seem to be causing any leaking so far! Still a bummer though #sadness
missed you and your videos., I've been sick for two and a half years.
Fix them headlights already - so cloudy 🤣
Great to see some content on the oft forgotten HM ride
Miata content! Yes!
Great and easy to fallow video...thanks for spending the time sir..
First time checking out this channel and i come just in time
Thank you!
So glad to see another Miata vid! Love the content Bro! Keep up the great work!
Just did my b5.5 a month ago, definitely a easy job on that car.
11:21 is that a missing screw hole?
This is super helpful, thank you for making it!
Thank you for your lesson sir
Do you have any tips on restoring brittle interior plastics before they break? Got a 98 Audi that feels everything could shatter at any moment.
Is it necessary to change the oil after valve cover gasket replacement?
Thank you for sharing the knowledge
Was definitely not expecting to see a Miata bay in your thumbnail lmao
thank you for making these videos
Well done mate 👍🏻
Thank you! Cheers!
Thank you for sharing. Stay safe.
thanks for this video. however, there are many videos already on yt on how to do this job. what would be better would be an explain of what might cause a valve cover to leak and what sort of hints you might have the valve cover is leaking as well as what you might expect once it is fixed. I'm a noob, but from what I understand a leaking valve cover might be a symptom of some other problem.. like a clogged PCV or something else.
Good feedback. We did a pretty deep dive on leaks In the video I mentioned.
It’s usually just a wear thing from hardened gaskets
@@HumbleMechanic You da man Charles. Pro reply.
@@HumbleMechanic Can it cause a problem? I've got a ducato (iveco) 1996 2.5 TDI engine and it smokes blue and I'm trying to figure out where to start. from what I understand a leaky valve cover in itself is not cause for much concern. I've got a little oil in my turbo, etc.
@@surfreadjumpsleep I replaced 3 valve cover seals, and 2 crank seals on my MINI Cooper, just to finally find that the root cause was the PCV. To confirm my theory this MIATA had a good seal, non britle but still was leaking.
@@90210sky were you blowing blue smoke prior to the pcv fix? If so then did it stop?
Thanks I was told I needed this on my car.
Once it's installed do you have to wait for awhile before you drive it?
great video!
Easiest i've seen, did, was a 2000 eclipse gs I had a LONG time ago. Way easier than this one.
Just did this on my 97 Miata, forgot the rtv between the CAS sensor housing, that was a fun oil leak.
Thank you for this!
Saw Miata in the thumbnail. Didn't read. Clicked immediately.
Nice
I have a question. So i sandwiched my gasket between rtv sealant. Im pretty sure I did it wrong by by putting the slealent on the actual valve block. Looking for a quick reply but if not I’m going to re-do it tomorrow
I fixed my leak by getting a OEM Mazda gasket. didnt need to screw around with RTV, except the CAS O-ring part
Do you guys pay for your repair manual? Or is there a free website somewhere
I’ve done a valve cover gasket replacement on my vvt NB2. Had been running fine with no leaks until recently. I didn’t put rtv in the corners as much as he did. I wonder if that would help me prevent oil leakages. We’ll see
wonderful video.
Actually i find the citi golf n mazda 323 alot easier. Nice work man
Lol’ed at “tiny pry bar”. I’m just over here using the poverty spec flat head.
THAT is the way. HAHA
# 10:01 i wish there was more bolts to tighten that was pretty satisfying
What size are the two bolts that hold in the coil pack and where can I get them? Mine walked themselves out on the road and now I have a free floating coil pack.
Epic beard is back. 😃
Usually, when I do gaskets at work, I either put some red grease on them or use gasket tack. Is this not a good practice in this case?
You have to apply that green vw “valve cover sealer” to every gasket surface, the head, the valve covers, the air intake, and then smear the side of the engine with a putty knife with the same stuff. Then wait for it to burn off on the turbo manifold so it melts your air intake in Ohio, apply gorilla tape and drive home.
Somehow this engine lasted 40k and it still runs, somehow. It’s also like 80k over due for timing (belt, fsi). I think it runs on spite.
Great work as always Charles:):)
I got an oreilly auto parts ad before the video started lol
YIKES LOL
But do you need to drain the coolant and the oil first??
Are you familiar with Toyota engines? I'm about to change a valve cover gasket on a Matrix. Got the felpro gasket and have some Permatex Red RTV high temp silicone to put on the two spots near the timing chain as recommended. You think it's gonna hold? I read on the instructions not recommended for head gaskets so that's got me stressin' a bit for possible leaking. 🙈
why are a lot of people scared to replace them, on there own? I have 2016 Chevy Malibu 1.5 that the pump vacuum pump went out and broke inside, so now I have to take off the valve cover and fish out, we are lucky so far the end of the cam shaft it looks good, so i am fingers crossed here, but i am looking for the circular oil seal i believe is it call that the brake v. pump seat into the valve cover, it got a little scratched up in the inside of it and i feel like i should change it just to keep it from leaking, just to be sure. Any suggestions or help, i've never done anything like this so I really appreciate your video's ,. normally have a mechanic do it but we just do not have that option and its our only car.
What should I check in here while this is open ?
Charles. Do you want causes oil to build up in Golf Mk4 intercooler ? I’m finding a lot of oil in the plastic intake pipe just before the EGR valve. Any help would be great. Thanks for the fab videos 👍
Can you do this video on a mrk 7 Golf R/GTI ????
I’m hoping someone can give me an answer to this question. Most of the valve cover gaskets I’ve seen for the 3.6L alloytec engine blocks the pcv valve from the crank case on the passenger side, I believe this would negatively affect performance but I assume they did this to prevent as much oil from being sucked into the pcv valve and avoiding extra sludge from getting into the pcv. But I think this actually traps more sludge and oil in the area where the pcv is blocked off from the crank. Do I just keep it this way and clean up the inside manually when needed? Or do I get a gasket that will keep it open to the crank case ?
Did you really have to replace the valve cover gasket? It looked like it was still good. I want to know because I want to know if I needed to replace mine after retightening it
Word to the wise: ONLY use the genuine Mazda gasket on the Miata. I have never had an off brand version seal correctly.
I agree with that. Used aftermarket after a timing belt change and it leaked.
How long does this take?
Hi, this week I also installed an valve cover gasket. But on a Toyota 4E-FE engine. Can I ask an related question? When you replace the camshaft oil seal, should you put RTV on the flat surface between the bearing halves before you mount it back? I hope I used the correct words to make myself understandable.
Oh sorry, great video as always!
6:05 or work in an enclosed area for a free high
Any specific tips or things to watch out for when doing the valve cover on a VW 2.0 TSI engine?
Yea. Remember you technically need to detention the timing chain. The “valve cover holds cams in place
@@HumbleMechanic , okay, so to detention appears to be a lot more work with extra tools. You say "technically" does that mean it can be done without detentioning. Hoping this was a DIY...
Should mechanics change this gasket when replacing the head gasket set/timing cover and cam shaft seal (engine was reskimmed)
No way that shopping cart stayed straight when you let it go I refuse to believe such a perfect cart exists
Hello Charles, I have to replace the lower sump gasket on my Golf 7R. I saw the tip on using a tiny bit of rtv on this video. Would you suggest using a bit of rtv on the sump as well? I am using the same plastic sump and not changing to metal. Thanks and greetings from South Africa.
I haven’t done that on the sump gasket, and had great luck with it
Hi everyone, I know question is not related to video, is it possible for cheap scan tools to short out your pcm
You can replace as many gaskets as you want, but chances are the problem is the PCV valve, when it fails gases will look for a place to escape, most of the times it will be thru the valve cover gasket or the crank seals.
You videos yare good
So what if you changed the seal can you reopen it up ?
You can usually reuse these kind of seals
How do you do it on an engine that doesn't valves, a cover, or gaskets?
can someone please tell me how I can get the repair manual for a 2002 Toyota Vitz? (1SZ-FE engine)
Great video humble mechanic! Quick question. Is it ok to use anti-seize on these bolts? I know with some bolts you can't so just making sure!
I’d see no real need to.
@@HumbleMechanic awesome thank you!
Thanks g
This should be similar but vastly different for what I'm doing. 1974 Pontiac looks a lot different under the hood.😅
Wish it was that easy on my old Subaru SVX....
New subscriptor great channel i been looking a turorial about cooland flush for 2012 Passat any tips?
Make sure you get the proper coolant! :)
Do you recommend RTV when installed gasket for mk5?
I usually don’t on mk5. That’s a pretty smooth turning gasket
Notification squad!🔥🔥🔥
As you are a VW god. Is there an easy way to remove the rubbish VW puts on top of the 1.4 tsi engine, I am doing spark plugs.. My car is a 2013 yeti 1.4 TSI. Love your videos.
It’s always kind of a pain
Hey just did a 7 speed DSG in a Golf, now the box grinds, tried everything
I’m having a headache of problems and I’m scared and can’t afford to take my car in. I’m really trying and it’s my fist year driving. I have an oil leak on a 2012 vw eos and I don’t know what to do anymore. Can you please reply and possibly do a rundown of any ideas you might have for this problem? I’m begging for anything I just want a car that will last and get me to and from work. I can’t get a new one at the moment and I would like to make this one last. I had a Jetta that ended up taking $5k out my pocket just to find out it had a hole in the drive shaft. Please can anyone help me with my problems???
Another place to stick some rtv is where the timing cover meets the cylinder head of the seam only if it intersects the valve cover and timing cover. Obviously this isn’t applicable to all engines. Think like on an m5x bmw motor where the top of the timing cover bolts up on a N.V. m50b25 or the vanos bolts up on all the other later ones. Good DIY- ‘valve cover gaskets for dummies.’ LOL 😂👍🏻
why would you change on the sensor the o ring there is no oil contact or whats so ever
And now I know what engine the guys from the Wrench game used as a model
What torque wrench do you use? Thanks
Does anyone know if rolling my car in first gear primes the fuel system just like cranking without starting? I need to turn over the engine after I finish doing an oil filter housing gasket swap.
I don’t think so
Would really depend on the model of the car. If it has an electric pump and a mechanical pump rolling it won't work
Come fix my car 😭🫶
On my way
@@kingsports0961simp
Did he fix it am on my way too
No
Ok I m coming
hey charles...thanks, but a leaking valve cover gasket gives my car character and also, in a round about way, helps winterize the engine block and transmission and if I'm lucky, the underside of the car. Ppl pay big money to have the underside of the car to be sprayed with oil, and with my leaky gasket, it is more or less 'free'. Thanks for the tips. [sarcasm meter should be maxing out/pegging]