At 181,000 kilometers the valve cover gasket was replaced. Smokeless I now have 192,922 kilometers and there is evidence of oil leak mainly around injectors #1 and #5 with noticeable oil sweating around the perimeter of the valve cover gasket. I tightened the four nuts that are holding the valve cover, in diagonal sequence by feel (as I do not have a 3/8 torque wrench), and the oil leak is still there. I would consider the amount of oil leak to be minor but I’ve never had this problem before and so it’s bugging me.

How tight should the nuts of the valve cover gasket be? Any other suggested remedy?

Thank you for your time.

Most gaskets leak due to being overtorqued.... and on the MB gaskets I think most leak because they are not glued to the valve cover.... the oil finally just seeps into the track and over the top on the other side......... They are not expensive or hard to replace ....

I've heard that when you install the valve cover if the oil isn't wiped off the contact surface on the head and the gasket itself it will leak.

The age of the existing gasket is about 10,000 kilometers ago and less than 1 year old. Would it require replacement or cleaning and retorque'ing? I am inclined to replacing it again because of the time and labour involved.

These are pretty inexpensive items... I would sure replace it given you have a leak...

Replace it since the odds are it's now overtouqued and won't seal properly. Clean the surface where the gasket rest on the head. Any grit under there will cause a leak. Once you have the cam cover seated pretty well raise it slightly and slam it down smartly a couple of times. This sounds wierd but it helps seat everything. Now torque the bolts to 10 lb./ft and you are done. If you don't have a torque wrench this would be a good time to buy one since you'll need the same care in tightening when installing the trans pan gasket too.

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LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold