Does anyone out there have any experience with 2001 passat v6 30v driver side valve cover gaskets?? I am clearly inept at installing vc gaskets. Second set still leaks front driver side front corner. I have tried EVERYTHING! Sealer, no sealer, sealer on the corners, etc… Talked to the dealer and numerous repair shops. Have tried it all. The surfaces seem perfect. No blemishes. Straight edge shows no gaps. I’m going crazy here!
Can anyone shed some light??
C
Did you tighten the fasteners from the center of the cover to the outer edges?
And…are all the fasteners torqued to an identical tension?
Perhaps the valve cover is warped.
Is there an obstructed oil drain hole in the vicinity? If that gasket joint was not meant to hold standing oil, yet it is beneath the liquid level when the car is running as the oil builds up until it can get to another drain hole, that could cause a leak.
Also, is the crankcase ventilation clear? Pressure building up in the crankcase can cause a leak anywhere. This is often hard to detect in the garage as the highest crankcase pressure happens under high RPM and load conditions.
If you had a flat gasket, I would suggest double-gasketing it, but it sounds like yours has sharp corners where it loops over the cam carriers, so that won’t work.
Yep, I was wondering about the crankcase pressure building up and forcing the oil out. It the PCV OK?
Thanks for the thought. I’m not sure about the PCV valve and hence, the crank pressure. I will definately look into that. Truthfully, I’ll have to locate the PCV. I’m not sure where it is. I checked the oil ports and the cover (for warpage)although the cam is in the way and it’s difficult to see the ports clearly. I did not have the torque specs but I did tighten in to out. And, having worked on aluminum heads for many years, I’m sure I didn’t over tighten them.
Anyway, I’ll look into the crank pressure.
Thanks!
Craig
since youve had it off several times, what does the gasket look like upon removal? is it squished out beyond the seating ring?
maybe you are overtorqueing it? and squishing it too much?
you say you don’t have the torque specs, maybe you should look them up.