[007_e350]

Cylinder 3, bad valve cover gasket ? Can I put in rtv with gasket this time?

[pwr hungry]

Bad valve cover gasket and likely a cracked valve cover. Cylinder 3 is right where they crack...right between the filler port and the pcv venturis.

Edit: just pick up the valve cover from ecstuning.com it comes with the gasket and all the new bolts.

[007_e350]

Originally Posted by pwr hungry

Bad valve cover gasket and likely a cracked valve cover. Cylinder 3 is right where they crack...right between the filler port and the pcv venturis.

Edit: just pick up the valve cover from ecstuning.com it comes with the gasket and all the new bolts.

I dont see any signs of crack though

[ThatRWD]

Got the same issue, is there an updated gasket ? Or do we have to put the same crappy one in there? Any way to prevent this from happening with the new gasket ?

[WedgePerformance]

RTV that bitch. Nothing more annoying than a F'n oil leak. Sorry for the foul language but I just replaced my oil filter housing gasket. Don't get me wrong, love my BMW... But did the engineers who designed the gaskets go out drinking every night? We have a engine that makes more than double it's stock HP without internal upgrades, but yet leaks oil from every seal.

What kind of RTV are you guys using when replacing the gasket? Also, are you putting RTV around the ENTIRE length of the gasket?

[j1gilles]

Originally Posted by 007_e350

Cylinder 3, bad valve cover gasket ? Can I put in rtv with gasket this time?

-The valve cover is probably fine... I used a little RTV to hold the gasket to the actual valve cover when I was installing it. This helps to make sure it doesn't slip out of the channel. It is also very important to clean the mating surface on the cylinder head. I used a fine grit SOS pad and some brake parts cleaner. Do not press hard when cleaning! I also recommend going slightly tighter on the valve cover bolts (.5 ft lbs) and I used a little Loctite (meant for aluminum) on the bolts. I have found that over time the bolts loosen and cause the gasket to leak. The gaskets also seem to get very brittle over time which reduces their compressibility...

[007_e350]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

What kind of RTV are you guys using when replacing the gasket? Also, are you putting RTV around the ENTIRE length of the gasket?

I'm gonna be using the copper ultra one, it has highest temp rating (370C intermittent), the black one is good too but kinda close in temp rating (260C)

[Rat_House]

found the same thing this weekend

[007_e350]

Originally Posted by Rat_House

found the same thing this weekend

yup thats it - my cyl 3 had half the coil dipped in oil IDK how that things been sparking all along lol

then dealer says oil consumption is "normal" ... I bet ya eliminate this kinda stuff and you wont see "qrt going down every 1500 mile" s*it

[123Britt]

They use HONDABOND Sealent to prevent oil leaking past the VC gasket. It is simply the BEST.

[stashtrey]

Same thing happened to me. Replaced gasket, cover and bolts. My local dealership matched ECS's price.

The really nice thing about getting the entire cover kit is the bolts are all pre tapped and ready to go. When I got finished pulling the old cover off and cleaning everything etc....I was really pleases to not have to tap all the bolts and deal with that. Made install much easier. Didn't use any RTV. No issues after 5k miles.

Highly recommend just replacing everything as it would suck to give to put on a new cover a few miles down the road to it finally cracking etc.

Good luck. Not that bad of a job if you take your time and go steady.

[totalloss]

Hey there,

I just finished changing my gasket after finding oil burning off of the catalytic converter and oil pooling in that injector area pictured in previous posts. I cleaned everything very carefully and made four criss-cross passes to my final torque, but I still have oil burning off of the exhaust (I'm still holding out hope it's just burning off the old stuff) and I see oil pooling near that #3 cylinder again (I left the engine cover off so I could inspect over the next few hundred miles). I too looked for cracks when I had the cover off but couldn't i.d. any.

A few questions:

1) Has anyone with this #3 cylinder oil pool situation changed the cover and eliminated the leak (without RTV), which shows for sure that investing in the $350+ cover is worth it?

2) I noticed when I had my cover off that those captivated bolts have sleeves that fit in the plastic cover. I noticed that some of the sleeves protrude more than others. Does anyone know for sure where those sleeves are supposed to be positioned in the cover? I wish I had snapped a photo to clarify the question.

3) Did any of you use the glycerine to coat the gasket as outlined in the Bentley manual? I did, against my better judgment.

It will be interesting to see if I'm any quicker at getting the cover off the second time...

[Jklad]

Can't answer all your questions, but something's to note - I too had oil pooling in that area. I replaced the cover. I also replaced oil cap and oil cap gasket, as I wanted to be sure everything was tight. Finally, I got to thinkin that the foam underneath the engine cover can soak oil if there ever was a leak or if you spilled some while filling, and this could explain some of it.

[007_e350]

Originally Posted by totalloss

Hey there,

I just finished changing my gasket after finding oil burning off of the catalytic converter and oil pooling in that injector area pictured in previous posts. I cleaned everything very carefully and made four criss-cross passes to my final torque, but I still have oil burning off of the exhaust (I'm still holding out hope it's just burning off the old stuff) and I see oil pooling near that #3 cylinder again (I left the engine cover off so I could inspect over the next few hundred miles). I too looked for cracks when I had the cover off but couldn't i.d. any.

A few questions:

1) Has anyone with this #3 cylinder oil pool situation changed the cover and eliminated the leak (without RTV), which shows for sure that investing in the $350+ cover is worth it?

2) I noticed when I had my cover off that those captivated bolts have sleeves that fit in the plastic cover. I noticed that some of the sleeves protrude more than others. Does anyone know for sure where those sleeves are supposed to be positioned in the cover? I wish I had snapped a photo to clarify the question.

3) Did any of you use the glycerine to coat the gasket as outlined in the Bentley manual? I did, against my better judgment.

It will be interesting to see if I'm any quicker at getting the cover off the second time...

Well, to confirm valve cover is cracked you need to do a smoke test (theres diy on e90), RTV is really good stuff IDK why ppl dont use it I've my oil filter gasket, valve cover gasket, tranny filter all oranged out on sides

the bolts shd all be inthe valve cover groove, the sleeve is movable just put some WD40 if they're jammed (its flammable so becareful not to spray on the engine, wipe off before starting)

glycerine shouldn't matter eitherway thats more for Orings not to get ruptured while inserting

[totalloss]

Originally Posted by Jklad

Can't answer all your questions, but something's to note - I too had oil pooling in that area. I replaced the cover. I also replaced oil cap and oil cap gasket, as I wanted to be sure everything was tight. Finally, I got to thinkin that the foam underneath the engine cover can soak oil if there ever was a leak or if you spilled some while filling, and this could explain some of it.

Thanks for the reply. Upon closer inspection, I see that the cover IS cracked where everyone said that it cracks. I know I leaned on the filler cap when I was working on the car; I hope I wasn't the cracker, so to speak. So by the time I'm done with doing this job a second time, I'll be at the top of the learning curve. I'll be taking pictures. I'm glad I found this post. I wouldn't have dreamed that the covers crack. Time to order a cover!

[totalloss]

Thanks 007_e350.

Interesting about those sleeves. I'm pretty sure that mine were pretty tightly set in the cover. At least a couple of mine were protruding enough on the gasket side that made me wonder if with only 7 foot pounds of torque if the sleeves would prevent accurate torque and proper gasket compression. The fact that you write that they should move makes sense - enough friction to capture the bolts but not too tight to hamper gasket compression. It will be interesting what the new cover is like.

I've always heard not to use sealant with those rubber gaskets. I will probably use some to ensure the gasket stays in the groove. I'm guessing that the theory of the glycerine is like when you lube up an oil filter gasket with old oil, and figured that it would allow some sliding of the gasket when positioning the cover to keep the gasket in the groove. I'll probably skip it the second time around depending on how the gasket looks when I remove the cover. Crazy these BMW's. Fun, fast cars but lots of little (hopefully) problems.