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Summary: Check for leaks when replacing a valve cover gasket to make sure they function correctly; learn how from our expert mechanic in this free car-repair video.
Views: 1,015 | Tags: repair, auto, car, automotive, valve, cover, gasket, mechanic, auto repair, car maintenance
About the Expert
Mark Blocker At the age of 10, Mark Blocker started working with his father, uncle and grandfather in residential carpentry, repair addition and new home construction. He ... read more
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Questions & AnswersHi, I'm Mark Blocker on behalf of Expert village. In this section we're going to cover checking for leaks. Anytime that you've made a repair to an automobile you want to check it and make sure that it's functioning correctly and that you've made a good sound repair and didn't leave anything off. or something loose or disconnected. The last thing you want to do is make a repair, close up the hood, drop it down, start the vehicle up and go for a ride. That's a bad way to find out if there's any problems. Because you're going to be down the road when the problem occurs and you're going to be broken down on the side of the road. The best thing to do after you make a repair or a replacement is to start it up, let the vehicle come up to operating temperature. That usually requires anywhere from three to five minutes, maybe a little bit longer for a vehicle to sit and idle and warm up. During this time you can check for proper operation of the engine and that it's idling correctly. Basically you're looking to see that it runs the same as it does when you're done with the repair as it did prior to the repair. Then visually inspect everything for oil leaks. The visual inspection after you start the vehicle, you just want to look around where the valve cover is at and visually inspect and ensure there are no leaks. Since you cleaned up all the surfaces any oil that would be found on or around that gasket sealing after the engine has been run would indicate a leak. Because we've cleaned all of that off prior to reinstalling that valve cover gasket. So it's real easy to tell for leaks by the way we got everything cleaned up. If you get oil residue on there after you've started the engine up then you've got a potential leak or a problem going on there that needs to be addressed. During that warm up time it gives you the opportunity it check some of the other operations out. Just give a quick safety inspection and look around under the vehicle while you're waiting for it to warm up. And the opportunity to determine that it's running the same as it is when you completed the job ... after you've completed the job as it was prior to starting the job. Please watch our next segment on "Conclusion to Replacing a valve Cover Gasket".
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