^ Call a shop and ask...

 

So I made an appt for Tuesday at a local shop to replace the driver's side valve cover. The guy told me to make sure I have all the parts needed (gaskets etc)

I have the Valve cover and valve cover gasket. Is there anything else I need to stop the leak? Is there a third part called spark plug seal or that already included in the VC and VC gasket?

 

There are no spark plug seals. The seals are "built in"... Haven't you been reading this thread? lol

All you need is the valve cover, and valve cover gasket.

 

Well, I took the car to the mechanic and he said that I'd be wasting my money replacing the valve covers to fix my misfire problem

Told me to put the part away and now he will run a diagnostic test to figure out what is causing the problem

My current problem:
P0304 code - cylinder 4 misfire
Rough idle
When I go over 2000RPMs the CEL starts to blink
Only spark plug 4 is fouled with a mixture of oil and fuel on its tip. The rest of the plugs are dry and clean

I already replaced the spark plugs and swapped coil packs but the misfire stays with cyl 4

 

wow, maybe you should do some research. they are built in but there is a company in CA selling the seals called R&D performance (I think that's right). There's a write-up on here about how to change them. You can spend $100 on parts and fix both sides or, what is it, like $300 per valve cover to just replace them (parts only)?
edit: after re-reading. this person has bought a new valve cover, apparently. in that case, no, you won't need new plug seals. However, there are seals available...

The mixture of gas and oil and the tip of the spark plug... I assume you mean the electrode...the part inside the combustion chamber once its screwed in? Make absolutely sure there is no oil in the plug well when you install a cleaned or new spark plug. Then, run it some. Make sure there is no oil in the plug well again and remove the spark plug. If oil is on the electrode, you have bigger problems. The spark plug will be sealed to the head when its tightened down properly. Oil leaked from your valve cover seals will not get on the electrode of the spark plug. I would figure this park out first then let us know what you come up with.

 

Correct, and just to update, it has been about 10,000 miles since I did the spark plug tube seal fix and no leaks!

All I did was take the valve covers off, drill out the old spark plug tube seals (I used 1 7/8 hole saw) and replaced them with the R&D Factory seals. Then I washed out all the shavings from the valve covers with a degreaser and let dry. Very straight forward and easy to do if you have any mechanical ability at all. I also replaced the valve cover gaskets while I was at it.

 

Just had the mechanic take a look at it. The oil is on the electrode! And I have been told that I only get 30psi of compression in cylinder 4 aka it is not working at all. He believes it the valve that might be damaged and the engine is pretty much done.

 

Hmm...Sounds like your issue is beyond this thread. I never had any codes thrown or any indication. I just decided to check if there was oil in the tubes (which a lot have done on this board) and it seems a lot of the time there is oil in there.

The fix described in this thread was just an alternative to replacing valve covers because of leaking spark plug tube seals. I had no compression issues, codes, rough idle, or misfire and I don't believe the majority with only leaking spark plug tube seals have those issues either.

 

Although I don't think your engine is totally done. My suggestion, find someone on this board that is very knowledgeable in your area and have them help you rather than your current mechanic.

 

I second getting advice from someone other than your current mechanic. Its not likely at all that you're getting any significant amount of oil in the combustion chamber because of any kind of issue with a valve. A bad valve stem seal will let a small about of oil into the chamber but it'll burn off and it won't cause a lack of compression. About the only possibility if you're down on compression and getting an oil soaked spark plug is a piston/piston ring/cylinder wall problem. You'd be getting oil into the combustion chamber from the crank case and your compression would be blown into the crank case instead of contained like it should be.
If it were a valve problem, the head could be replaced (or repaired) and the engine would be far from done. If it is the scenario I mentioned above, the engine's still not done but, unfortunately, would need a costly rebuild.
Do you have a significant loss of power? any noises from the engine? smoke from the exhaust? oily residue on the back of the car?

 

I am replacing my passenger side valve cover gasket and the service manualsays i have to drain the radiator. Is that true? I just replaced my leaking radiator and hate to have to remove all thegood fluid and do thewhole air bleed proceedure.

 

I am losing a LOT of oil lately. It started off that I would lose a quart every 2k, then 1k and now 500-700miles. So then that would probably mean piston ring?

Not significant power loss but definitely noticeable. No noise from the engine but I do hear little gunshot type sound from the exhaust and rough idle. Funny thing was that I saw white smoke from exhaust, then I put in some Rislone fuel injector cleaner (thinking my fuel injector was clogged) and that made the car smoke even more, but a 150miles later now I don't see any smoke however I do smell this nasty fart like odor coming from the exhaust after short trips. No oil residue in the back but do see carbon deposits at exhaust tip

 

I have never had to drain the radiator/remove the coolant hard pipe to do a valve cover gasket change. I'm not sure why it suggests that..

-Rob


Edit: I just checked the FSM and I don't see where it says you need to drain the coolant?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FSM

REMOVAL
1. Remove intake manifold collectors (upper and lower) with power tool. Refer to EM-17, "INTAKE MANIFOLD COLLECTOR" .
2. Separate engine harness removing their brackets from rocker covers.
3. Remove ignition coil. Refer to EM-34, "IGNITION COIL" .
4. Remove PCV hoses from rocker covers.
5. Loosen bolts in reverse order as shown in the figure (with power
tool).
6. Use scraper to remove all traces of liquid gasket from cylinder head and camshaft bracket (No. 1).

 

If your losing a quart every 500-700 miles my theory changes to piston/rings. Like i said follow the FSM procedure and have your mechanic do the compression test with a little oil in the cylinder to confirm.

-Rob

 

The fart / rotten egg smell is due to a steady miss. The unburnt fuel from the bad cylinder(s) is burning up in your cats. If not fixed soon, you might need a new engine AND new cats.