Hey guys, so i have a 2006 g35x with 212,000kms or 131k miles. I bought it last year and knew the valve covers were leaking. Now i did the valve cover gaskets, i would say about 6 months ago. I followed some forum guides on here to do the job as well. My tube seals were not leaking, it was external leak onto the exhaust manifolds. I replaced them, used red RTV in the tube seals to prevent leakage.

So, after about 3 months they began seeping again, pretty much from the same locations. So i just tore it all apart again and am ready to replace the gaskets again. My questions are as follows:

1) What gaskets are the best? I bought these gaskets last year as a fel-pro kit which came with every other gasket required like the throttle body, lower and upper intake gaskets as well. This time, i found some Fel-pro "permadry" valve cover gaskets only for $35. Are those any better? Not sure if the initial kit i got were "perma-dry" or not.

2) What RTV is best? I used red RTV, but when i was removing it, it came of REALLY easy. Not sure if its meant to be like that or not. But, there was some extra residue of grey factory RTV which was a damn pain in the butt to take off as it was so sticky. What is recommended?

3) Where should the RTV applied to get the best seal? I have read much information regarding this and am still at a loss. Some say just dabs on the front corners and nothing else, some say the whole front and nowhere else. Some have said coat the entire surface. I coated the entire surface with RED RTV the last time i did this job, and it still leaked. So what is recommended? I really don't want it leaking again.

4) My one tube seal cracked: I was using a pick to take off the red RTV i used to seal the spark plug well gasket area. I went a bit too far and lifted on the black seal, it cracked it a bit. Now, my question is, if i just seal the red RTV between the well and the valve cover gasket, will that still keep it from leaking into the spark plug well? I'm pretty sure it will since i'm sealing it all off with RTV anyways.

5) How do you tell if the covers are warped? Do you just put em on a table and check if they're not flat?

6) What is that darker buildup on around the bolt hole down there? It is in two seperate places. Doesn't come off with brake kleen, and i'm afraid to sand it and scratch up the surface. Will this cause a leak?


Thanks guys!





Thanks guys!

 

Well, i finished the job again. Used grey ultra rtv which was a lot stickier than the red and i feel a lot more comfortable with it. It was oil resistant as well.

Only put plus sized dabs on the front corners of the covers. Cleaned the surfaces with brake kleen. Put in the permadry felpro gaskets.

Torqued to spec in 3 sequences with inch lb torque wrench. Double checked all. Sealed up the tube seals with grey rtv. Let it sit overnight for 24 hrs. Reinstalled everything.

Finally installed my iso copper plenum spacer and got er all back together. Seems to be holding up so far.

Lets see how it goes. Hopefully no leaks in the near future!

 

I use ultra grey for transmission cases, engine case, oil pans, valve covers... pretty much everything. The only other RTV I use is ultra black for almost permanent sealing for hard to seal oily areas. If you use black on wide sealing surfaces it's very hard to separate. If you cleaned all the sealing surfaces really good and gooped up the plug tube seals with ultra grey you should be set for a long time. I haven't had a leak on any that I have done that way.