Valve cover gasket 4.4 is a big PITA

[fast4d]

changed the VC gaskets last weekend.

the driver's side is a huge PITA. the hoses at the corner makes it INCREDIBILY difficult to reinstall the VC. I had to feel the gasket by hand afterwards to be sure it's on. so far no leaks.

for you DIYers, how did you do it? I had long straps of velcro to pull the hose away but they were still in the way.

[primetime]

Diddo, Did mine this weekend and it wasn't sealed properly, some wires got caught in it when we sealed it back up. Obviously it was leaking oil again, smoke, the whole 9 yards.. Now I have to take it to the shop tomorrow morning and get it done properly. I don't have the time to check it out myself anymore since its not the weekend and I may have damaged the wires a little bit..All in all, not a good time.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by primetime

Diddo, Did mine this weekend and it wasn't sealed properly, some wires got caught in it when we sealed it back up. Obviously it was leaking oil again, smoke, the whole 9 yards.. Now I have to take it to the shop tomorrow morning and get it done properly. I don't have the time to check it out myself anymore since its not the weekend and I may have damaged the wires a little bit..All in all, not a good time.

Man, I'm sorry to hear that - really. I don't wanna even ask how many times this has been for you with the separator and such.

[primetime]

Yeah it sucks. This is the second time with the VCG, seperator is clean though. Now tomorrow its gotta get done by a pro. And of course, I'll have to pay more $$ for it too..

[flyingmachine]

Originally Posted by fast4d

changed the VC gaskets last weekend.

the driver's side is a huge PITA. the hoses at the corner makes it INCREDIBILY difficult to reinstall the VC. I had to feel the gasket by hand afterwards to be sure it's on. so far no leaks.

for you DIYers, how did you do it? I had long straps of velcro to pull the hose away but they were still in the way.

those water hoses are okay. just move them a bit higher would do it. the most painful part to me was the positive lead. I had to disconnect it on both alternator and starter to pull it out of the way.

[primetime]

The Shop has now changed my VCG and stopped the leaking obviously..They sealed it up correctly (something Me and another xworld member didn't do properly, we caught some wires in the very back where its hard to see, and the wires got sealed with the VCG, causing an obvious leak again and smoke etc) The last 2 weekends I've been a freakin grease monkey under the car, under the hood, back and forth etc. More importantly, it would've been cheaper if I just took it to the shop in the first place. Paying for parts twice just gets my blood boiling.

The weekend before this, I was doing an oil change DIY and I accidentally stripped the drain bolt!...Yeah, over torqued and SNAP! Oil leaking out steadily and a huge problem. Cut a long story short, I had to let my new oil all drain out again (this is after we had to figure out a way to get the first broken part of the drain bolt off, since it was just spinning freely and not catching any threads, ie no fun.) and get a reverse drill bit to get the broken half of the drain bolt that was still stuck inside the drain hole out of the oil pan. Then I was thankful that the threads in the oil pan seemed ok, and I wouldn't have to go down that road of getting a new oil pan or trying to do a helicoil or what have you. Put in a new drain bolt, torqued properly, and filled the X back up with new oil again. This was a major mess, oil everywhere, and on top of that I missed the entire Superbowl except the last 5 mins of the game messing with this!

Back to the VCG and the shop... I go to pick it up this afternoon and hopefully my troubles are over.. I think my DIY days are over unless its a simple (you would think) oil change. I think I'll go with a topside fluid extractor like Mityvac next oil change so I don't have to mess with getting under the car, and messing with the drainbolt. Plus it will be way less messy!

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by primetime

The Shop has now changed my VCG and stopped the leaking obviously..They sealed it up correctly (something Me and another xworld member didn't do properly, we caught some wires in the very back where its hard to see, and the wires got sealed with the VCG, causing an obvious leak again and smoke etc) The last 2 weekends I've been a freakin grease monkey under the car, under the hood, back and forth etc. More importantly, it would've been cheaper if I just took it to the shop in the first place. Paying for parts twice just gets my blood boiling.

The weekend before this, I was doing an oil change DIY and I accidentally stripped the drain bolt!...Yeah, over torqued and SNAP! Oil leaking out steadily and a huge problem. Cut a long story short, I had to let my new oil all drain out again (this is after we had to figure out a way to get the first broken part of the drain bolt off, since it was just spinning freely and not catching any threads, ie no fun.) and get a reverse drill bit to get the broken half of the drain bolt that was still stuck inside the drain hole out of the oil pan. Then I was thankful that the threads in the oil pan seemed ok, and I wouldn't have to go down that road of getting a new oil pan or trying to do a helicoil or what have you. Put in a new drain bolt, torqued properly, and filled the X back up with new oil again. This was a major mess, oil everywhere, and on top of that I missed the entire Superbowl except the last 5 mins of the game messing with this!

Back to the VCG and the shop... I go to pick it up this afternoon and hopefully my troubles are over.. I think my DIY days are over unless its a simple (you would think) oil change. I think I'll go with a topside fluid extractor like Mityvac next oil change so I don't have to mess with getting under the car, and messing with the drainbolt. Plus it will be way less messy!

Man oh man. Talk about some bad luck. Don't give up. Next time should be better as you learned some lessons already. Hope things are smooth for ya from now on.

I have one of those things that suck the oil out through the dipstick. Thats how I changed oil in my ML430. Comes in handy but then you got to make a trip to the local Jiffy lube to drop off the old oil. I'll probably try this on the X but only in warmer weather!

[primetime]

Originally Posted by TwinsPoppa

Man oh man. Talk about some bad luck. Don't give up. Next time should be better as you learned some lessons already. Hope things are smooth for ya from now on.

I have one of those things that suck the oil out through the dipstick. Thats how I changed oil in my ML430. Comes in handy but then you got to make a trip to the local Jiffy lube to drop off the old oil. I'll probably try this on the X but only in warmer weather!

Thanks twins! .. yeah you may have to get a longer hose for your fluid extractor. The X sits kind of high and I think those hoses aren't long enough. I could be wrong, yours might be ok.. GL!

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by primetime

Thanks twins! .. yeah you may have to get a longer hose for your fluid extractor. The X sits kind of high and I think those hoses aren't long enough. I could be wrong, yours might be ok.. GL!

I think I'm okay because the tubes are pretty long. Ya know, I don't even know where the oil filter is on the X!

I hope its on the top like the benz or I'll just have my mechanic do it for me.

[primetime]

I know on the preface lift X its on the top, very easy to get to and change. I'm not sure about the face lift X like yours. I'd imagine its at the top too.