Why does my engine look like this?

[g300d]

Good it went well for you! I'm at 42t miles and leaking already so I guess yours leaking at that mileage isnt so bad.

If my valve cover leaks at the same mileage then I'll probably do like you and service the vanos at 100t or so at the same time as the second valve cover gasket change

[nebilex]

Originally Posted by garfield81

Just finished replacing the valve cover gasket and noticed the VANOS unit is dark brown/black? I hope that's normal.

Good job on the gasket job... mine is leaking again (had it changed this time last year).... what brand gasket seal did you use?

[garfield81]

Originally Posted by nebilex

Good job on the gasket job... mine is leaking again (had it changed this time last year).... what brand gasket seal did you use?

Wow only a year between gasket change? Got my parts from Napa. The gasket was FEL-PRO I think and the grommets were Victor Reinz.

[Ricky Bobby]

Definitely need to make sure you replace the 15 or so grommet seals as well with the VCG, they are not included in the VCG kit and could be a likely reason why your VC is leaking again after a year if they were not replaced previously.

[nebilex]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Definitely need to make sure you replace the 15 or so grommet seals as well with the VCG, they are not included in the VCG kit and could be a likely reason why your VC is leaking again after a year if they were not replaced previously.

Hey Ricky, Thanks for the input. I was surprised when i noticed the leak as well. I initially paid someone to do it a year ago, but i'm just going to tackle it myself and definitely change those grommet seals. Are those grommets sold as part of a different kit or can i get them separately? I am planning to change the VCG as well since I don't know what condition it is in.

[Ricky Bobby]

You need to replace 15 of the # 7, HOWEVER, if you look at the parts diagram, you can also get #5 as a bolt/washer/grommet assembly, but it is 3x more.

The grommets themselves are a bit over a buck, #5 as a bolt/washer/grommet is about 3 bucks, up to you.

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