Signs Your Valve Cover Gaskets Are Going Bad
Your Valve Cover Gasket Can Leak Externally, And Internally
Spotting some oil seeping from your valve cover gasket is an obvious issue. But on some Mercedes models, it might not be so easy to spot a leak. In this video, one of the older straight-six motors is used as an example.
Spark plugs in some cylinders have oil around them. But that’s a leak you’d never notice, until you performed a spark plug service. Not all engines have spark plugs in deeper channels like this, which makes the leaks much easier to find. Replacement of those gaskets, however, is a little different from the video.
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Oil down by the spark plugs, and especially by the coils, makes for a bad combo. Oil can break down some of the rubber on the coil packs and boots. Replacing those could potentially be very pricey. If the spark plug area isn’t almost completely dry, you’re going to be looking at a replacement gasket in the very near future.
Thankfully on this motor, the rubber seals for the gasket and the seals for the spark plug galleys are very straight forward to replace. There’s no special tools needed, apart from big cotton swabs to get the oil out from the areas where it leaked the most.
