I need to replace the valve cover gasket on my sons car. I had the head replaced and guess the shop used a cheap one cause it is leaking out the left front cover end

What is a quality one you can suggest for me to buy online?

 

dplantz,


I would recommend you use a Ford replacement gasket if you have a Ford.
I replaced the valve cover gaskets on my wife's Mercury Mariner and that is
quite a job; I probably saved myself $400 in labor.


The newer gaskets are a rubber seal, no more cork/rubber anymore.
Be careful who you take your vehicle to; there are some real "knuckleheads"
out there.


The key to fixing oil leaks is cleaning, preparation and proper tightening sequence and amount of torque to the hardware; and of course verifying the leak is stopped.


What kind of vehicle are we talking about ?

 

1983 Escort

 

Wow,


Your Escort has been taken care of.... how many miles does it have on it?


You'll probably be using the cork/rubber gasket for the replacement.
I would think you could do this yourself; this is a pretty straight forward job.


The shop that replaced the gasket more than likely over tightened the bolts on the valve cover and crushed the gasket resulting in oil seeping out.
You can use some black RTV to coat both sides of the gasket; that is what I would do. It will have to come apart and a new gasket will have to be installed.


Do you have a good independent shop close by where you live ?
It would save you money as the dealers are charging upwards of $90 an hour for labor and much more depending on where you live.

 

OK question I found a Ford original gasket on ebay but it says it is for a 1.6 L motor and my sons is a 1.9 Will it still fit?
See:
1 6L 1981 1984 Ford Escort Lynx Exp Valve Cover Gasket Factory Ford | eBay

 

the best gasket for this car would be the ford oem gasket. Most installations may only need rtv in certain contours if ohc. rtv on both sides of a gasket all he way around is overkill. yeah it will never leak but rtv squeeze out is what I don't like.


I haven't seen a cork gasket in 30 years.

 

yes, here is the FoMoCo part and am pretty sure it is cork. Problem is it is $50
1993 Ford Escort Engine Rocker Arm Cover Gasket | FordParts.com

seems way high, thats why was looking on ebay. So my queston still is is there any difference between the 1.6 and the 1.9 motors?

 

This is an ongoing problem for service people. Most of us have found that in the process of trying to save your customer a few dollars by using cheaper parts the job comes back to bite you because the quality wasn't there. OEM parts can be purchased in other places than the dealer, but ,,,,,,,,,,,,, if you order the wrong part it's yours ! The dealership parts dept will most of the time request the vin of your vehicle so you get the correct part(s). Those of us that have been burned with things like this have learned to stay with OEM when possible and bite the cost bullet,,,,,,since we hate to do the job over again for free because we put price before quality.

 

I was taking a look through my Ford catalogue and I did not see a 1.9L motor available in the 1983 Escort. Are you sure that it isn't a 1.6L or 2.3L? It looks like majority of the gaskets are obsolete but if have the VIN number I would be happy to double check and see if I can find one for you.

 

So sorry, i meant 1993. Found a Felpro gasket on Rockauto on closeout, and installed that. We will see......
It is not cork, but similar material