So i noticed my valve cover's were leaking , perfectly normal on a 2003 z . So i replaced them with brand new valve covers and gaskets, well i fixed the oil leaking from the side of the valve cover, but now i have a problem with oil filling up my spark plug;s.
First time there was oil leaking in Cylinder 1, Cylinder 2, and Cylinder 4, So i said no big deal i probably just ****ed something up seating them.
After reseating them for the 2nd time the leak in Cylinder 4 stopped but oil is still leaking into 1 and 2. The 2nd time i did them i even used some RTV around the seals ETC. I did this like a week ago and i got so frustrated i put the car on marketplace lol, well ive calmed down now and wondering if there is a secret trick i was not told or do i just suck..

Thanks any replies are appreciated!

 

Might sound silly, but are you torquing the bolts down in the correct order? In the factory service manual there should be a specific order that you need to torque each bolt down in. If the valve covers are plastic like they are on the HR cars they maybe deforming and not sealing as the should if you're torquing say one side and then making your way across the valve covers.

I believe this should be the sequence, although I would double check since I just grabbed it off the net.

 

I did put all the bolts onto the cover in the correct order but did not tourqe them down to spec, i didnt overtighten anything im not a noob at this stuff.

 

Ok, you asked for what you may be doing wrong, and you say you didn't torque down the bolts to spec, 82 inch lbs is like 6.8 ftlbs, which if you'ever ever felt 6ft lbs of torque on a torque wrench it feels like almost nothing. So you likely did over tighten them. I'm not saying that is your issue, but it could be. You need to eliminate all the possibilities that you can before moving on to something else. So if you eliminate your torque sequence and specs then you know it's not that. So if you do that and it still leaks you likely have pinched the gasket installing the covers, or you have a defective valve cover or gasket. However, you said cylinders 1,2, and 4 meaning both your banks are leaking I would find it unlikely both covers and gaskets were defective. I would assume installer error of some kind. Hope you find someone more helpful since you're not a noob at this stuff. Peace!

 

When i said "Im not a noob at this stuff" i didnt mean it in like an a-hole type of way lol sorry it did come off like that, I meant ive done stuff like this before and its never happened this way. ill get a tourqe wrench and redo them today.
Appreciate the help.

 

Did you use OEM valve covers or the cheap ebay/amazon ones?

 

 

OEM ones

 

Ok, so probably not the answer you want, but I can offer you an easy solution. Clean tubes with brake cleaner/whatever. Take permatex 1-minute rtv (gray is better(meant for turbo applications), but black will work fine) put a glove on and smear inside of tube where valve cover meets the heads.

EDIT* I've fixed rusted holes in oil pans with this method, so it works