I just went in to my local dealership to get my oil changed, and after they changed my oil they informed me that my drivers side valve cover gasket is apparently starting to leak somehow (what could cause it?). So since I have an HKS supercharger installed on my Z, they told me that to get it fixed it would cost me $400 in labor, which means that the dealer is going to remove my supercharger to fix the valve cover gasket under warranty then reinstall it afterwords. Then when I asked them how much it would cost me if they wouldn't remove my supercharger, and they said that it would then cost me around $1,000. Now I have a few questions that I would appreciate some help with:

First of all how big of a deal is this, and am I at any kind of risk of damaging anything by having this leak?

Also, what should I do about getting it fixed? I think that since I would at least have to pay the stealership to remove and reinstall my supercharger anyways, should I probably be able to find a place that will do this job without removing my supercharger for a lot less then what the dealership will charge me (which seems like too much to me for what it is)?

And finally would it just be a bad idea to have the stealership mess with my supercharger anyways? I mean I paid good money to have GTM do my installation and tuning, so would it be possible that the dealership could possibly mess something up?

 

it's not too big of a deal. You just have to remove everything in the way to get to the valve cover itself. It's not too hard, i don't think you have to take off your whole supercharger, just the pipe that runs up to the throttle body.

And no, don't pay that much for them to switch it out. that's way too much.

 

can't you just change it yourself?

 

Have you been quoted for parts and labor from the company that installed your supercharger? As far as what would happen, you would just smell it burning and constantly be "topping off"

 

Dont let them rape you.. DIY!!!

 

i was about to say, rebuild and tt time!

 

just pull the damn thing off, like fak man are you that simple? its frickin basic work, figure it the hell out, im sick of STUPID newbs buying Z's and not knowing ANYTHING about cars. you people sicken me.

 

Damm dude, WTF crawled up your ***? I know plenty about cars, there is just the fact that I have no experience as a mechanic, and being that I am in college I am also unable to work on my car myself even if I wanted to. Way to jump to conclusions and be no help at all, ***!

 

LOL, a lot of old folks buy Z's and know nothing about them...you're an idiot.

If the dealership says that it's just "starting" to leak, then it's probably no big deal. They probably just saw a little wet area around the valve cover gasket. Now if you check your oil and have to consistently add a little every time, it would be in your best interest to get the problem fixed. As everyone besides smarty-pants has stated, it's an easy job.

 

Everbody isnt a gear head.

 

no it's not to hard you just need a torque wrench and a 10mm socket and a screwdriver i think is all you need. Oh and you will need to remove the strut bar so you'll need a... 14 or 16mm socket cant remember , but other than that basically everthing on the motor is 10mm

 

So is this something that I should address very soon, or should I be just fine for a little while? I just want to make sure that I won't be at any risk of damaging my engine by having this leak.

 

How did they say its leaking? Where? In the plug ring area? or at the valve cover? Id say its normal but I dont have any idea where your leak is..

 

Dude, you should be fine. There are usually no problems unless the leak is so big that you have to constantly refill your oil to get it to the proper level. If there's no smoke (heat from the motor/headers burning the oil), you're good.

 

change it yourself. This happens to pretty much everybody that adds boost

 

im assuming its leaking in the rear corner, they always seem to leak there... its not too bad to change really. Just remember where things go.