oil on back of engine

[schmitt]

I was changing my tranny oil and when underneith my car i noticed a bunch of oil on the back side of the engine coming from around the head or valve cover area. I looked from up top and the valve cover looked good but I cant see the lower side of it. whats most common for and oil leak on these grand prix's. Its a 99 gtp.

Thanks

[BillBoost37]

Valve cover is the most common leaker....

When you change it out, keep in mind that the grommet is a key part of valve cover sealing. The bolts have shoulders that limit them, the grommet provides the pressure on the gasket. I recommend GM dealer or Felpro gaskets/grommets

[schmitt]

Ok great, are these pretty easy to change? Do you happen to know the touqe?

This might be a dumb question but, you would'nt leak oil out of the head gasket would you? It would be just antifreeze if it were to be leaking not? It just seems really oily there.

also Im changing out my coupler, do I need to get a gasket for that or just leave the old gaket on and use rtv silicone?

[BillBoost37]

You have a better chance of being run over by a train w/o ever crossing a train track than having a head gasket leak.

It's the valve covers. Yes it's rpetty easy. 87inch lbs for the torque on the 3/8" valve cover bolts. 10mm will round them out. Yeah..I'm a little over the top huh?

13mm ratcheting wrench helps to take off those pesking brackets that are in your way ..

[SJAndrew]

I seem to remember that the bolts are shoulder bolts - so the torque is moot relative to sealing. What does the sealing is the grommet - it provides the clamping pressure on the gasket like a spring.

That's why replacing the gasket without the grommets is foolish - you will never get a proper seal.

[schmitt]

ok great thx guy's.

Do you know the answer to my coupler question by chance?

[BillBoost37]

Get "Red gasket maker" in a small tube from a dealer or rollingperformance.com That's the gasket goop for SC's. you also use the thinnest littlest amount ..

[schmitt]

Great thank you! I will stay clear of railway crossing's for awhile

[SJAndrew]

If you're changing your coupler, I'm surprised you didn't get a kit with the gasket maker and new SC oil along with the coupler.

The gasket maker is not RTV, it's an aneorobic glue that's much thinner (it doesn't have a gasket to re-use from the factory). As Bill said, you put a very light coat on as the two mating surfaces are machined. You should use about ~5-10 drops of the stuff total.

You should also look @ changing your seal while you're at it.

[schmitt]

I looked at the rolling performance site and he say's to use 598b rtv?

[schmitt]

Another question. when pulling the snout off they seem to come apart in two spots, do you just seal the snout end or do you need to seal the rotor side too?

[SJAndrew]

The gasket maker I used was like glue - the consistency of milk, bright red in color.

You only apply a light film (with your finger) to one side. I put mine on the snout side and it's never leaked.

I would NOT use RTV silicone for this - you're sealing two machined surfaces without a gasket.

I would use this.

I guess RTV would work, but I don't think silicone for this application was OEM or is correct.