I know it has been a little while since the last post, but there has been a lot going on. Today, we took on the task of fixing the oil leak on the drivers side valve cover. We ordered new bales and valve covers based on the idea that the old one was a bit warped. The new Silicone gaskets we bought worked great on the passenger side, but not so great on the driver’s side. If you are a real mechanic or are bothered by non symmetrical repairs, you may not fully enjoy what is coming. I won’t apologize as we now seem to have a leak free valve cover and I certainly hold to the idea that I won’t tear down a good fix for the sole purpose of making things match on both sides. We decided that we would replace the valve cover and bale, and first try to reuse the new silicone gasket. After all, it worked great for the passenger side, and I do like the idea of being able to reuse the silicone gasket and not having to buy sealant and deal with cleaning the old cork off the metal next time we need to do this. I was a very proud dad today, as I set my daughter to the task of getting the car jacked up and removing the wheel so we could get the job done. I am glad to say that she got the car up, chocked and the wheel removed all on her own with no extra coaching or guidance. She then was able to remove the old cover and clean and prep the surface for the new parts. So far this has been an easy journey. We cleaned everything up and while I was inside we got a nice visit from my daughter’s BFF. We put the silicone gasket back on and replaced the bale and cover. Now it is time to start her up and look for leaks. After starting the bug up, we started to see oil again pouring out of the bottom of the cover. We shut it off and pulled the cover and looked at the silicone gasket. There was an alignment tab that needed trimmed a bit so we made one last attempt before switching methods. Ultimately, we were unable to get the silicone gasket to seal, so I decided to use one of the cork gaskets that came with the new cover since we had it on hand. Me, and the girls got in the car and went to the local parts store and weeded through the enormous choices of gasket sealers an finally settled on the high tack version. I really only went with this one because it specified that it can be used with cork on the package. We made our way home and found out that the gasket sealer looks like either snot or liquid cheese. This didn’t bother me at all as long as it did the job. We cracked the appropriate amount of jokes and had a bit of fun with it. Once we got the sealer smeared on and the cover put back in place, we let it sit for about a half hour to let the sealer work. we fired up the beetle, and I am happy to report, no leaks. We even went as far as to run it for a few minutes, turn it of, and restart it to be sure. The last time we worked on it, we found that the first start looked leak free, but we took that for granted too soon and after we moved to the next project, we found that the leak was still happening. Another proud moment when I was able to instruct the girls to lower the car and put everything away and it all happened. I did get called in to help line the lug nuts up to start the threads while holding the tire on. I am always glad to help. So there you have it, on the passenger side of the beetle, we have the original valve cover and bale with the modern silicone gasket. Nice and leak free. On the driver’s side, we have a new valve cover, bale and cork gasket with old school gasket sealer. Also, nice and leak free. For the O.C.D. people out there the right side gasket is orange with no sealer and the left side gasket is brown cork with yellow sealer. It is all kinds of mismatched goodness, but you can rest in the idea that they match on some level because both sides are now leak free. Now that we have the oil leak resolved, we should be able to run the car long enough to try out the new and dangerous non-inductive timing light and finally get this engine timed.
Matching doesn’t matter – no leak does! Kudos to you know who – she’s becoming quite the mechanic!