stinky_finger

Hi All,
I had a valve adjustment ~12,000 miles ago by a competent S2000 mechanic here in the Southern California area. While he was at it, he said I had a small VTEC gasket leak (which I didn't notice) and changed both gaskets.

Fast forward 12,000 miles (or one year) and I noticed a nasty leak coming from the VTEC area. Further inspection reveled that I had two leaks, one from the VTEC top gasket and one out of the actual VTEC pressure sensor. I ended up replacing both VTEC gaskets and the pressure sensor (which had a nasty crack in it).
I cleaned up the bay with degreaser and haven't seen any oil at the front of the engine bay. However, a month went by and I noticed that there is a very small leak at the back of valve cover. I ended up swapping out that gasket and it seemed to do the trick.

So my question is....
I've had my '07 since it was new and it has ~110K miles on it. This is the first time I have had an oil leak on the car, so I want to know why did the VTEC gasket and valve cover gaskets fail so quickly? Both were OEM replacements and both were pretty flattened out when I pulled them out. Do you think the mechanic did a crappy job or just bad luck with the gaskets?

Chuck S

Failure of one new gasket appears to be a bad gasket. Failure of multiple new gaskets hints of bad install. I think there's a torque spec and pattern for the valve cover. Sure these were OEM gaskets? Even the Ebay gasket sets seem to hold up OK if installed properly.

-- Chuck

Slowcrash_101

Valve cover does indeed take a special tightening pattern, starting with the middle bolt on the driver's side, then the rear middle in the passenger, then the front middle, then the rearmost, and then the front most, all at 8.7ft lbs, reached in at least two steps, so first step half torque, second step full torque, do this and you'll never have a problem. In fact almost all 10mm bolts take 8.7ft lbs, valve cover, TCT, coil packs, cam sensors and VTEC solenoid all do at least.

cosmomiller

I recall seeing threads that non-OEM gaskets, despite looking similar, will not prevent leaks. It can be difficult to obtain OEM gaskets, even from Honda. Sometimes it requires getting the part that goes with it.

stinky_finger

Thanks to everyone for their replies. The VTEC was a combo of OEM and the usual Ballade reproduction for the top gasket (I bought them myself). However, I'm not sure on the valve cover gasket if it was OEM or aftermarket. He did list OEM on the receipt, but who knows. I usually do my own work, but at the time I was taking care of a injured family member and didn't really have time (or in the right mindset) to do my homework with the mechanic.
I was taken back by the leak out of the pressure sensor as well. I have read on some other Honda/Acura forums with people having their sensor crack at ~150K miles, but I'm beginning to wonder if the mechanic phoned it in when worked on my car and damaged the sensor too.

jyeung528

you mentioned the mechanic was reputable, so the leak is strange.

that being said, i've never had a leak reusing the valve cover gasket.

the one time i change the valve cover gasket with a reputable mechanic and it leaks within months.

go figure.