Tips on fixing valve cover gasket leak

[duckchucker]

Hello,

I've recently become the new owner of a 1993 2500 6.5L turbo diesel beast with ~145k miles. I love it! It runs great and everything seems to work great. It seems like it was well taken care of.

However, my drivers side valve cover gasket is leaking a little oil. It's not a huge problem yet, but it is starting to make a mess. :(

So I had my dealer check it out (among a few other things) and they quoted me ~600 or so do fix it. :eek: That's almost all labor as they said you have to take off the intake manifold. Yikes.

I checked out my service manual and sure enough, they say to remove the intake manifold as part of the process.

Needless to say, I'd like to do this myself and save the $$$. It looks like all I needs is some RTV (maybe GM supplied?).

I'm fairly handy and have the necessary tools and time and (hopefully) patience.

What I'd like is some advice! This is my first diesel and I don't want to make things worse. smile.gif

Thanks
Keith

[JohnC]

Originally posted by duckchucker:
What I'd like is some advice! The reason to take the intake manifold off is so you can get the lines for the injectors off the valve covers. No sweat, though, the manifold is "dry"; no water or oil flowing through.

My advice: one thing. Don't let ANY dirt, dust or whatever get into the injectors or lines while they're off.

[duckchucker]

Originally posted by JohnC:
My advice: one thing. Don't let ANY dirt, dust or whatever get into the injectors or lines while they're off. Sounds smart. Rubber bands and rags? Or should I be even more careful? The service manual talks about capping them off like there is something specific for that purpose...

Thanks!
Keith

[cruzer]

Clean areas b4 disassembly and assembly. Plastic bags and rubber bands maybe good or some sort of caps for the lines, injectors and pump fittings.
Maybe consider replacing the rubber fuel lines under intake while your there. Rags would have lint. Don't bend any lines and put them back in their original locations. Don't forget upper and lower intake gaskets too.

Things need to be very clean w/the fuel supply.
Any dirt will clog the injectors.

[ 06-09-2004, 12:04 PM: Message edited by: cruzer ]