hello all,
thanks to everyone on this forum. i did my first tune up myself, (swapped out my spark plugs) noticed one plug, tops of threads had oil on them. quick glance online showed its probably a valve cover gasket leaking. went down street to mechanic, he confirmed it. checking around for a price to replace it. looks to difficult for me to attempt. i can change oil, brakes, etc. but this is a little out of my league. on another note, plugs didn't look too bad. just swapped them out at 71k miles so they wouldn't be so hard to change.
any thoughts on my leaky valve cover gasket? wouldn't have known if i hadn't done the plugs. guess its to your advantage to DIY!

 

fwiw. Not really that hard of a job. If you can do brakes, you should be able to handle this.

 

Once you have the air cleaner assembly off, it's only a few more bolts. The gasket is fairly expensive, and if I remember correctly there are O rings at the spark plug holes.

If you can change the spark plugs, I don't know how changing the valve cover gasket could be a problem. Nothing special to know, except don't over tighten the bolts.

Head gasket is an entirely different story! Don't do it.

I just checked $20-$35 depending on source, and there are separate seals for the plugs and bolts included in the set.

 

post a link to where i can get the gasket. not having much luck online finding them.
fyi the guys at the GM Factory were HE MAN when the put the orignial spark plugs in. SMH. had to use considerable force to get them out.

 

Ebay.com search hhr valve cover gasket, get 194 listings. Try Advance/Zone/Boys/Oreilly etc., whoever you got locally. I think the key is to use the "old" nomenclature rather than the "correct".

 

Any of your local parts houses should carry the gasket. If not, they can get it easily. Not a hard to find or special part.

 

Just noticed your car is a 2010. How about warranty?

 

gotcha thanks everyone! this forum has saved me tons of money!

 

hmm. never thought about that. would it be under warranty at 71k miles? let me check my paperwork from dealer. :) good idea.

 

do the gaskets fall under the powertrain 5 years or 100k mile warranty?