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So I just drove back from a Canadian Tire where I was picking up a few odds and ends to finish my remote starter install, and stopped for some gas. It's -27C... plus wind chill. So I jump back in as quick as humanly possible, turn the key ... and my battery's dead!

WTF!

I was just driving for 20 minutes!

So I push my car forward out of the gas pump area, and see a giant oil puddle. Please, please let that not be mine. Check the dipstick, and there's barely a drop. Just filled it the night before.

Call a friend.. he gives me a boost, I let the battery charge for about 15 minutes, then head home with everything except headlights off, myself frozen like a block of ice. My valves aren't clattering, but I'm definitely low on oil.

Get home, kill the engine, and grab a light. Engine bay is splattered with oil. Alternator completely soaked. Oil dripping from everything. I just finished capping off my PCV system and going with a breather, meaning my crankcase pressure was neutral instead of negative, so nothing was stopping the oil from leaking out of any cracks.

I grab a wrench and check the valve cover gasket bolts. All loose. I used a torque wrench, but not rubber grommets (stupid). I tighten them up, and as I get to the last one on the timing belt side ... SNAP. Oh. No.

It wasn't the bolt head. It was .. something else.

Reluctantly I took all the bolts out, disconnected the front PCV pipe, and lifted the valve cover. The aluminum that the bolt went in was cracked and sitting on the cam gears.

To make matters worse, the reason the alternator stopped working was it was completely soaked in oil. There was nothing I could do to fix the engine that night, so I hosed down the alternator with flux remover in the hopes it was just oil on the brushes making it fail.

Today I bought some JB weld and "glued" the broken chunk back on the head. I'll have to avoid torquing it when I put that bolt back in, so I'll hit the area with extra gasket maker and hope for the best.

Thats terrible man. A piece of the head broke off? Thats really strange.

wow... that stinks... good luck fixing it man

Ryan wrote:Thats terrible man. A piece of the head broke off? Thats really strange.

Exactly. I think the bolt was too long and it was just put too much stress on the piece until it snapped. Whoops.

Happened to me when I replaced the valve cover gasket

Just get a new vc from the wreckers

Def. get a new VC do NOT try fixing and putting it back together, it will just break again, and cause more problems! That SUCKS. I hate this -20F+ weather, my car does NOT like to start. (Pulls like hell though!)

Sounds like you need to get that piece welded back on. A good aluminum welder should be able to fix you right up. You've had a pretty sh*tty go of it lately and this cold snap isn't helping either. Drinking heavily works for me.

rekognize wrote:Happened to me when I replaced the valve cover gasket

Just get a new vc from the wreckers

It's not the valve cover that broke... it's the head itself!

Daninski wrote:Sounds like you need to get that piece welded back on. A good aluminum welder should be able to fix you right up. You've had a pretty sh*tty go of it lately and this cold snap isn't helping either. Drinking heavily works for me.

I'm on my traditional post-xmas/NY atkins right now, which means no drinking. Oh, woes me.

time for an engine swap!!

I think this is on his ZE! Thats aweful!

onlytrueromeo wrote:I think this is on his ZE! Thats aweful!

It was on my ZE.

But, good news!

Give it up to JB weld. That stuff is amazing. I applied it last night around 7pm to glue the piece back in, cleaned it up, and removed the old gasket remnants with lacquer thinner (serious PITA protecting the valvetrain from it).

This morning I stuffed in my new valve cover gasket, and went downstairs to check out my "weld." The piece was solid. The last thing I wanted was for it to snap or crack while driving, so I reefed down on it hard. The thing ain't moving.

I sanded down the bead of JB weld that escaped along the seal, again being careful to protect the inside of the engine from dust, hit the entire mating surface with some RTV black gasket maker, extra for the corners, installed the valve cover, fired it up, and problem solved!

Whew... god what a relief.

So, moral of the story.... BE CAREFUL when selecting bolts for stuff. If they're too long, it can be a disaster! Of course, everyone probably knew this anyway. Ahem.