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Smoke coming from side of engine - rocker cover gasket?

neville17

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I noticed today my VY V6 Commodore after running for a while smoke starts to come from the exhaust manifold in the engine bay and there is the smell of burning oil. Seems to be oil leaking from were the rocker cover attaches to the engine and on to the hot exhaust manifold at the rear of the engine (drivers side). On closer inspection oil seems to be leaking from the same spot on the passengers side but not as bad. After reading other threads on this site looks like I am up for new rocker cover gaskets for both sides. Just wondering if any one has any further tips on replacing the gaskets and whether I need to remove the throttle body to do the passengers side? Any info would be greatly appreciated as I can't afford to take it to a mechanic. Many thanks in advance.
Cheers.
 

Big-Al

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Sounds like the rocker cover gasket is leaking, they're made of cork and go hard after many years of thermal punishment. They're easy to replace and don't cost more than 50 bucks.
Just make sure you don't over tighten the rocker cover bolts or the new gasket is going to be ruined. The correct tension is 10nm for the rocker cover bolts.

Pm sent with service manual D/L instructions
 

commodore665

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Rocker gaskets , be careful that they are in place properly , and as Al mentioned don't over tighten .
 
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Ecotec rocker cover gaskets are rubber not cork.
 

EYY

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Ecotec rocker cover gaskets are rubber not cork.
Yep that's right. Try making sure the bolts are all tight first. They take less than 10 minutes a side to change.

If you're cheap, get a tube of permatex ultra blue and pull the rocker covers off, give surfaces a clean and lay a small bead on top of the old gasket and bolt it all back together. It won't leak.

Only downside is that it takes an extra 5 minutes to scrape the ultra blue off the covers you ever take it apart again.
 

Futech

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Cork rocker cover gaskets havent been used for god knows how long :banstick:
 

Herx

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I had mine leaking on the drivers side and all I had to do was undo all 6 bolts and put in a new gasket which was around $20 from repco and tightened them all up evenly and haven't had a problem since!
 

A9L

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By reading OP it seems like rocker cover gasket...

To be sure, wipe it all clean and watch for seepage/leaks.
 
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