This is quite possibly the most hair pulling frustrating day I've ever had.

Had some oil leaking in the 95 accord so I pull off the valve covers, clean everything up and it's going to be a great day. That's a sign that it isn't.

Went to go put it back on and what the hell? The gasket won't fit! It's like two or three inches longer than it should be. It absolutely WILL NOT FIT. It squirms and bounces out when you push on it one side. I've tried for an hour playing with this thing. Even if you get it in it pops up on one side guaranteed and it doesn't stay in the groove so when you turn it upside down to put it on it will pop out.

What happened? Is there anyway to shrink this? I'm going to try throwing it in the refrigerator to see if maybe the rubber will shrink.

I can go get a new gasket but I'm afraid, I only have Fel Pro available here and I've read that Fel Pro is also too big. What the hell, I never thought I would have to deal with this.

 

I've used FelPro and I mentioned it was too big. But it's was too big by maybe 1/16 inch. Easy to deal with.

Two or 3 inches bigger is insane - I've never seen anything like that.

 

I may have been off. Maybe 2 inches at max, 1.5 at minimum. To compare and make absolutely sure I'm not imagining things, I laid the gasket on the floor, measure the distance from cam corner to corner, and then I measure the actual distance on the valve cover and the gasket was long by about an inch and a half.

This is madness, I have it in the freezer now. I'm thinking maybe the engine heats it up and it becomes larger. But it wasn't leaking oil before so I know it was on, but when it comes off it's suddenly too large? The hell?

All I had was leaking oil in the spark plug wells, now I have a really crappy day if the freezer doesn't work and if the fel pro replacement is equally as bad.

Can I just RTV the whole thing all the way around? It won't even stay in so everything else is a moot point because I can't put it down onto the head without the gasket falling off. The nubs on it are worthless. I've cleaned the trenches on the VC where the gasket goes in to make sure it's not oily or full of debris, still falls out.

 

You would have to use a heck of a lot of RTV and it would make a really big mess, I wouldn't recommend it.

I have used the felpro and it does fit terribly, but it can be made to work.

 

I've used Victor gaskets without any issues, might see if you can find someone who sells those locally.

 

I had no problems with Felpro valve cover gaskets. Just lay it in/push straight down, don't slide your finger along the gasket to seat it otherwise it could stretch. Use a dab of sealant at the cam holder corners per the Felpro instructions and you'll be set.

 

lol seriously guy. i feel like you should just leave your car be. your like my 8 month old. always crawling into somethig.

j/k :-p if you pull on the gasket taking it out. it WILL stretch and you wont be able to reinstall it.

i have felpro on my car now. fit perfectly with no leaks

 

Like I said last time, story of my life. I have the trans. fluid drain and fill next. I'll be back to make another thread about how a snake jumped out of the transmission drain hole.

I actually put the gasket back on last night.

Went and got a tube of sealant for $2.39, and it actually went on and suddenly the "longness" disappeared.

I don't know if it was the sealant (it was sealed on and it was still too long) or if it's because I put it in the freezer.

Everything went on nice and smooth. That was the only part that pissed me off. Everything else went A-Okay.

 

I've seen and heard of a lot of "critters" found inside and under cars before but a snake INSIDE the trans....I almost spit my coffee on to the computer..

 

Heck I spit my Tea into mine....