# Replaced Valve Cover Gasket, Now Smoke & Burning



## markthree (Aug 20, 2002)

Hey guys,

I know this is always a tough one but I'm struggling a bit and looking for some help in identifying some potential oil leak areas after a valve cover gasket replacement.

My valve cover was leaking quite profusely before but seemed to have stopped on its own. After replacing the gasket, within a minute of starting my car white smoke came up from the passenger side of the car accompanied by a burning smell. I have not had this happen before despite the bad leak earlier. The exhaust manifold looked to be smoking but there didn't appear to be any fresh oil drips on it itself.

The new valve cover itself does not appear to be leaking. 

I took some pictures and noticed that my vacuum pump is leaking and there was a drip on the top of the transmission. Would this cause smoke and burning? The smoke and burning seems to be more coming from the exhaust manifold though.

Picture below the valve cover gasket on the passenger side where some oil looks to be collecting. What would cause such a leak if not the valve cover? In another thread someone mentioned a leak from the rear cam adjuster cover gasket which I am thinking could be the culprit. When I wipe this area down and start the car again, oil looks to collect in this same spot, but no clear trail from the cam adjuster (although certainly possible).
http://imgur.com/a/0z0yX

Picture of my vacuum pump from underneath and what appears to be oil. It doesn't appear that this leak snakes it's way towards the exhaust manifold however.
http://imgur.com/BZwqIIT

Thanks to anyone with any input. I will be doing the vacuum pump and rear cam adjuster gasket but Im wondering if my pictures or symptoms indicate something else entirely is the reason for the smoke and burning.


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## _Riddle (Oct 16, 2015)

Did you spill oil onto the exhaust manifold when you were changing the valve cover gasket? That will definitely cause burning. I'd clean away what you can with a cleaner and then let the car burn off the rest. The vacuum pump may be the culprit, but you'll need to eliminate oil on the exhaust manifold first.


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## markthree (Aug 20, 2002)

_Riddle said:


> Did you spill oil onto the exhaust manifold when you were changing the valve cover gasket? That will definitely cause burning. I'd clean away what you can with a cleaner and then let the car burn off the rest. The vacuum pump may be the culprit, but you'll need to eliminate oil on the exhaust manifold first.


That was my original thought as well, that a bunch dripped down that I didn't notice as I was doing the change. I wiped down the exhaust manifold quite a bit though after the initial smoking, and it doesn't appear there is anything on it as of right now and there is still smoking and burning coming off the manifold.

Is it possible that there is an oil leak right where the exhaust/turbo manifold meets the engine block?


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## Thy_Harrowing (Dec 7, 2014)

No, the exhaust manifold would not leak oil. It seems most likely to me that there is still residual oil around the exhaust manifold or collected on the underside of it that is burning and you just can't see it. It's very difficult to clean up entirely back there, trust me I've been down that road before and even with a very minor leak I could never get it completely squeaky clean afterward without going to extreme measures. It's just too tight back there. So either you just need to clean up better or wait for it to burn off completely. That's assuming you are 1000% sure that your new valve cover/gasket is not leaking at all. Sometimes they can be subtle and I know plenty of people who have replaced valve cover gaskets improperly and still have leaks. Not trying to be a jerk and assume you did anything improperly, but just to be clear: when you replace the valve cover gasket you need to THOROUGHLY clean the mating surface and you DO NOT use RTV or gasket sealer. Yeah, lots of people freak out when I say that and some people just don't want to believe it but it's the truth. Think of those gaskets more like an O-ring; you can put a light coating of oil on them before you install but aside from that they go on dry. They go on dry from the factory. Some people insist on using a gasket sealer but if you do you don't wanna use any typical RTV and you only wanna use is sparingly on the half-moon portion of gasket and the spark plug holes maybe. Most people overuse RTV and it causes issues down the road with the seal so for that reason and since those gaskets are designed to go on dry anyway I wouldn't recommend any.

Anyway, if you didn't make any of those mistakes and if you are 100% sure the gasket is not leaking then you probably just wanna clean up suuuuper thoroughly and replace the vacuum pump at the same time and then see where that gets you. Hold off on the cam timing chain cover until things become more clear. If the oil is leaking from the vac pump it really shouldn't be getting back to the manifold, least I don't see how it would in any significant amount to cause smoke. Same with the cam chain cover because it still isn't directly over the exhaust manifold. Oil leaking from the cam chain cover runs down the the low point of the cover and then drips down over the trans unless it's just absolutely spewing out the back but I'd imagine you would be able to see that.

If you are going to replace the vac pump I have a perfectly good used vac pump available from a part-out and I think I've got a fresh never-used o-ring seal the right size for it too. If you're interested I can ship if you're in COTUS. Would save you a couple-hundred.



*Edit:* P.S. the other remote possibility I failed to mention is that it is possible that your original leak was actually not coming from your valve cover gasket leaking but actually from the camshaft girdle/cage which is what the valve cover/gasket sits on top of. Sometimes people mistake the dreaded camshaft girdle leak for a valve cover gasket leak because the camshaft girdle sits on top of the head and the valve cover gasket sits on top of that so they are sandwiched together and a leak from one can be mistake for the other in certain circumstances. Pray to Christ that isn't the case though because removing the camshaft girdle and resealing it is an absolute PITA! You might want to inspect the seal all the way around the camshaft girdle, especially in the back around where your original leak was. If it is in the back left or especially back right corner you will want some inspections mirrors or a snake-cam to inspect back there properly without removing the valve cover again. The sealant VW uses on those cam girdles is very hardcore stuff but it can degrade over years and many miles. What year/how many miles on the car?


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## markthree (Aug 20, 2002)

Thy_Harrowing said:


> No, the exhaust manifold would not leak oil. It seems most likely to me that there is still residual oil around the exhaust manifold or collected on the underside of it that is burning and you just can't see it. It's very difficult to clean up entirely back there, trust me I've been down that road before and even with a very minor leak I could never get it completely squeaky clean afterward without going to extreme measures. It's just too tight back there. So either you just need to clean up better or wait for it to burn off completely. That's assuming you are 1000% sure that your new valve cover/gasket is not leaking at all. Sometimes they can be subtle and I know plenty of people who have replaced valve cover gaskets improperly and still have leaks. Not trying to be a jerk and assume you did anything improperly, but just to be clear: when you replace the valve cover gasket you need to THOROUGHLY clean the mating surface and you DO NOT use RTV or gasket sealer. Yeah, lots of people freak out when I say that and some people just don't want to believe it but it's the truth. Think of those gaskets more like an O-ring; you can put a light coating of oil on them before you install but aside from that they go on dry. They go on dry from the factory. Some people insist on using a gasket sealer but if you do you don't wanna use any typical RTV and you only wanna use is sparingly on the half-moon portion of gasket and the spark plug holes maybe. Most people overuse RTV and it causes issues down the road with the seal so for that reason and since those gaskets are designed to go on dry anyway I wouldn't recommend any.
> 
> Anyway, if you didn't make any of those mistakes and if you are 100% sure the gasket is not leaking then you probably just wanna clean up suuuuper thoroughly and replace the vacuum pump at the same time and then see where that gets you. Hold off on the cam timing chain cover until things become more clear. If the oil is leaking from the vac pump it really shouldn't be getting back to the manifold, least I don't see how it would in any significant amount to cause smoke. Same with the cam chain cover because it still isn't directly over the exhaust manifold. Oil leaking from the cam chain cover runs down the the low point of the cover and then drips down over the trans unless it's just absolutely spewing out the back but I'd imagine you would be able to see that.
> 
> ...


Thanks Thy_Harrowing, appreciate your detailed response. Yea I suppose maybe I need to just let the care run for longer than 30 seconds each time to really let everything burn off, I'm perhaps being a little too cautious in this respect. Yes I suppose the valve cover gasket could still be leaking, I would say I was very thorough in my cleaning of both surfaces and I did not use RTV, the gasket is also OEM.

Yea I read about the cam girdle cage issue in another forum thread and it definitely sounds a lot more involved. Hoping I can get away without having to deal with that right now cause it looks ugly.

It's a 2006 with 87,000 miles.

Thanks for the offer of the vacuum pump, I am unfortunately not in the COTUS, up in Canada with the snow and moose.


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## Thy_Harrowing (Dec 7, 2014)

In that case I doubt the new valve cover gasket is leaking since you followed correct procedures. To be 100% certain check those tricky corners where the cover itself conceals the gasket (especially back right corner) by using a small handheld mirror. They are also good for checking the cam timing cover. Also while the car is sorta getting up there in age the mileage is pretty low, I rather doubt the cam girdle sealant has degraded at this point. Seems increasingly likely that it's residual oil from prior. Maybe a really thorough degreasing is in order if it doesn't burn off pretty quickly. Maybe check the rear PCV breather hose that goes from VC to top of turbo on passenger side. They can crack and leak with age, underside could be cracked and hard to spot. Although you just had the VC off so I imagine you woulda noticed if that hose was damaged. 

That's all I can think of. I can look into shipping to Canada if you like. Last time I looked into it shipping was pricey but then again the item was bigger too. Even if it's a bit pricey would still save you a bundle. Your call, let me know.


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