possible valve cover leak?? any takers?!

[C.Palmer]

Well first off, I battle the stupid SES light because of a code 1441 of the EGR valve. I thought I'd try pulling it all out, cleaning, and replacing all gaskets before replacing the spendy valve. Well that was a waste of $30 in gaskets. The problem I have is when the car is under a load (i.e. going up hill at about 2000 RPM's), I hear this clicking/gurgling noise coming from under the hood (sounds like passenger side near the EGR valve.) It seems to be a little loud to be injectors...

I know the EGR valve needs replaced, but it is still functional for now and I don't expect much gain by replacing it. Another concern I have is that grimy build-up of oil/dirt around the valve covers. I don't keep the engine too clean this time of year, but it looks like I haven't touched it in ages. Is this normal? Could I be hearing the valve covers leaking??

Any help would be great...

Oh and I sprayed the hell out of my TB with TB cleaner last night... WOW what a difference!! That was a serious carbon build up... i highly recommend adopting a habit of cleaning the TB once a month [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[jamie]

my valve covers seals are leaking. so maybe...
i don't think they are making any noises though.

[C.Palmer]

I'm going to go out and tighten them down today and see if that helps for now. But does anyone know what that click/gurgle noise is that I'm talking about? It's real faint for the most part but becomes resonably audible once it's under a load at lower RPM's or WOT... it drives me crazy and i'm tired of turning up the stereo to drown it out :D

[CARdiac]

A valve cover leak usually doesn't make noise...and EGR leak does...sounds like a valve tapping or worse depending on the size of the leak

[C.Palmer]

Thanks Joel, thats kind of what I was thinking too. But what got me wondering was the fact that only the passenger side valve cover right under the EGR valve seemed to be springing a minor leak... everything on the driver side is clean.

Damn EGR valve... they want WAAAYY too much money for them :mad:

[CARdiac]

Mine was leaking too, so I did an engine clean and found that what is actually leaking in the rubber portion of the vent that goes into the air intake(inserts into the valve cover)....clean us the engine bay and look for the leak.

I agree about the EGR, mine is new and I replaced most of the gaskets and I still get the SES code...I ended up just cutting the wire to the ses light. I would replace the gaskets before I replaced the EGR...and I would make sure the EGR is actually malfunctioning before replaceing it,

[ March 31, 2002: Message edited by: CARdiac ]</p>