Valve Cover Gaskets A No Go

[Jaxstarke99]

Both my valve cover gaskets were discovered to be leaking during a recent oil change on my 2003 Bonnie SE. I bought some Fel Pro gaskets and grommets and had every intention of doing the repair myself but 5 minutes under the hood and I knew that wasn't going to happen. There is just so much stuff I'd have to attempt to remove in some really tight spots in order to even be able to access the valve covers. It's ridiculous. Called my mechanic and he wants $200 for the job. On top of that I recently had my tie rod ends and wheel hub assemblies changed and now I have a chirping type sound coming from the front left tire area when I make a right hand turn. The harder and faster the turn the more intense the sound. Sounds like putting glass marbles in a glass mason jar and twirling them around. Any ideas as to what that could be?

[95naSTA]

If they didnt torque the axle nuts correctly, your wheel bearings could get loose and make the noise you're describing. You would need to get the wheels off the ground to check for play.

[cvcman]

start the car, leave it running and jack up the right side front of the car as high as you can and let me know if you hear the noise...let me know if you do and ill tell you what it is

[redfury]

The rear cover is certainly a PITA, but to be honest, you can do it if you have enough mechanical knowledge to work on cars, if it's not an SSEi that is. You need to remove the alternator, alternator brace and a couple of other things to get access to the rear cover. What I needed to do when putting the new gasket/cover back on was to use a small dab of automotive silicon to hold the gasket in the cover because it kept falling off when I tried to slip it over the valve train. The bolts only get about 89 in/lbs of torque. It's not a quick job, but it's not an impossible job either. I bet if you look hard enough, you'll find a video on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKqjIgY-fJQ

[harofreak00]

If you work delicately, you can remove the rear valve cover without completely removing the alternator bracket, thus leaving the cooling system intact. Just remove the 3-15mm bolts and gently work the bracket out at an angle watching the coolant elbows.