Valve Cover Gasket / Front Timing Cover Questions

[Randy4Landys]

Hello all. After pulling my skid plates to start in on fluid changes for my difs and transfer case I noticed some oil leaks I hadn't seen before. It's not leaking enough to leave any on the garage floor, or on the underside of the skid plates, but there is definitely oil strewn about. Looks like one is the Vacuum pump which seems straight forward enough to deal with, I'll start with replacing all the gaskets on that one. From best I can tell, it looks like I have a leak coming from the frontside of my passenger side valve cover gasket and/or my front timing cover. I've attached some photos below to show what I'm seeing. I checked all the other threads on these issues which were very helpful in getting me pointed in the right direction. But had a few questions I wanted to clarify before diving in...

1) Based on the pictures is there any way to tell if the leak is coming from the valve cover gasket or the front timing cover? It's just a mess in that area...is there anyway to more clearly diagnose? I suppose I could clean the entire area off, then monitor after driving to see if I could se more clearly where the leak is originating? Also, fyi the drivers side valve cover gasket and timing cover are both bone dry.

2) I got a quote from my local independent shop for $3K to replace both side's valve cover gaskets. Might need to save up a bit for that one, am I risking any damage by letting it be leaking for a while longer? It's not currently leaking like dripping oil, seems more like seeping.

3) I'm somewhat mechanically inclined and have done a fair amount of work on my Land Rovers and Audi's, but from what I have seen of this repair, this would definitely be the most complex I'd have undertaken. For anyone that has DIY'd this repair, where would you rate in on the shittyness scale? I've got the time, no hair so I can't pull out anymore, and all the tools but the injector puller...

4) If I do move forward with the repair (myself or at the shop), are there any other things I should repair or address while I'm balls deep in the engine?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Oh, btw it's a 2011 LR4 with 138K miles in the clock.

 

[16FujiDisco]

1- I think it’s the VCG; front passenger side seems to be where most leaks start on these for some reason. I could be wrong but I think the timing cover leaks a little lower than the top usually; mine did at least.

2- price sounds about right, just a lot of labor time to get to it; supercharger and intake need to come off. What mileage you at? I might would do it in conjunction with coolant crossover maintenance if possible. No real threat of damage, just keep an eye on your alternator going out due to oil / grime buildup.

3- do it yourself; not difficult just tedious. Like #1, there’s other maintenance that can be done at the same time. Coolant pipes, spark plugs, intake cleaning etc.

4- see 1 and 3; I’ll also add supercharger maintenance like oil, solid coupler

 

[jlglr4]

seeping valve cover or timing cover can generally wait unless its getting on your alternator or belts. since the injectors need to come out, you should probably think about replacing them as well. at the very least you need a seal kit to put them back in.

 

[Randy4Landys]

Thanks for the reply @16FujiDisco. I'm in the 5.0 V8 so I don't have any of the supercharger maintanence to worry about. I'm at 138K. Thanks for the encouragement, doing it myself would definitely make taking care of some of the other items while I'm in there.

 

[powershift]

I had a shop do my valve covers and spark plugs while they were in there, not sure what I paid but it was worth it lol. It looks pretty tight in there with the 5.0L V8 near the heads on either side, just those insulator pieces that go between the body and the head alone frustrate me. One side is up against the body and it just sucks all around to deal with. I had an oil leak in the front from the brake vacuum pump and replacing that fixed it, but I'm not sure what you are referencing in the pics.

 

[BBLR3]

I did mine myself. Hardest part is probably getting the fuel rails off of the injectors, then pulling the injectors. If your going that far, replace the spark plugs as well. Besides the puller, you will also need to get the injector seal sizing tool (amazon). Theres a couple of good threads in this forum about doing this job with some links to videos. You can really see what you are getting into by watching the videos.

 

[Rberkel]

Don't bother replacing the gaskets on the vacuum pump. Won't work. Get a new genuine or Pierburg pump (upgraded). There are a lot of cheap copies for sale but I wouldn't try those.
Be aware that there are ppl on fleabay selling "Genuine" pumps for about $150 (incl. the fake labels) but they are chinese copies. Same as the $50 ones.

 

[CPalacay]

Don't bother replacing the gaskets on the vacuum pump. Won't work. Get a new genuine or Pierburg pump (upgraded).

Why wouldn’t replacing the gasket with a genuine one work if it’s just an oil leak and nothing else? Just curious as this is on my list of “While I’m in there” things to do when I do the timing chains next weekend.

 

[16FujiDisco]

Why wouldn’t replacing the gasket with a genuine one work if it’s just an oil leak and nothing else? Just curious as this is on my list of “While I’m in there” things to do when I do the timing chains next weekend.

It absolutely will work; I just did this job on mine and it fixed my leak from the cover. I used the kit from RKXTech and replaced all seals

 

[John Higgins]

If you're going as far as replacing the VCG's, you may as well reseal the timing cover while you're in there. If it's the pax timing cover it will destroy your alternator. Ask me how I know .
Also be aware that the valve covers can warp over time and the gaskets alone will not fix the leak. If you're at 140K with the original valve covers; you may want to budget for new covers too. It would be a shame to have to redo the job. This coming from a guy with a 2011 who replaced both valve cover gaskets at around 90K (Dealer did the work under an extended warranty at the time) only to go back in and redo it with the new valve covers a few K later.
I've resealed the vacuum pump with a kit from RXTech with good success.