TheSamba.com :: View topic - Rubber valve cover gaskets (I know, I was warned)

Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:40 pm

For the first time in my almost 40 year VW experience, I used rubber VC gaskets. I ran out of the cork (how could that happen?) and went to the nearby Kragen. All they had was rubber. I had a long drive the next day and wanted to adjust the valves, so I thoguht, how bad could it be?

Got my answer. After driving through the mountains and high desert for about 40 miles all was well. Got me home, too. Love my '71 fasty! She takes car of me, always has for 38 years.

But as I walked out of the garage, I saw the oil drip trail up the driveway. Not just a little, mind you, but almost a continuous line! Puddle was forming under the right heat exchanger.

It was the damn rubber VC gasket. It must have just happened before I pulled in, because I got no light and it was almost a steady line of oil now.

Never again. Cork it is.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:15 pm

I've never even seen the rubber version. Glad you made it home OK!

Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:59 pm

were they fel-pro brand?

Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:56 pm

Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:58 pm

were they pure rubber or the rubber/cork compund gasket?the straight rubber ones i've had complaints out of but not the others.you have to peel the box open to see which they are cause it's a crap shoot.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:25 pm

i used fel-pro ribber with a thin coat of gasket sealer on both sides of gasket.
it still leaked like a seive. swapped to cork viola! problem solved.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:49 pm

All rubber. All crap.

I got a dozen sets of cork/rubber from Small Car in Reseda, and I know those will work. I'll change them out this weekend.

Then clean up the mess.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:02 pm

yeah we rarely have anybody come into work looking for vw stuff but when they do I tell them I'd rather they let me get them stuff from my garage instead of the crap we sell :lol:

now the bearings and tune up stuff is no problem but the gaskets...forget about it.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:13 pm

I bought a fel-pro engine gasket set at my work. It was just an elring kit repackaged. Weird that fel-pro still included their rubber valve cover gaskets in the box when there were already a set of cork gaskets in the sealed elring kit inside the box. I just trashed those rubber valve cover gaskets.