One of the next things on my to-do list is to replace the valve cover gasket on my '04 R53 m/c/s.

Are there any opinions on which gasket to go with? Apart from the OEM (Victor Reinz?) gasket, I'm also considering the Fel-Pro.

Thoughts?

 

I believe a member on here loves the Felpro gaskets. He goes over the gasket and fitment at this post here, although for an R56. Maybe reach out to him and see what else he has to say. Otherwise, Genuine and Victor Reinz are good products and fairly cheap. DIY here if needed for the job.

 

All of those brands will be fine. Stop stressing, it's not a Subaru.

 

Sorry, but I put a felpro on and it split in about a months time - took me forever to find the source of the smoky smell - it was oozing down the back and onto the exhaust manifold, so no drips to see. Replaced with OEM and no more trouble...

 

Not stressing at all, and it turns out that "all of those brands" didn't work out. I would be stressing if a gasket failed in one month's time, as it did for David.R53 below... And as to Subarus, my wife's car is a Subaru, as was her last one which had 240,000 on the odometer when we parted with it. No gasket/oil leak issues with either.

Thanks for sharing your experience... Exactly why I posed the inquiry. Not interested in failures one month after replacing a gasket.

OEM gasket, it will be!

 

I went with the Victor Reinz -- and it was very good. You should also get the round gasket seals that seal the Spark Plug wells at the same time. Be forewarned getting those things out suck - they are in there very tight.

Be careful placing the valve cover gasket on the ground to get leverage for the aforementioned gaskets - I snapped the PCV valve on mine -- whoops. Took an extra 3 days while I waited for one to be shipped... luckily my car is only driven 2 days a week.

 

I installed a Fel-pro about 2 months ago and I'm leaking. Not sure what room for user error there it's but the bolts are down tight and I made sure it was popped into the cover properly.

 

I installed a victor reinz over the summer and haven't had any issues so far. You guys sure you installed your gaskets correctly? a month or two seems way too short, even if it isn't the best gasket. You know there is a tightening order for the valve cover bolts, right?

 

And I have a torque wrench and I'm not afraid to use it!!!

 

Seriously, the felpro I installed just split. Was seated in the groove, bolts torqued properly. The rubber felt a little softer (like it was a lower density foam) compared to the OEM seal, but that is just my impression of it. I have not tried the victor reinz version

 

I had to replace a cracked valve cover this past spring and put an OEM gasket in it, it's still bone dry.

 

The oem one works fine. Just make sure you prep its and watch that hardware at it tends to rust.

The gasket ( 11121485838 ) is not too bad, its those old rusted bolts that can be a pain if the heads are rusted.

Hardware linked:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...er-screws.html




Valve cover gasket set here: 11121485838


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/11121485838/

 

I think Fel-Pro used to be great but now not so much. Over the last 10 years or so I have had multiple problems with Fel-Pro gaskets/seals and no problems with OEM gasket/seals. I now stay away from Fel-Pro.

 

Yeah I'm seeing a lot of people agree with this. I'll get an oem one soon from Amazon. Super cheap and free shipping.

 

I got the victor reinz kit from ECS...has been doing well for a few months now. I don't drive very much though.

 

Interesting. I don't buy from ECS because their shipping to California is stupid expensive. It's easier for me to order from a local mini shop or on Amazon. Easy, Google the part no from realoem, find the best price, click buy.

 

I try to support local/small businesses as much I can. Also having a background in retail I know that most businesses cannot compete with Amazon's prices (dynamic), free shipping etc..

I like getting things cheap as much as anyone but if everyone scrambles to get the lowest price you end up with just 1 player in the marketplace. Next time you drive to your local mini shop they might not be there if the behavior continues.....Also -- I don't see amazon all over this forum helping me to install things....

 

Thanks for the support Kahn.

 

Same to you guys for supporting the community. Another order coming in a few weeks probably. Need to find to drive the car let alone take it apart.

 

Great, thanks. Enjoy this weather is been nice the last couple days here up north. Bet its busy in NYC.