I have just changed my front rocker cover gasket and tube seals. Will do the rear one when I have time.

The car seems smoother and more powerful now.
Is this my imagination or could this be the case?

The PCV tubes (might be mistaken as to their name) were sludged and I cleared them out.
The spark plugs were clean, but the leads had a bit of oil around them that I wiped off. None went near the plugs.

Car was losing about half a liter of oil per 1,000km which I attribute to the rocker cover gaskets leaking (I smell the oil burning on the exhaust manifolds on 15 minute + trips and can see it leaking onto them)

Bump anyone?

The PCV tubes (might be mistaken as to their name) were sludged and I cleared them out.


^ This could equal smoother.

Can you explain the theory behind it please?

It maintains idle quality, so it restricts flow when vauumm pressure in the manifold is high, if its blocked it will not perform the way it should basically.

Car was losing about half a liter of oil per 1,000km which I attribute to the rocker cover gaskets leaking (I smell the oil burning on the exhaust manifolds on 15 minute + trips and can see it leaking onto them)

Hi Spetz, I've had the same issue on mine (ie oil burning smell). Can anyone comment about these gaskets being a major job or can it lead to anything serious? Last oil change @ 10K I didn't notice much oil loss however.

If they are leaking they need to be replaced, simple. The front is not too bad provided you know how to reform the rocker cover, the rear one needs the upper inlet removed and in addition to this dont forget the thrust cap and dist seals can also leak over time

If they are leaking they need to be replaced, simple. The front is not too bad provided you know how to reform the rocker cover, the rear one needs the upper inlet removed and in addition to this dont forget the thrust cap and dist seals can also leak over time

if gaskets are newish (less than 10,000km) and the covers are warped, can the gaskets be re-used after correcting the covers assuming that there's no damage to the gaskets themselves?

Really depends on the condition of the gasket to be honest, if no visible damage no reason why not, just make sure the covers are correctly re shaped prior to putting back on