A New ALH valve cover GASKET ONLY>?

I have a spare leaky valve cover on the shelf.
I have a really leaky valve cover installed on the car.
I have another leaky one in a car I'm working on.
I don't want to spend $200 on a new one.
I know I can just slather RTV all over the seal and it "might" work, but probably won't.
I read a lot. I understand the gasket "is NOT" replaceable separately.
But, they DO exist, and they ARE sold separately. Yes I know full well that "he who shall not be named" sells them, as well as others on ebay.

I have a simple question: has anyone here actually tried to use one? Success or failure, I would like to hear from someone who has. These are cheap, and I think I can find a way to remove the old gasket.
I can't find any threads where anyone actually admits to trying it, so now's your chance.

Thanks in advance!

I removed my old seal, and made one with RTV laid it on thick and let it sit, seems to be doing the trick, to remove it you have to scrape off as much of the original seal as possible, than get a dremel with the wire brush to clean up the remainder of the seal on the valve cover. I didn't install the valve cover back on the car until the RTV had set. Tried putting it on the car when wet, the passenger side of the valve cover would always scrape and mess up the wet RTV. If I remember correctly rockautoparts has a part number for the valve cover seal.

TimDI said:

I removed my old seal, and made one with RTV laid it on thick and let it sit, seems to be doing the trick, to remove it you have to scrape off as much of the original seal as possible, than get a dremel with the wire brush to clean up the remainder of the seal on the valve cover. I didn't install the valve cover back on the car until the RTV had set. Tried putting it on the car when wet, the passenger side of the valve cover would always scrape and mess up the wet RTV. If I remember correctly rockautoparts has a part number for the valve cover seal.

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i looked at rockauto's site and the listing is for the older tdi's ahu/1z/afn, and pd's both have replaceable gaskets ... no listing there for ALH

Oh they are out there, I just don't want to start a fight by mentioning where I found them...

And I think anyone with knowledge of this place knows who you are speaking of. I would love to try one out, but I would not be able to do so until spring time when it is tolerable to work on the car outside.

We're talking about someone who ruined many tdi engines with his c.r.a.p. Please don't, by principle.

I rather have clean conscience than a clean oil free valve cover.

You know, good things can come from bad situations/bad people too.

Just because there may be 98% bad, there's still a 2% part that may be genius. That's why we have brains to differentiate what is good and what is not good. Even experimentation with bad results is good research. I like to keep an open mind to good ideas, and I like to judge myself what may be appropriate or not.


I too would like to know a source for a gasket like this. I've been toying with the idea of making one with gasket maker, but a gasket would be best.
I'm sure if I've searched intensively I'd find one, but there's no reason to withhold anything.


[edit] Yep, just as I suspected, it's "prothe" of hans auto parts. The seller that "myturbodiesel" and to-an-extent tdiclub has a ridiculous crusade against. Not arguing with anyone for their reasoning, but if we can find another vendor or the manufacturer of that gasket, it would be excellent. For $6, it's definitely worth a shot, more so than gasket maker.

I replaced the gasket I think I got it on e-bay 19.95. Took a dreamil tool and 4 wire wheels to get it out about a hour of cleaning have 10000 miles on it and does not leak . Make sure you put rv sealer in the 4 corners before you replace it .

snakeye said:

We're talking about someone who ruined many tdi engines with his c.r.a.p. Please don't, by principle.

I rather have clean conscience than a clean oil free valve cover.

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Normally I would agree with you, but as per principal, I say neigh. Caveat emptor is what I would say. As per an oil free valve cover, I'd rather have an oil free intake, exhaust manifold, motor, exhaust pipe, underside of my car, skid plate, garage floor, etc. And I'd rather have the remaining ~ $150 in my pocket. Maybe you get my point?

Selway- Thank you for your input. This is the kind of reply I was looking for.

Enabled- A crusade indeed. Although I have never purchased anything from him personally, I've been reading and posting on this site for better than a decade. I don't know how long a grudge is supposed to last, but sheesh! Seems the problem isn't where it's made, but in who sells it? I personally have more problem with china made junk than most people, but sometimes the economics of the situation are hard to argue with.

DCELL said:

Selway- Thank you for your input. This is the kind of reply I was looking for.

Enabled- A crusade indeed. Although I have never purchased anything from him personally, I've been reading and posting on this site for better than a decade. I don't know how long a grudge is supposed to last, but sheesh! Seems the problem isn't where it's made, but in who sells it? I personally have more problem with china made junk than most people, but sometimes the economics of the situation are hard to argue with.

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how long you ask ?.... well he still sells engine destroying timing belt kits and makes no reparations for the damage caused other than offering more substandard junk ! feed the beast if you want but count your fingers when you're done

Jim, you always put things so eloquently !

So how does he get BBB accredited anyway?

Replacing it with any gasket worthless or not and using a good Permatex gasket sealer on both sides will be leak free.

DCELL said:

I have a spare leaky valve cover on the shelf.

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You couldn't have posted this a couple months ago...

I would have been willing to try it out on mine.

Why not just get the part number from "he who shall not be named" and then source one from a reputable place?

Abacus said:

Why not just get the part number from "he who shall not be named" and then source one from a reputable place?

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While I'm not the OP, I did as stated above. The number "crap parts jackwagon" has listed, cross references to a BEW and some BHW engine, valve cover gasket. Which, if it is a "common" one, ID Parts and ECS Tuning sells them. Here's the part number "garbage chinese automotive junk man" has listed: 038103483. In searching that number I found that 038103483D is more specific.

All of the engine parts diagrams on the VW parts dealers' websites show the gasket as a separate part (Item #5 in the example below), but that item is not listed.

Example:

http://keffervwparts.com/parts/1999...gram=F510050&diagramCallOut=4&vehicleid=90404

Just an idea here but what is the ALH engine coded as overseas in, say, Europe? Like what would be mechanically the same as an ALH but for Europe? Then try searching that ?

JDSwan87 said:

Just an idea here but what is the ALH engine coded as overseas in, say, Europe? Like what would be mechanically the same as an ALH but for Europe? Then try searching that ?

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Quick Google search shows that the following are in the same "family" as the ALH: 1Z, AHU, AGR, AHH, ALE, AFN, AHF, ASV, AVB, and AVG.

1854sailor said:

Quick Google search shows that the following are in the same "family" as the ALH: 1Z, AHU, AGR, AHH, ALE, AFN, AHF, ASV, AVB, and AVG.

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Not correct.... The ALH is a complete redesign versus some of the engines in that list.

ALH, AGR, and ASV are all similar engines. AVG is a gasser motor....

vanbcguy said:

Not correct.... The ALH is a complete redesign versus some of the engines in that list.

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turbocharged798 said:

ALH, AGR, and ASV are all similar engines. AVG is a gasser motor….

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I just did a Google search and came up with this Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Volkswagen_Group_diesel_engines

All of those engine codes are listed as diesels. Scroll down to this heading: 1.9 R4 TDI 29-81kW

JDSwan87 said:

I found that 038103483D is more specific.

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ECS-Tuning shows it... has anyone tried it? I suppose If I ever put in an order there, I'll throw one in just to see... (their aftermarket version is quite reasonably priced...)

Yuri

ymz said:

ECS-Tuning shows it... has anyone tried it? I suppose If I ever put in an order there, I'll throw one in just to see... (their aftermarket version is quite reasonably priced...)

Yuri

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Just realize that number is referenced to a BEW motor. "Sir crappy parts" has the aforementioned part number as fitting an ALH...

yep. the crappy parts place seems to be the only game in town other than a fleabay seller or two. All of these posts are things that I already checked out in my searching. If ECS had them, I would have bought one a year ago. I suppose I'll just just buy a new cover. Whatever. It's only money right?

1854sailor said:

I just did a Google search and came up with this Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Volkswagen_Group_diesel_engines

All of those engine codes are listed as diesels. Scroll down to this heading: 1.9 R4 TDI 29-81kW

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Just because they are diesels doesn't mean they are even remotely similar. When the Mk4 platform came along VW did a clean sheet design basically starting from scratch on their engines, abandoning the basic block design they started with in their first water cooled engines in the 1970s.

The valve cover which is the subject of this thread was totally new on the ALH. VW changed to a cast valve cover with a "permanent" gasket integrated in to it. From VW's perspective it was no longer a replaceable part; you are supposed to replace the entire cover if it won't seal any more. The earlier engines mostly had stamped steel covers with cork and then later rubber gaskets. The permanent gasket on the later engines works better in general but it is part of the valve cover. Hence why the only gasket anyone is finding for sale comes from a dodgy parts vendor with a poor reputation; it isn't a part that is supposed to exist.

The shape of the valve cover stayed the same across all the pre-Mk4 engines EXCEPT for the 1Z/AHU. They have a unique shape that was only used on those early TDIs. The Mk4 +engines have completely different dimensions and seals from the earlier generation.

vanbcguy said:

From VW's perspective it was no longer a replaceable part; you are supposed to replace the entire cover if it won't seal any more.

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Correction... that should read:

"From VW's perspective it was no longer a replaceable part; you are supposed to replace the entire vehicle if it won't seal any more."


Yuri

When I look on rockauto it is shown under p/n JM5203 and the manufacturer is Payen.