hello all, i have a 1998 audi a6 2.8
i was wondering how hard is it to change a valve cover gaskets?
ive seen a video on youtube and the guy took off the bumper and healights.
would this job be easy to DIY?

 

it is not very difficult. it is very time consuming. to just do the valve cover gaskets and the half moon seals, you do not need to remove the front bumper. if you are doing the cam seals and/or the crank seal, then you need to at least put the car into the service position (moving the lock carrier forward), or remove the bumper and go "whole hog"

it is my understanding that if you order the valve cover gasket kit from blauparts, they include a very thorough set of instructions for doing the job. any work on our cars is pretty time consuming, but essentially if you can turn a wrench, it is pretty straightforward. be sure to research the job and definitely have a plan going in. I am by no means a mechanic, but I did perform the timing belt service on my car using a bunch of DIYs and the advice found here in the forums. it did probably take me close to 20 hours in labor, due mostly to "mistakes" that I had to go back and correct. I feel that if I had to do it again, I could be done in 6-8 hours.

good luck

have fun

 

thanks. while i was looking around on how to get the gasket cover off. how would i go about taking off the spark plug wires? just pull them out thats it?
if i posted up pics with the problems im having will you guys help me?
tge mechanic is charging $410 just to change the gaskets

 

I'm not 100% sure on your 2.8 but I believe that your spark plug wires should just pull straight out. you do have to be a bit careful because there is a plastic "stalk" that goes from the flexible part of the wire, down to the top of the plug. you will also need an extension for your spark plug socket to reach down the hole to the top of the plug

 

Replacing the valve cover gaskets will run you a couple of hours the first time. After that, you can do them in 45 minutes. Be really careful with the pcv plastic pipe and vacuum pipes. IF you haven't replaced it for awhile, it my disintegrate on you.