Nick and I replace the valve cover gasket and spark plugs
When we had the alternator replaced, the garage said we had a mild oil leak from the valve cover. The gasket was pretty cheap, and it was a simple job of removing 12 bolts and a few hoses, so I thought Nick and I would do the work at home. He gets the chance to learn about car maintenance, and I save some $.
From the manufacturer maintenance schedule. Includes overdue items — verify whether any were already done.
Mazda Valve Cover Gasket
Valve Cover Gasket- Brand
- Mazda
- Part no.
- L501-10-230
NGK Spark plug ×4
Spark plug- Brand
- NGK
- Part no.
- LTR5IX-11
- Quantity
- 4
Performance Tool Feeler gauges (32)
Feeler gauges (32)- Brand
- Performance Tool
- Part no.
- W125C
We did the work on Sunday, and it was pretty straight forward. Of course, YouTube was our guide. There are quite a lot of videos on replacing the gasket, but this one was short and to the point.
We had the cover off in about 15 minutes.
And the new gasket was very easy to replace. The old one had hardened pretty bad and around one spark plug was a decent pool of oil, so clearly leaking.
The most difficult part was removing some of the clips that sit over the top of the bolts that connect to the wires for the ignition coils. But after some slim screwdrivers were inserted inside, we quickly figured out how to release them without breaking them.
All in all, done in under an hour. We replaced the gasket and the plugs.