Timing chain cover gasket

You need sealant on that gasket. Permatex Ultra Black should work fine. GW

I've never used any sealant on any of the Quad timing cover gaskets. Are you sure that's where the leak is coming from? Are you talking about the gaskets between the timing chain housing and the block, or the timing chain housing and the flat cover on the front of that? If it's a major oil leak, I'd be more suspicious of the gaskets between the camshaft housings and the timing chain housing. You can get fooled by those gaskets, as they have a strip of sealant on one side of the gasket, but the strip faces the housing on one camshaft and the front cover on the other. If you reverse either one of them, it will not seal properly. I hope this isn't the problem, as you will be taking a fair bit of the engine back apart again.

These are the two gaskets that I'm referring to.....you can see the oil passage at the bottom of each housing, and you can see how each housing is a mirror image of the other.

Thanks for the response and you hit the nail right on the head! I had put one of the cam housing gaskets on backwards. This was the first time I worked on this Quad 4 engine and I hope it's the last! My son had received an estimate, site unseen, of at least $2,000 from a local garage to replace the head gasket and I originally thought that, that was a ridiculously high figure. However, after actually doing the job I can see why they would charge so much! Boy, that's a hard engine to work on! The job still ended up costing around $500 as the cylinder head was warped so badly that it had to be replaced. God only knows what the final tab would have been from a dealership or a garage when you factor in their high labor cost.

Thanks again

Gene from Georgia

It is a fairly complex engine to work on. Kudo's to you for being able to get the job done. Believe me, there are professionals who have made the same mistake you did. I've never made "this" particular mistake, but I have seen other's do it and fortunately have learned from their mistakes. I've made many other mistakes, but the mistakes only help you to tighten up your repair procedures, and help other's before they make the same mistake.

No problem, that's why I post here.

Ian