Pontiac Trans Sport Valve Cover Gasket Replacement Costs

Estimate price near me

Service Location

Customer Ratings

Included for free with this service

Online Booking

Mechanic comes to you

12-month / 12k-mile warranty

Free 50 point safety inspection

Our certified mobile mechanics can come to your home or office 7 days a week between 7 AM and 9 PM.

See availability

Customer Ratings

Valve Cover Gasket Replacement Service

How much does a Valve Cover Gasket Replacement cost?

On average, the cost for a Pontiac Trans Sport Valve Cover Gasket Replacement is $378 with $140 for parts and $238 for labor. Prices may vary depending on your location.

Car	Service	Estimate	Shop/Dealer Price
1999 Pontiac Trans SportV6-3.4L	Service typeValve Cover Gasket Replacement	Estimate$1171.82	Shop/Dealer Price$1359.33 - $1897.54
1996 Pontiac Trans SportV6-3.4L	Service typeValve Cover Gasket Replacement	Estimate$710.24	Shop/Dealer Price$808.07 - $1092.08
1991 Pontiac Trans SportV6-3.1L	Service typeValve Cover Gasket Replacement	Estimate$1182.00	Shop/Dealer Price$1325.09 - $1735.95
1993 Pontiac Trans SportV6-3.1L	Service typeValve Cover Gasket Replacement	Estimate$1211.19	Shop/Dealer Price$1354.65 - $1765.79
1998 Pontiac Trans SportV6-3.4L	Service typeValve Cover Gasket Replacement	Estimate$812.43	Shop/Dealer Price$916.04 - $1204.38
1994 Pontiac Trans SportV6-3.8L	Service typeValve Cover Gasket Replacement	Estimate$528.78	Shop/Dealer Price$602.33 - $815.33
1997 Pontiac Trans SportV6-3.4L	Service typeValve Cover Gasket Replacement	Estimate$812.43	Shop/Dealer Price$911.67 - $1196.73
1990 Pontiac Trans SportV6-3.1L	Service typeValve Cover Gasket Replacement	Estimate$1182.00	Shop/Dealer Price$1325.08 - $1735.94

Show example Pontiac Trans Sport Valve Cover Gasket Replacement prices

What is a valve cover gasket and how does it work?

Each cylinder head on your car’s engine has an aluminum or plastic valve cover bolted to it. Between this valve cover and the cylinder head, there is a gasket that keeps engine oil from leaking out. The valve cover bolts keep the gasket compressed, thus preventing leaks. Over time the gasket becomes brittle from the engine’s heat or the bolts loosen, creating an engine oil leak.

When to consider replacing a valve cover gasket?

Look for these signs of oil leakage at the valve cover gasket:

Oil seepage or dripping. Should the joint between the valve cover and the cylinder head fail, oil often becomes visible on the valve cover or cylinder heads. Usually, the oil will attract and hold dirt.
Oil accumulating inside the spark plug well. The spark plug tube seals are part of the valve cover sealing system. If the tube seals are leaking, you will see oil on the spark plugs or wires. The valve cover gasket and tube seals are all replaced at one time if either fails.
Oil leakage at the rubber grommets. The bolts holding the valve cover to the cylinder head sometimes have rubber grommet seals under the bolt heads. If these seals are leaking, you will see oil seepage around the bolt heads.

How do mechanics replace a valve cover gasket?

Remove engine cover. Some engines have plastic covers over the entire top. The plastic engine cover is removed to access the valve cover(s).
Remove components. On 4 cylinder engines, the valve cover is usually readily accessed once any electrical components and emission control tubing are removed, plus any accelerator linkages that might be in the way. On 6 or 8 cylinder engines, depending on which valve cover gasket is leaking, removal of the air intake plenum might be required, as well as additional steps.
Remove valve cover. Once the valve cover(s) is accessed, the cover retaining bolts are removed and the cover pulled off. The valve cover sealing surface is checked with a straight edge to be sure the cover is flat and thus reusable.
Install new gasket. The new valve cover gasket is applied along with new rubber grommets under the retaining bolt heads. If there are spark plug tube seals, these are replaced as well. In some applications, oil resistant RTV (room temperature vulcanization) sealant must be applied to specific segments of the sealing surface, along with the new gasket, to ensure a complete and effective seal. The cover is bolted back on, using a calibrated inch pound torque wrench, and all other components are restored to their original position.
Check for leaks. Finally, the car engine is run and a visual check is made for oil leaks.

Is it safe to drive with a valve cover gasket problem?

Yes, as long as the amount of oil leaking is small, and there is no leak onto hot engine parts such as the exhaust manifold, it is safe to drive your car until you have an opportunity to fix it.

If you notice oil leaking on to the ground beneath your car after it is parked, you do not have a small leak, and it needs to be found and repaired as soon as possible. Any leak, of course, means your oil level is dropping as you drive the car. If you have a leak, be sure to check your oil more frequently than usual so you do not run low on oil and damage the engine.

When replacing a valve cover gasket keep in mind:

The mechanical components of a car engine will typically outlive the gaskets used to seal the engine. However, many of these gaskets, including the valve cover gaskets, are relatively easy to replace.
Never add stop leak type products to engine oil or other vehicle fluids. Not only are these materials not approved or specified by the original equipment manufacturers, but they also can create additional problems that may be costly to repair.
Often, if a car is old enough to have a valve cover oil leak, there will be oil leaks elsewhere on the engine, so you should request a complete leak inspection. It may be more cost effective to repair multiple leaks during one service call.
Often, the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) valve is inserted into a rubber grommet in one of the valve covers. An old rubber grommet is a potential leak source, as well as connections to the PCV valve. These components should be inspected and considered for replacement while there is access to the valve cover.

Fast and easy service at your home or office

Backed by 12-month, 12.000-mile guarantee

Meet some of our expert Pontiac mechanics

Real customer reviews from Pontiac owners like you.

Excellent Rating

(7)

Rating Summary

7

0

0

0

0

7

0

0

0

0

SEE REVIEWS NEAR ME

Chris

12 years of experience

83 reviews

Chris

12 years of experience

by Howard

Pontiac Trans Sport V6-3.4L - Brake Pads Replacement (Front) - Indianapolis, Indiana

Excellent! Friendly, and well experienced. He left here leaving me with good information about some things that I must do to my 1998 Pontiac Van to get it into good order while we continue to put away money to purchase a new car. One heck of a great guy. I recommend him whole heartedly! Sincerely, Howard C.

Jose

16 years of experience

213 reviews

Jose

16 years of experience

by Warren

Pontiac Trans Sport V6-3.1L - Battery - Marietta, Georgia

Thanks Jose, your help is much appreciate. Good job, great service. What a concept, to obtain a la carte onsite service online. I'd recommend this to anyone. Also, hat tip to O'Reilly Auto Parts for the referral. Nice teamwork!

Whitney

40 years of experience

783 reviews

Request Whitney

Whitney

40 years of experience

Request Whitney

by Humberto

Pontiac Trans Sport V6-3.4L - inpsection - San Jose, California

Russell

25 years of experience

356 reviews

Request Russell

Russell

25 years of experience

Request Russell

by Daniel

Pontiac Trans Sport V6-3.4L - Oil Change - Portland, Oregon

Russell really knows what he's doing. He's the kind of mechanic you wish you had known for years.

Excellent Rating

(7)

Rating Summary

7

0

0

0

0

7

0

0

0

0

SEE REVIEWS NEAR ME

Recent articles & questions

What is Surge Pricing?

Surge pricing applies to rideshare services that increase costs in busy areas to mediate supply and demand of rides. Luckily, it can be avoided.

7 Tips to Prevent Being Locked Out of Your Car

While While there are many things that can go wrong while driving around in your car, locking yourself out ranks near the top of the list for the worst things that can happen. Unless you have a spare key handy,...

Child Seat Safety Laws in New Jersey

The The state of New Jersey mandates child seat safety laws in order to ensure that kids are safe when on the road. These rules are in place for the safety of your children, and they are founded in basic...

Key only spins in lock

It sounds like either your door lock cylinder or the linkage inside the door has come apart or failed. The linkages inside your door are connected by pieces of plastic essentially. It is possible that one of these connections has...

My dash lights, radio, and gauge cluster on my 2007 Nissan 350z are not coming on when the car is started or in accessory mode.

I see no reports of the issue (in the NHTSA database, for instance) you are describing and so there are no obvious clues. You are lucky, though, that the issue is not now intermittent because all that you need do...

ABS shuts down transmission

Check to be sure the transmission has adequate fluid. Too little fluid and the car won't move. The ABS system electronics, and the braking control that the ABS pump provides, do not have any connection to the transmission. If multiple...

How can we help?

Our service team is available 7 days a week, Monday - Friday from 6 AM to 5 PM PST, Saturday - Sunday 7 AM - 4 PM PST.

1 (844) 997-3624 · hi@yourmechanic.com