How long can you let valve cover gaskets go?

[oblu]

Can't tell if PO had a leak and replaced them but shop didn't clean the block, or if I'm currently leaking, but the front of the block has some old sticky gunk. 31k, occasional burnt oily smell inside car on warm start; guessing that's a leaking valve cover gasket. I monitor oil levels weekly and it never moves, so it can't be much of a leak ... so wondering how long I can let it go. My thinking is it can go as long as you feel like topping the oil up before you get tired of it and fix it (Porsche oil leak fix decision matrix style).

[B6JoeS4]

85k on original gaskets. PO never did them and i haven't had a chance to get in there and do them. they will just keep leaking oil more and more and eventually they will cause a vacuum leak

[1badg35]

mine had 85k too and when i swapped them for the new ones back in august, they didnt look as bad as i had expected. but i do have an oil leak at the oil coolers that i need to take care of, so its always something

[B5 SLPR]

did mine at 60k miles

[SquiddyB6S4]

they will just keep leaking oil more and more and eventually they will cause a vacuum leak

+1 on this, though it should be noted that it may be years before you even start noticing a drop in oil level on the dipstick. It's one of those things that's nice to do because it will help keep all that crap from piling up on the engine and in the engine bay in general, but you might not own the car long enough to even start seeing any appreciable oil leak. Would kind of be a value adder I guess for the astute buyer to see that you had that sort of thing taken care of, though, if that matters to you.

[JimmyBones]

they will just keep leaking oil more and more and eventually they will cause a vacuum leak

Not only will they cause a vacuum leak after a while but the oil will eat away other stuff that it leaks on like the rear coolant pipe seals, front oxygen sensors, and the serp belt/tensioner. This happens a lot on the older 1.8Ts, 2.8s, 2.7TTs, and 3.0s and it is not fun or cheap to replace those rear coolant pipes/flanges. I am just now getting good at doing the 1.8T rear coolant flanges after doing them for a over a year because they are so tight in a car that actually has room around then engine when compared to our cars.

[A4Ultrasport]

This may be a stupid question, but what are the symptoms of bad gaskets before they get really bad? Any way to cut this problem off early (besides just replacing them randomly)?

[Sales@RAI]

This may be a stupid question, but what are the symptoms of bad gaskets before they get really bad? Any way to cut this problem off early (besides just replacing them randomly)?

Black buildup around the gasket. It's pretty noticable

[SquiddyB6S4]

This may be a stupid question, but what are the symptoms of bad gaskets before they get really bad?

Also a faint burning oil smell, often only smelled while accelerating more than just a little, and probably easier to smell with windows open accelerating at lower speeds with recirc. off.

Any way to cut this problem off early (besides just replacing them randomly)?

Umm, yeah . . . you could replace them late, instead of early or randomly.

[dparm]

There is no way to slow down or stop deterioration short of not driving the car.