Just did my valve cover gasket...

[jijacob]

...again. Last time I had the great idea to RTV both above and below the gasket, and that didn't seem to help much. So now when I removed the old gasket I had to scrape off the old silicone. What a pain in the ass.

Hopefully this gasket seals properly. I'm tired of oil seeping into the spark plug holes.

[Albertan]

Actually, I just had the unfortunate similar experience with an auto trans pan.
It is NOT a good idea to put silicone on each side of a rubber gasket. Think squeezing a wet bar of soap. The rubber gasket is just like the soap, squeezes out! After dumping many litres of auto trans fluid I did some research... I ended up using the rubber gasket and coated it with Permatex Super high tack gasket sealer 97B. It is made to coat a rubber gasket so the gasket won't squeeze out. I then did not torque the bolts to spec but just used Loktite Blue and about 15 inch pounds on 6mm bolts. It worked and there is no leaking.

[beeasy]

Theres no need to RTV it. Theres two spots that are recommend to do it. I believe its where the little seam it. Have you looked at the DIY?

[jijacob]

Originally Posted by beeasy

Theres no need to RTV it. Theres two spots that are recommend to do it. I believe its where the little seam it. Have you looked at the DIY?

Yeah I did it according to the DIY the first time, but it still leaked, so that was when I RTV'd it. And that still hasn't fixed it, so I bought a new gasket again and removed the RTV (reapplied in the spots it says to) with a new gasket. Hopefully it works better this time. The valve cover is pitted pretty badly so I might just need to get a new one.