P.S they wouldn't have charged you $50 to squeeze something out of a tube and put it on some cardboard either.

 

Given the shape I'm going to guess it was a robot that squeezed this out. Again I would like to know how the OP is certain this will fail without testing. As I said, this seems like the old days of Sk2 where people would bitch about GM quality based on perception rather than facts. What's next, whining about leaf springs on a Corvette?

 

I agree; even if it works, it still looks pathetic (especially for the $$). Aftermarket all the way.

As far as GM quality; I have my Grandfather’s ’65 Chevy truck. My grandmother (other side of family) ran a very small Chevy dealership. We only drove GM products when I was young. I grew up with that brand.

In ’98 I got my “dream” truck (wow, my tastes have changed); a black Chevy Silverado. After about 80k I was tired of replacing things. The Dex-Cool coolant had rotted about everything it came in contact with. About every interior panel rattled. It just wasn’t built well. Got my first Honda and never looked back.

My Dad has a 2000 Silverado. It hasn’t had the mechanical problems like mine, but it’s plagued with electrical gremlins.

I compare that experience to my wife’s CR-V, a ’97 with 170K, which has never had a repair. We just got back from a trip to the mountains in it. Engine runs as smooth as new and there are no squeaks or rattles from the interior fittings. The difference in build quality between this and my truck are night and day.

That said, I do believe things have changed some. The domestics have gotten better and Hondas have gotten more complex (hence less reliable). I’ll still be sticking with what has worked for us.

 

Guy its obvious you don't now or have ever turned a wrench on much of anything in you life. Anyone in the auto repair industry will tell you that General Motors vehicles and replacement parts are sub par quality. They have been for many, many years. Stop by any auto repair shop, there lot will be filled with GM, Ford, and Chrysler vehicles. My shop has been in business since 1964 when my grandfather opened it, and the bulk of our business was then and is now, American made vehicles. Asian and European vehicles build quality is far superior to anything that rolls out of detroit. When you get a replacement water pump from Toyota, its exactly like the one that came on the car new, down to the gasket. When you get an Acdelco water pump for a Chevy, its a poorly cast replica of the original with manufactured in Mexico stamped on the box. Open the hood of your a new mustang, Made in Mexico stamped on the wiring harness, Made in China stamped on the transmission. There are always die hard fans of certain makes that will tell you how there big chevy went 300k without a hitch. I have LOTS of these people as customers. They usually visit me often, and spend huge amounts of money keeping there Detroit tank running. When I call and give them a thousand dollar estimate to replace the AC compressor for the third time, its funny how they'll give me "its been such a great car speech". I laugh when I get in my 250k mile 4runner, turn on the ac thats never been touched or even recharged, and its colder than the new unit on the chevy. American vehicles do have many good traits, there always roomy and comfortable, replacement parts are usually less expensive than the foreign makes, and many have wonderful power and performance. From a build quality and reliability stand point though, there not in the same league as the competition from oversea's. Back in the day when they were actually built here by craftsmen and women, using american parts and american engineuity, what i'm saying would have just been absurd. Today though, its all about keeping the UAW going, and making enough money to keep the company afloat. Do you think in thirty years they'll be people lining up at an auto auction to buy a restored 2011 chevy camaro, or a 2005 mustang gt. Not a chance.

 

huh? squeezed gasket maker is not even recommended or sold as a replacement from advance or the dealer. advance sells rubber ones made by Felpro that are blue gaskets. I said, "damn, if the aftermarket ones are already 40 bucks, might as well get the original part from the company that made it to begin with for a more precise fit(how wrong that ideology was).


i posted the pictures for this very reason for you. you are having a hard time so let me repost it here for you:



see the gaps in the circle? see the humps and smears that need to be trimmed with a razor?? all of those inconsistencies need to me remedies before a persons mind could rightfully think this has any chance at all of sealing out oil.

also,the valve cover's place for the gaskets are square, not round humps. even if i soaked the head in acetone for 20 yrs, the crap is still going to slide around when i attempt to torque sequence it.

this is what the original gasket looked like:


see any difference in quality there? see how what they gave me a a preposterous laugh? glad people are catching on now.

its odd how you can own an s2000 and still accept garbage like this from a car company(unless you have never modified, repaired, or got any further in your S than an oil change and you dont know any better).

 

I'm almost positive there are multiple shills from other car makers on this website.

 

It's obvious you are blowing crap out your ass. How do you know how many times I've pulled a transmission to replace a clutch? How many convertible tops do you THINK I've replaced.

Based on your post it's obvious you have a poor grasp of statistics. How many Ferrari's do I see in service lots? Well based on the number I see Ferrari's must be the most reliable car ever. Historically many domestic cars were crap AND they sold in high volumes. That means you did see a lot on the service lots. However, things aren't like that any more. My parents bought a used beater Chevy truck. It's a '98 IIRC. That would be the body they introduced in the 80s. The interior is the ULTRA cheap looking thing that GM seemed to love in the 90s. However, for 150k the truck has needed little. The worst thing was the need for new front ball joints thanks to the oversized and too wide tires the PO used. I also had to fix the tail gate latch. In the same time my mom's '99 Accord has needed a few non-service items. Basically both have done the job nicely.

Having spent a lot of time designing with plastics I'm usually shocked at how bad MOST automotive plastic parts look to me but that's because I was used to smaller, higher grade parts. Most auto parts look crude to me. BUT I'm also smart enough to understand the functional need. As I said before, so often we expect something higher grade even when something that seems really cheap actually works really well. I had a Mazda door panel taken apart. Hey look, crap grade chip board. I guess I would have expected something better but really, it worked for 15 years and likely will still work 15 years later. I've also spent YEARS around race cars. Not street cars made into race cars, cars that started as steal tubes or CF cloth. Having grown up looking at those all road cars look rather crudely made in comparison.

So even if a replacement part casting doesn't look as good as you would like, how does that make it function poorly? In this case we have a compressible material that is pushed into a gap. We have, hopefully, a functional breather that keeps the pressure under the valve cover low. If the goop was picked correctly I see no reason why this can't make an adequate conformal gasket. Do you have more faith in the cork gaskets used on things like the old Ford Kent motor?

 

huh? squeezed gasket maker is not even recommended or sold as a replacement from advance or the dealer. advance sells rubber ones made by Felpro that are blue gaskets. I said, "damn, if the aftermarket ones are already 40 bucks, might as well get the original part from the company that made it to begin with for a more precise fit(how wrong that ideology was).


i posted the pictures for this very reason for you. you are having a hard time so let me repost it here for you:



see the gaps in the circle? see the humps and smears that need to be trimmed with a razor?? all of those inconsistencies need to me remedies before a persons mind could rightfully think this has any chance at all of sealing out oil.

also,the valve cover's place for the gaskets are square, not round humps. even if i soaked the head in acetone for 20 yrs, the crap is still going to slide around when i attempt to torque sequence it.

this is what the original gasket looked like:


see any difference in quality there? see how what they gave me a a preposterous laugh? glad people are catching on now.

its odd how you can own an s2000 and still accept garbage like this from a car company(unless you have never modified, repaired, or got any further in your S than an oil change and you dont know any better).
[/quote]

It's a conformal gasket. Showing that picture doesn't prove that once squeezed into place it doesn't work. Are you so dense as to assume GM would pick a solution that would outright now work? And as I said before I have worked on many cars and done timing belt changes and more complex jobs like head rebuilds. I suspect I also have far more engineering design experience than you. I do understand that sometimes solutions that look dumb really can work. I got tired of listening to people bitch about the Corvette leaf springs so I actually used my head to think about the problem and the solution. In the end I realized it was a great solution save for the higher cost. In this case you are dealing with a soft, rubber gasket. It's conformal. You put it in the grove in the cam cover and it's compressed to shape. IIRC the molded gaskets are also a bit over sized and again compressed into the grove to fit. Once you compress it into the grove the gaps close. What's the problem?

Are you saying the material was the wrong type? What material did they use and what should they have used. Look I'm sorry you think you are smarter than the engineers but I really doubt it (at least not smarter with respect to this problem). Do you think GM did this without testing? Not likely. GM is quite bureaucratic and skipping tests on something like this wouldn't be part of the plan. At the same time the last time I did the valve cover on my Mazda the OEM (well dealer) part took a set in a few weeks. I had to retorque things because the valve cover bolts went from "Correct" to "finger loose" due to the gasket loosing it's elasticity. Hmmm that was a leak waiting to happen. Do you tell you customers/people who's cars you fix to come back in a few weeks to check the valve cover gasket bolt torque?


So again, prove that this is not an acceptable solution other wise you are bitching without actual knowledge.

 

I know! It's like Honda and Toyota have planted people to bad mouth other brands without actual facts

 

rockville:
Interesting how you take a change of pace from comparing car qualities to the knowledge of individuals that you have never encountered or entered into a formal debate with aside from name calling and theoretical finger pointing followed by lack-luster justifications for improper automotive part production. Truly, your self indulgence supersedes your actual value. Get your E-Narcissist here folks!

Nonetheless, I am a Human Factors Design & Engineering Honors Graduate(school of Psychology and Technology double major). So shove your comment about my background where your foot is currently residing.

back on topic about a company and not a nit-wit's "head movies" about other members' intelligence quotient.