I purchased a 1996 MMS with 84000mi. it seems to run pretty good, except that it has oil leaking. it is amazing to me how i can go to three different shops and each give me a different/expanded problem with expanded costs. 1st- valve cover gaskets- $600; 2nd- dealer seals and valve cover gaskets -$1100; 3rd - off market- valve cover gaskets, seals, coolant reservoir, hoses, water leaks - $3000. i really don't know which one to believe. i know i have leaking i nthe coolant reservoir and the gaskets, but all the ot her stufff bothers me and i feel like they are just packing on for the $$$. any suggestions?[]

 

Even new valve cover gaskets never worked on by b2000 so instead of wasting $20 on a new leaky gasket I went around the old leaky gasket a couple of times with teflon tape to beef it up a little.

Same with the spacer between the fuel pump and the head.

The O ring between the distributor was flattened so I filled in the channel a little with teflon tape as well so it would seal better.

The truck doesn't leaked one drop.

The threads on an intake valve lock nut were stripped. I tried gumming up the threaded adjuster with teflon tape. One layer didn't tighten it up enough so I used 2X more tape. I'll check in a few days to see if that worked. In the mean time I'm going to source another nut.

Teflon ain't a solution for everything.