Cometic K-Series Valve Cover Gasket for K20 & K24

Cometic K-Series Valve Cover Gasket - Part #C14012

Every K-series eventually does it: a slow seep at the back of the valve cover that drips onto the exhaust manifold and makes the whole car smell like burnt oil at stoplights. The fix costs less than lunch and takes twenty minutes. This is Cometic's molded rubber replacement for the perimeter gasket on basically every K20 and K24 valve cover Honda built.

What It Is and Why It Works

Cometic molds this gasket from a soft durometer rubber that seats into the cover groove like the factory part and resists blowing out, over-tightening, and crankcase vacuum better than a hardened original. Because it is molded rubber rather than cork or paper, it can be reused through valve adjustments instead of tearing on removal. It covers the K20A2, K20A3, K20Z1, K20Z3, K23A1, and the K24A and K24Z families, which is why one part number services everything from an EP3 to a 9th gen Si to a CR-V.

Specs

Fitment

Every 02-13 CR-V and 03-11 Element runs a K24, so those are safe model-wide. Accords are mixed: the 2.4L four-cylinders use this gasket, the V6 cars do not. One caution on the K24Z2, K24Z3, and K24Z7 cars (08-12 Accord, 09-14 TSX, 12-15 Civic Si): Cometic's chart lists them, but the Honda gasket this interchanges with does not fit those later valve covers, so check your cover before ordering for one of them.

What to Know Before You Buy

This is the perimeter gasket. The K-series valve cover also seals the spark plug tubes with four separate round seals, so if you are pulling the cover because the plug wells are filling with oil, grab tube seals at the same time or you will be back in there next week. Clean the groove in the cover, dab a little sealant at the cam cap corners the way the factory manual calls for, and do not gorilla the cover bolts: snug is sealed on a molded rubber gasket.