If you can afford it, I would put a billet Tappet Cover on and be done with it. Some guys glue their tappet covers on with the factory gasket and urethane but after putting a billet on the Corvette I would save and get a billet. IMO
Ya that makes a lot of sense to me, I just cant fit it in my budget right now, I am definitely goin to keep that in mind though, where would you recommend getting one for the best $?
I second the billet tappet cover. Had the same problem with my factory one that i used had a constant leak. Then i got tired of it and went with Haisley's billet version and no problems at all now.
The two that I have personally seen were caused by natural aging of the gasket material. A billet cover might be worth it for various reasons, but as far as I know a properly installed new gasket will take care of your headache. It is a pain in the butt to get to it with the pump on. Like they^^^^ said, you can do it with the pump on but the extra work to pull the pump is more than made up for with the absence of busted knuckles and creative cursing.
all the side tappet cover leaks i have seen in the shop came from excessive blowby, either from high boost causing high cc pressure or dusted/tried engines.
Get a new gasket from Cummins. With the cover on the bench put the gasket on and then put a bead of black RTV around the inside creating a nice even bevel going from the top edge of the gasket to the cover. Let it set for 4-6 hours until the RTV is skinned over real well but still a little pliable. Put the cover on the truck tightening the cover in a circular pattern working your way out from the center, problem solved.
40,000 miles of 600+hp and 75+ psi boost...... Zero issues.
During my swap I put on a 12v tappet cover. Motor still made too much pressure and was blowing oil out of the rear so I installed a breather in the valve cover and I haven't had any problems since. I wish I would of gotten a Billet cover, but we had a 12v motor sitting around so it was free.
Get a new gasket and clean the edges of the cover then run a bead of super glue inside the gasket and stick on the cover. Or install the gasket and put the super glue in then, that way you are no fighting the gasket with super glue all over it and it drying on you. I did to mine and know of several it's been done to and no problems.
Had this issue on mine to we ended up ditching the 12v tappet cover an went back to the 24v tappet cover with a felpro gasket. The cummins gasket just wouldmt seal right. Easy way to tell if still leaking after putting back together before you bolt pump on is poor oil down lifter holes an check if good then throw pump back on.