Valve cover gasket
 

I just put a new after market valve cover gasket on my 2002 saturn sl about 2 months ago and it's leaking again. I can't remember if I put gasket seal on it or not...I thought I did but it's leaking so maybe I totally forgot because we were also doing the timing chain that day and you get tired lol. Anyway, if I did in fact put gasket seal on and it's still leaking could there be a difference in quality between after market gasket and gasket from GM dealership? If there is a difference, I might go with GM dealership gasket even though it's twice the cost but might be worth it if it's the issue. If there is no difference then I will take it off again, clean it up and re-install and make sure gasket seal is on it liberally this time for sure. Before I do anything I'd like some input here if possible.

OEM products outlast and outperform nearly 95% of after market products... I'd spend the extra bucks

Thanks for the info sir! I will do that so I stop spinning my wheels.

is there a way to find GM parts online and cheaper? For instance I found this but didn't know if they would ship the actual gm part or just another after market part. GM locally said their part was $41.85 so maybe this is the actual part.

ww.saturnparts.net
www.saturnparts.com

Some places on the Internet do have OEM materials for sale, but I have not done business with the site you mentioned, so I have no way of knowing or attesting to their honesty or truthfulness - sorry.

But, Saturnparts.net is a reputable site, and I would trust them ....

You running the SOHC or DOHC engine? There's usually about a ten dollar difference in the prices, with the DOHC being the more expensive one, of course.