what would cause the gasket at the coolant filler neck to go bad? i only have about 1500 miles on ths motor. it was idling in my parking space and all of a sudden it was leaking all over the motor. just a bad gasket? should i get an oem replacement or can i buy some gasket material and cut my own?

 

Could be a bad gasket but more likely human error...surface not prepped well or bolts not tightened or possibly overtightened, maybe stripped threads. You could buy another or make your own. Both ways will work but I'd buy one personally, it looks cleaner. Just make sure you didn't overtighten the bolts and crack or bend the plastic b/c it would suck to have to do it a third time.

 

Just buy the 3 dollar thermostat gasket and clean the surface real good and apply some rtv on the gasket to help seal and bolt it on.