i rebuilt the engine about a year ago, and everything has ran decent since then. a couple of weeks ago, my valve cover gasket started leaking oil, oil drips onto manifolds, burns off in smelly smoke.

yesterday i replaced the gasket, got a fel-pro rubber gasket, used permatex (the blue kind), torqued each bolt to about 100 inch pounds.

today its still leaking and it looks like part of the gasket is smushing out.

what did i do wrong? i was wondering if maybe using permatex with a rubber gasket was a bad idea..maybe it just lubbed it up to squish out.

 

Yep--no need for anything on a rubber gasket.

stractor

 

sounds like you over tightened the bolts, the felpro rubber gasket is pretty firm so squishing it out isn't that easy. Using sealer does help, you just need to let it cure partially before putting the bits together, otherwise it can ast as a lubricant and allow the gasket to slip out of place as you tighten the bolts.

 

what he said

 

The Fel-pro rep that I talked to back in v-school said the rubber gaskets should always be installed dry. The rtv does act as a lube and allows the gasket to move as it's being torqued.

 

yesterday i pulled the valve cover off, and sure enough, that gasket was broken and pushed out of the way. I'm sure part of the problem was that i over torqued it a bit, but i think that combined with the lube on it is why it broke. i installed it dry this time and so far everything works well!

 

I used to have trouble with my valve cover gasket leaking. Then I realized that I was overtightening the bolts WAY too much. Since I figured out that it was my fault all those years, I just snug them up enough that they won't back out with the engine vibration.

It hasn't leaked in years! :P

 

I've got a cork replacement on mine. No leaks No problems and I think I even over torqued them, but still, no problems.

 

i had to flatten the flange all of the way around my valve cover. When i torqued it down, each hole bent a little. i have heard that the orange gasket maker from permatex acts like a lube on the cork gaskets.

 

I used just enough glue to make the gasket stick to the valve cover. I also noticed, (after my second try) that if the surfaces aren't dry enough oil can get kind of ornery in preventing good contact and allowing the gasket to properly seal. Never seems to be a really good way to get all the oil off though.

 

The best way I have found is to wipe the surfaces down with brake cleanerand using a valve cover stud kit.

 

Please tell me more about the stud kit.

Does a stud go in every hole?

Where do you get them?

What kind of nut fastens the cover down? Do you use lock washers?

Wonder if the studs would interfere with the Fuel injection set-up above the Valve cover?

jaco

 

Check with ARP, they make the stud kits for just about everything. The studs are desighned to exceed the strength requirements for the given application and come with all the hardware needed.

 

Thanks Wolf.
But who and what is ARP?

 

ARP = American Racing Products, they make the fasteners that the pro race teams use. Check Jegs, Summit J.C.Whitney, etc.