wow! thanks a lot for the reference! thats an awesome price.

also, thanks to the rest of you guys for helping out.

 

This is very true. Overtightening is the easiest way to kill one of the older style cork gaskets, and will make a permadry leak too. I believe the proper torque specs for the valve cover bolts is 55 in/lbs. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what it is.

 

The Haynes says 55 ft lbs for the rubber gasket. Imho that's NONSENSE. If you look at the bolts they are not made for that much torque (wheel nuts are). I set the torque wrench to 35 and killed one bolt rightaway. Then I tried a different place with 20 and killed that one too. Then I went to 11 ft lbs for the 13 remaining ones to be safe. This is about the same amount that I used on the oil pan of my bmw motorcycle (and the bolts are similar in size).

 

Oh crap I confused in lbs with ft lbs? Oh well.

 

I'm glad someone posted this because like 2yrs ago I looked for one of these pemadrie gskts and was told they didn't make one. I just bought one from autozone for 40.99 plus tax and its so much nicer than the cork one and if you were to go to the dealer they will tell you they only require silicone as the gskt. Thank you guys for all of your knowledge.

 

yeahh knowledge is power.

 

X2!!!!

 

hey just so you kno and so you dont pay the shipping from rock auto, auto zone will price match atleast mine does

 

The Hayes manual says if you have the rubber gasket it can be reused even if it has small cracks. Just clean the old silicone off by scraping the surfaces. Wipe old gasket and contact surfaces with laquer thinner or acetone. Re-apply new RTV silicone and re-torque bolts. Make sure when you remove the cover you do not pry it loose if stuck. Use a rubber mallet to knock it free. Mine was leaking so I just re-tightened the bolts and amazingly no more leaking.

 

The cork gasket has blue lines on one side and no markings on the other side. What side goes on the valve cover and which one to the head thanks Whakycus

 

"With what you have?" What you have is pretty much what I use - although you didn't need the High-Temp Red (I use RTV black on almost everything, with limited exceptions.)

1) Remove the valve cover
2) Clean the valve cover and cylinder head mating surfaces. This would also be a good time to clean the CCV baffles in the valve cover, as this will help reduce oil in the CCV gases (and therefore oil deposits on your air filter.)
3) Check the cleaning job you just did.
4) Using a rag with some carburettor cleaner sprayed on it, wipe down the valve cover rail on the cylinder head and the sealing surface of the valve cover proper.
5) Apply a thin, continuous bead of RTV on the valve cover.
6) Press the valve cover gasket onto the valve cover proper. Regardless of the printed blue lines, it will only go on one way. If you're not sure, test-fit it after cleaning and before applying the RTV, then lay it on the bench next to where you'll be working the way it goes on. Then it's just "drag-and-drop."
7) Apply a thin, continuous bead of RTV on the exposed side of the gasket.
8) Set the valve cover and gasket in place. Make sure it hasn't slipped out of place in the process (having a "mirror-on-a-stick" is handy for this sort of inspection.)
9) Install all valve cover screws finger tight only. You really only want to have the head make contact with the valve cover and not apply any pressure. Put all of the screws in this way.
10) Go have a sammich. Take about a half-hour.
11) Come back, and torque the valve cover screws to about 7 pound-feet (84 pound-inches.) It's a known issue that you can easily crush a cork gasket beyond utility, but it's really possible with any gasket - just not as possible with some as it is with others.
- If you don't have a torque wrench that goes that low, you can improvise. Either grip your ratchet about the head with your fingertips or use a spinner handle (looks like a screwdriver) and a socket, grip the thing with your fingertips. 7 pound-feet is not that much force - as you can probably guess, it's the equivalent force needed to lift seven pounds one foot, or lift one pound seven feet. You throw a ball with more force than that!

12) After a day or two of regular service, check torque on the valve cover screws. This is a good idea with pretty much any gasket, save cylinder head gaskets (theoretically, they don't require retorquing. I recall when they needed regular retorquing...) I'll also check torque on external gaskets as part of an annual inspection - I usually catch a few screws loose on the manifold, and sometimes on a valve cover screw or two and a few oil sump screws. This can be mitigated through the selection of threadlocking compounds - for the 1/4" and 5/16" screws on the oil sump and valve cover, I'll usually use LocTite #242 (or equivalent.) For the manifold screws, don't bother with anything but LocTite #272 (or equivalent,) everything else will break down due to the heat.

For screws smaller than 1/4", I'll use LocTite #222 or clear nail polish.

For screws exposed directly to coolant (water pump, thermostat, &c.,) I'll usually use RTV (cover the entire shaft of the screw - protects it from rusting as well. Sooner or later, I'll switch them to brass or CRES tho, and that shifts the thread treatment to LocTite PST or equivalent.)

Hydraulic joins that aren't double-flared? LocTite #545 or equivalent - it's a sealer and threadlocker, and good up to somewhere around 10-15ksi working pressure.

I'll stop now, I didn't mean this to turn into a treatise on thread treatments...

 

I replaced the valve cover gasket on my '98 a while ago, using the better gasket, and have had zero issues after torquing using just hand/arm strength, starting from the middle and working my way out.

 

There are people who report good results with the rubber gasket, and I've no reason to discourage you. I've just been doing this for a couple of whiles, and I'm used to paper and cork gaskets.

Since I've worked with both materials for so long, I know how to avoid trouble with them - and I don't get leaks.

(Besides, he did want to know how to do the job with materials on hand...)

 

you will have less CHANCE of leaks further down the future with rubber gasket. and most times it's hard to screw up rubber gaskets. cork gasket take a bit of skill and knowledge to install.

 

carburetor cleaner? Won't that leave residue?
Brake cleaner, acetone is what I prefer for sealing/mating surfaces
But, maybe there's a method to your maddness, is there something I'm missing?