Sealing my Valve covers ? any easy way that works other than new gaskets?

[Xtrempickup]

anybody have any luck RTVing this things on so they dont leak? I have the new gaskets up at 100$ for the pair, id hate to waste them since all im doing is changing maybe a lifter yet and i dont want oil all over the place. I have the black forma gasket, any tips? i tried cleaning them, both surfaces and then putting the rtv on the valve cover and then putting it in place and bolting it down, but doest seem to be doing it, leaking hardcore. do i have to wait for this stuff to set? says apply to surface and whatever immediately, says dries in 24hrs.does that mean i do it then i dont drive the car for a day while the stuff sets up and dries? if i use the new gaskets, do i just lay them on the head and put the covers down?

[turbovanman²]

If the gaskets are new, there reusable for along time until they get hard.

If you want to use RTV, clean off all the oil using brake cleaner, fill up the ridge and let it setup, so its tacky, then install. Some RTV's want to set for 24 hours, some setup within an hour.

If you use new gaskets, just tighten down.

[Xtrempickup]

i think il try the RTV one more time, maybe il let it tack up a little before i set the covers

[glht_omni]

when i pulled mine off the r/t that needed the head milled, the old gaskets were in place with some silicone on them, the valley wasnt to bad from oil, so i can tell you if it didnt leak at all or a little.

but like simon said, let it get tacky then put them on and i always let them set up as long a spossible (overnite when i can) before starting the motor anytime i use rtv, its always sealed up for me on every application including oil pans, but only when i let tthem get tack and then fully cure, i learned out the hard way on a valve cover on a sohc, a hour or 2 doesnt cut it.,

[Xtrempickup]

i did the front one with RTV , the rear one with the Mopar gasket. lets see how it goes, hopefully doesnt leak at all. nice gasket, slides right in the cover space and thats that

[86Shelby]

I've had pretty good luck reusing the gaskets for quite some time.

[glht_omni]

i just used new ones also, they are nice and you can see and feel them squish, that back one gets hot alot and then gets hard after awhile, i kept my old front one as a spare, in case i cant buy one in 10 years, lol. the rear cracked in 3 places.

i am curious that if i would have lightly coated the new gaskets with rtv if it would prolong the life of the gaskets, kinda giving it a thin barrier from the heat and oil???

and as far as reusing the old ones, i bet if you just kept them in the valve cover and didnt take them out, they would last for a looong time, until they lost that 1/4" of squish.

[Xtrempickup]

wouldnt be bad if they were 50$ each, thats like almost insanity for a piece of rubber, I was thinking of just cutting cork and using a little RTV but some things are too much work

[86Shelby]

and as far as reusing the old ones, i bet if you just kept them in the valve cover and didnt take them out, they would last for a looong time, until they lost that 1/4" of squish.

I take them out of the cover, and clean them with brakecleaner and a rag. Clean out the valve cover as well, then reassemble. Works quite nicely. You do have to make sure that the gasket goes back in the way it came out, but usually one side of it is wider which faced the head and squished a little.

[Turbo224]

Mine leak no matter what. I scored a brand new set of gaskets of ebay for $40 a few months back and they still seep oil. My oil cap leaks pretty bad too. I am hoping once the motor gets broken in a little more the oil pressure will drop a little as things loosen up. All my time detailing has pretty much been ruined by oil. :mad:

[glht_omni]

new and not sealing? when i put my new pair on, i got side tracked and forgot to tighten the front one more than hand tight and when i started it for the first time it was coming out the back side, luckily i caught it before it messed up my fresh head look and the newly painted parts.

are the bolts pretty tight now? can you get a few more turns out of them? straight edge the gasket surface and see whats going on, that doesnt make sense.

there has to be a company that we can talk into making a thousand pairs of clones, tell them they can get $20 ea. for them and have 110% satisfied customers, lol.

[turbovanman²]

Mine leak no matter what. I scored a brand new set of gaskets of ebay for $40 a few months back and they still seep oil. My oil cap leaks pretty bad too. I am hoping once the motor gets broken in a little more the oil pressure will drop a little as things loosen up. All my time detailing has pretty much been ruined by oil. :mad:

Put the valve cover with the gasket on a level surface, maybe a glass table and check to see if the gasket is sticking down past the stoppers built into the cover. It could be there warped or you need to grind the stoppers down a bit to get more tension. Maybe even glue a thick o=ring into the valve cover first to give the gasket more tension.



new and not sealing? when i put my new pair on, i got side tracked and forgot to tighten the front one more than hand tight and when i started it for the first time it was coming out the back side, luckily i caught it before it messed up my fresh head look and the newly painted parts.

are the bolts pretty tight now? can you get a few more turns out of them? straight edge the gasket surface and see whats going on, that doesnt make sense.

there has to be a company that we can talk into making a thousand pairs of clones, tell them they can get $20 ea. for them and have 110% satisfied customers, lol.

No kidding, they don't look very hard to make, ;)

[Turbo3Iroc]

Also make sure you are installing the gasket into the groove properly. The wider end goes into the valve cover. Do not over torque the bolts or as Simon poster you will collaspe the gasket and get leaks. Torque them to 100 inch pounds if you have a torque wrench.

[Xtrempickup]

no oil in the valley, i guess i did a decent job and the gasket i bet made quite a bit of difference.

[glht_omni]

I take them out of the cover, and clean them with brakecleaner and a rag. Clean out the valve cover as well, then reassemble. Works quite nicely. You do have to make sure that the gasket goes back in the way it came out, but usually one side of it is wider which faced the head and squished a little.

when i pulled mine out, i was very careful, the front one came out in 1 piece but the exhaust side was very dry and brittle and broke in 3 pieces. the previous owner did have rtv on them but the valeey was caked full of oil and grime build up, i had no idea if it was cracked, the owner said it was, but after i cleaned it out it was not cracked!!


no oil in the valley, i guess i did a decent job and the gasket i bet made quite a bit of difference.

good job, glad it worked out for you:clap:, defintely dont need any leaks when your pumpin out 400+whp:thumb: