belizeanbus Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Hello all... I'm working my way through my first subaru overhaul... (EA82, 1992 Loyale non-turbo). Those of you who have seen the other posts of mine mine might know I'm struggling still with a stubborn cam pulley bolt, but I'm confident that I'll overcome the obstacle on my next day off and be ready to replace the HEAD GASKETS. My question is this: do the head gaskets go on bare, and just get torqued into place, or are they supposed to be coated with some kind of sealant (rtv?)? Next in line would be the valve cover gaskets and the grommets that accompany them. What do these need to be coated with? Thanks for helping a novice fumble through this. belizeanbus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoostedBalls Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 No sealant on the gaskets, just make sure the surfaces are clean and flat. Those things have at least a few dozen tons of force squishing them flat. If you goop it up with something, gasket 'retention' will be comprimised. I only use sealant on the coolant ports of copper head gaskets and I scrape most of it back off with a razor blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Well, I coated mine liberally on both sides with spray on copper gasket material that was supposed to be used for head and manifold gaskets. I don't know if this is required or recommended, but it seemd to work fine for me (stopped burning coolant at least). I used RTV on the valve cover gaskets. Hello all... I'm working my way through my first subaru overhaul... (EA82, 1992 Loyale non-turbo). Those of you who have seen the other posts of mine mine might know I'm struggling still with a stubborn cam pulley bolt, but I'm confident that I'll overcome the obstacle on my next day off and be ready to replace the HEAD GASKETS. My question is this: do the head gaskets go on bare, and just get torqued into place, or are they supposed to be coated with some kind of sealant (rtv?)? Next in line would be the valve cover gaskets and the grommets that accompany them. What do these need to be coated with? Thanks for helping a novice fumble through this. belizeanbus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Don't use RTV on the rocker/valve cover gaskets. Just coat them with oil or assembly lube and tighten to spec. They're a rubber seal that is not designed for any sealant. On your cam towers, use Anaerobic sealant, not RTV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Don't use RTV on the rocker/valve cover gaskets. Just coat them with oil or assembly lube and tighten to spec. They're a rubber seal that is not designed for any sealant. On your cam towers, use Anaerobic sealant, not RTV. Yeah, that sounds better. The RTV just gets all over and if the rubber does seal okay without it might as well avoid that. I was used to the cork gaskets that always leak unless you goop them up good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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