brus brother Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 My 90 Loyale is leaking oil around the bolts holding the valve cover. Is there any sealant required around the rubber grommets/washers of the bolts that hold the valve cover on or do you just tighten them up? They seem to be tight enough. Too tight?The gasket was replaced by a local shop recently and I can't say whether they changed the washers as well but even the local auto suppliers sell a gasket kit with the washers like SOA. I bought the SOA kit over the weekend to redo the job myself (don't you just hate that) and I wanted to make sure that I do it right this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 usually they seal themselves up by tightening them, but sometimes, they don't like to seal all the way up so all you gotta do is put a little RTV sealant on them so them they will completley seal up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted October 26, 2003 Author Share Posted October 26, 2003 Is it possible to overtighten the bolts? I don't have a torque wrench (though Christmas is coming) and I doubt there is enough clearance for a few of the bolts. So, is it possible by overtightening to distort the washer?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Yes it is. The torque is only something like 6 or 8 ft lb, not much oomph on the wrench at all. Possibility of splitting the rubber if you go to tight. With no torque wrench, I would recommend to whatch the rubber part of the seal as you tighten the bolt, stop when you see it start to squish. May have to snugg them a bit later on down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmCeeBee Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 The rubber grommets on those things harden up after a few hundred miles from the heat. So if you remove the valve covers, they're generally never gonna seal again (although a bead of RTV works wonders). Autozone sells the Felpro set for about $12, which included both valve cover seals and the bolt grommets. At that price, there's no reason to skimp on the grommets. I don't know if you've got Autozone in Connecticut, but u should be able to get the same set at a similar price. I've used RTV to re-seal the grommets for a few hundred miles before I a planned gasket change, and it slowed the oil leak down to a few drops. Works, but at $12 it just makes sense to do it right. Extra torque alone won't get a hardened-up grommet to seal, and as Tom says, it could warp something. -- Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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