leaky valve cover

[golfsuper]

Hi all,

Been having trouble with the valve cover on 1992, 1.6 litre Tracker. Can you tell me the torque settings for the valve cover bolts and if you are using sealant as well as the gasket itself? Also, if you are using sealant, is there a recommendation for a brand to use? Not sure if I over-torqued the last gasket I installed but it is definitely leaking and it looks like it may have split along the edge.

I did search the forum but found nothing so I hope I am not beating a dead horse here.

Thanks in advance.

Mark

[jtgh]

cover bolts 16valve,89 inch lbs, not foot Lbs !
out of FSM.
sealant, use what ever doesnt have silicon.
RTV for engines, blue code says silicon free. RTV= room temp. vulcanizing , rubber.
has to special specs. Hight temp and silicon free. do not use bath tube caulk.
or
Permetex 2B non hardening sealant .

there are many others. ask you auto parts supplier, they know.

PS: make sure the DIZZY mount is not leaking , it as 2 o-rings, the bottom one LOVES to crack and leak. ( I put a viton in mine so it will never fail)
tricky procedure , so ask before do. you got to mark the wires and rotor to body. first.

ok. good luck.

PSS: divide inch lbs by 12 to get foot lbs. you will get 7.4 ft lbs, why less than any cheap torque wrench can resolve.
best is a beam torsion torque guage (cheap) it will never lie to you and you will never strip a bolt in aluminum again.

[golfsuper]

thanks, jtgh,

So...what is the DIZZY mount?

Mark

[the flying scotsman]

JTGH: Is 'dizzy mount' adjacent to LH muffler bearing support? Pls advise. Thanx.

[Shconer]

The dizzy mount he's referring to is the housing that the distributer slides into on the back of the head. Is is really important that you do not over tighten the valve cover bolts, and tighten from the inside out and make sure there all the same torque. I doesn't seem like much but if you over tighten it will wreck the gasket especially a non OEM gasket. Also sealant is only needed in the sharp corners on the camshaft end caps. Make sure the gasket and both the cover and head mating surfaces are perfectly clean.

[golfsuper]

Thanks Shconer,

Will do!

Mark