Valve cover gasket torque spec and RTV?

[SWRT]

I can't find my Festiva manual and my car has been leaking a lot of oil lately. It seems like the oil leak got a lot worse after the valve cover gasket change. Can anyone tell me the torque spec for the bolts and possibly give me some tips to seal it? RTV on the valve cover under the gasket? RTV at the corners?

I'm having to reuse the gasket from a few moths ago, but I don't know if I can get the very light fi of oil off of it. Will that make the gasket not seal again?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

[eurotiva]

That gasket has a warranty. Trade it in

[SWRT]

Really? Didn't know that. Thanks, man.

I'll do that when I get around to pulling the engine. My blue car has to get
done first. There's been a bunch of other cars that needed to get done first
and then moving houses on top of it. Been a rough couple months.

I did get it on there straight and made sure it all sealed up right, but the car
is still leaking quite a bit. I guess maybe the front main seal or something, but
I figured it would jump timing by now if that was the case. I suppose I'll find out
when I get to this car. Thanks, dude.

[drddan]

Check the cam seal and the crank seal. If your car is old, and you had to change the VC gasket, those seals will be needing changed too.

[skeeters_keeper]

I'm not a big fan of excessive RTV use, but I've found that unless I put a bead inside the valve cover before inserting the gasket they seem to leak.

I'd also try to figure out where the leak is coming from better, if you're not sure. If it's on the drivers side it may be the o-ring on the disty which is easy and cheap to replace.

[eurotiva]

We replaced the o ring iirc

[TominMO]

I can't find my Festiva manual and my car has been leaking a lot of oil lately. It seems like the oil leak got a lot worse after the valve cover gasket change. Can anyone tell me the torque spec for the bolts and possibly give me some tips to seal it? RTV on the valve cover under the gasket? RTV at the corners?

I'm having to reuse the gasket from a few moths ago, but I don't know if I can get the very light fi of oil off of it. Will that make the gasket not seal again?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

IIRC the valve cover bolts should be torqued to at least 170 ft-lbs. Use a cheater bar with your torque wrench, if necessary.
Run a light bead of super-glue in the valve cover groove to seal the gasket. If you are out of super-glue, you can substitute a paste made up of ground-up walnut shells and honey.
I believe eurotiva just welds the valve cover to the head (without the gasket) for maximum sealing, but that may be overdoing it a bit.
Not sure what your reference to "moths" is.....

(Hey, it's a slow day....)

[WTFestiva]

I'd be careful on that much torque for valve cover. I don't think it's 170. I'm going to do some quick research

[nonamekid]

I'd be careful on that much torque for valve cover. I don't think it's 170. I'm going to do some quick research

Its not a 170 ft-lbs, that is more than what is required on the lug bolts or the cv axle nut. I think that is sarcasm. Same with the welding the valve cover to the head. Welding steel to aluminum doesn't work that well. It is a very hard process and takes a lot of skill. Generally considered impossible.

[WTFestiva]

lol i should've read the whole post... i read IIRC 170 ft-lbs and stopped, thinking, WTF, don't do that...

[TominMO]

Its not a 170 ft-lbs, that is more than what is required on the lug bolts or the cv axle nut. I think that is sarcasm. Same with the welding the valve cover to the head. Welding steel to aluminum doesn't work that well. It is a very hard process and takes a lot of skill. Generally considered impossible.

AL valve cover, AL head. Touche.

[SWRT]

IIRC the valve cover bolts should be torqued to at least 170 ft-lbs. Use a cheater bar with your torque wrench, if necessary.
Run a light bead of super-glue in the valve cover groove to seal the gasket. If you are out of super-glue, you can substitute a paste made up of ground-up walnut shells and honey.
I believe eurotiva just welds the valve cover to the head (without the gasket) for maximum sealing, but that may be overdoing it a bit.
Not sure what your reference to "moths" is.....

(Hey, it's a slow day....)

Ok, this whole post made me laugh

[SWRT]

Yeah, I plan to change the front main and cam seal at this point.
Probably will end up resealing the oil pan as well. All in time.


And yeah, we changed that o-ring Greg

[TominMO]

Yeah, I plan to change the front main and cam seal at this point.
Probably will end up resealing the oil pan as well. All in time.


And yeah, we changed that o-ring Greg

Don't mess with the oil pan gasket unless you are sure it's an issue; not just oil coming down from the VC gasket. Clean up the motor, then see where the leaks are really coming from after that. Cam seal is relatively quick and easy to do (compared to the crank seal).

[SWRT]

Don't mess with the oil pan gasket unless you are sure it's an issue; not just oil coming down from the VC gasket. Clean up the motor, then see where the leaks are really coming from after that. Cam seal is relatively quick and easy to do (compared to the crank seal).

I'm assuming it's a freakin pain to get the oil pan to seal, huh?