valve cover gasket

[woodson]

thanx for the help everybody.

[F3BZ]

another note: don't forget to remove the 2 long bolts at the top of the timing belt cover. also clean the groove around the perimeter of the VC and lay a bead of silicone sealant (fuel and oil resistant) in the groove before putting your new gasket in otherwise it'll be leaking again in a year.

[woodson]

whats the best sealant to use?

[warlocke]

i use hi temp rtv for everything.

[woodson]

could i find that at any auto parts store? is there a brand to look for?

[warlocke]

ya any parts store shoulld have it, my store only has the one brand, but i think it was like 2 or 3 bucks, maybe more, but it lasts forever, ive had one tube for almost 2 years and its still good.

just go to the counter and ask for "hi temp, rtv sealent" aka hi temp gasket sealer

[budthedog]

I just did mine (93) yesterday. Having read this first I was hoping for the file trick to work. Took way more than 5 strokes but it did come off without removing the tb. The upper timing cover gasket jumped out in the process & was stretched to half again its original size. nobody had one but since it's mainly a dust seal we put in a big bead of silicone & let it dry first, should work fine. Getting the valve cover back in was a bigger problem tho. I know nothing changed but it fought me all the way. I wound up putting the gasket in first then seating the cover onto it. Time will tell, since it'll probably take a few days just for the remaining oil on the engine to finish leaking off. Next half warm day I'm gonna clean the engine compartment real good & see where, if any, more leaks may be. Thanks again for the file trick.