993Porsche

One of my valve cover gaskets is leaking and causing it to smoke on the heat exchanger. I look like a damn fire engine truck rolling down the interstate. I replaced it about three/four months ago. So what's the best way to correct this? Do I need to take off the whole thing again or just tighten all of the bolts again?


Thanks,

Ken

600RR

Billet covers?

AOW162435

Mr. Fashion,
Which Rennlist School of Thought did you follow when installing the valve covers - finger tight using pinky & thumb, or carefully tightening all of the bolts until the metal inserts seat on the cam housings?

My vote is for the latter, and my valve covers have remained bone dry for years. The inserts are there for a reason.


Andreas

luv2ride

+1 on billet. I've replaced the plastic jobies once already 3 years ago and I think I need to replace again.

Slow Guy

When you replaced the gaskets the first time did you check to see if the covers were level? The big problem with the stock covers is they can have a tendency to warp. If they aren't flat anymore no amount of new gaskets is going to stop the leak. This is why many go with the billet ones.

Ed Burdell

Overtightening will cause the leaks to return, as I discovered the hard way. Hope this didn't happen to you, too.

993Porsche

I'm guessing you're talking about the round metal part that the screws go through? I may not have seated them all of the way. They are suppose to mess with the engine body? I'd better re-tighten then.


Hopefully, since mine are so new, they can be tighten down.


You know, I wished that I had read that somewhere. Then I would have checked for sure. That's a good suggestion. I could have used a straight edge to test it.

I don't think so, but we'll see.


Ken

Stealth 993

I would remove the cover & make sure the gasket is seated properly, then retorque to spec.
Or at a minimum, slack all the nuts & retorque.

cdmdriver

The last time I replaced my valve cover gaskets, I replaced the bolts and snugged each up evenly. Drove the car for a couple days. Went back under, did a visual check, and noticed that the front of the right side valve cover was leaking. Gently tightened the bolts near the leak area, and the leak stopped. Been dry for 9 months. I figured the valve cover might be slightly warped and required a little more pressure to offset the warpage.

Slow Guy

A piece of glass works well.

911PERVY

Bill I have real trouser trouble when I see one of your posts,.............your aviator, not you

IXLR8

You may have been in a rush and cut some corners. My OEM stock Porsche covers are bone dry.

#1: Clean the surface of the camshaft housing where the valve cover seal sits till it is clean...also clean each threaded hole so that the fasteners don't bind making you think they are tight...


#2: clean the insides of the valve cover till it is clean, especially the groove the valve cover seal sits in...


#3: check using an 18" steel ruler on its long edge if the valve cover is flat. It should be as I can't see a reason why it wouldn't be.

#4: install the valve cover seal and apply a light coat of oil to the surface that mates with the camshaft housing. This enables the seal to "walk" while things are being tightened down.

#5: starting at the center and working criss-cross outwards, torque the fasteners down to specification (84 lbf.in.). I applied anti-seize compound to the threads of the fasteners.

And if you have the time and want to make things look purdy, you can finish the aluminum bushing so that they go from this...


...to this...

IXLR8

I use a thick sheet along with fine wet sandpaper to make things flat. It works incredibly well.

IXLR8

The seal sticks out enough that even if they were "slightly warped", it would still seal.

IXLR8

Has anyone measured the twist? What are they out by? Mine are 15 years old and flat, so I am