Oil leak from valvecover

[Guest]

I have adjusted the valves and put a new gasket on, but I get a leak (se attachment).
This is the second time this happens. Might it be that put too much torque on the bolts? In the manual there is no info on valvecover and torque.

[srg]

What gasket did you use? OEM? Did you replace the "D" end plugs? Did you use any type of gasket sealant or grease anywhere?

The Clymer manual for my bike says to torque the cylinder head cover bolts to 0.7-1.1 mkg (or 5.1-7.9 ft-lb).

[phrode]

OEM.. Tried Athena once :-(

Endplugs changed, but no selant or grease

[tom203]

When tightening cam cover bolts, I start from inside (along chain tunnel) and work my way to outer bolts evenly. If you can't borrow a baby torque wrench to do this low a ft-lbs, do what I did, rig up something like in attached pic. In my case, my "lever" was 1/2 ft long so I needed to apply about 15 lbs to get the desired amount. I did it in two stages.

[Nessism]

When tightening cam cover bolts, I start from inside (along chain tunnel) and work my way to outer bolts evenly. If you can't borrow a baby torque wrench to do this low a ft-lbs, do what I did, rig up something like in attached pic. In my case, my "lever" was 1/2 ft long so I needed to apply about 15 lbs to get the desired amount. I did it in two stages.

Wow, now that's a first! Home made torque wrench.

As for the leak, the gasket surface needs to be spotless. Not one small spec of old gasket allowable on either the head or valve cover. The half moon pieces need to be sealed on the curved edge where they fit in the head. Threebond 1194 is good stuff for this application. Oh and yes, on carefully tightening and/or torquing the screws.

[A-train]

Wow, now that's a first! Home made torque wrench.

As for the leak, the gasket surface needs to be spotless. Not one small spec of old gasket allowable on either the head or valve cover. The half moon pieces need to be sealed on the curved edge where they fit in the head. Threebond 1194 is good stuff for this application. Oh and yes, on carefully tightening and/or torquing the screws.

I second the spotless point. Just swapped mine out with a new gasket from Z-1 enterprises. I believe the old one was original. The engine side came off clean, but there was a LOT of leftover gasket stuck to the valve cover. I had to use several different methods to get it off, and then hot water/soap scrubbed the thing, followed by drying with fan, followed by compressed air to remove any particulate.

Also, I've heard differing opinions about pre-lubricating the gasket. I rubbed both sides of mine with fresh motor oil before installing. No excess - just a film.

Knock on wood - no leaks so far!

[koolaid_kid]

Yes, they should be torqued in a pattern (should be in the manual) and in stages.
You would be best served by getting a 1/4" torque wrench, which measures inch pounds. Around 75 inch pounds should work just dandy.

[phrode]

I tried to tighten it to 15ft lbs, but then the threads were destroyed :-( I got to about 10ft lbs then suddenly there were no resistance.

[koolaid_kid]

10 ft/lb x 12 = 120 in/lb
Since the spec was around 75 in/lb, I bet they were destroyed.

[JTGS850GL]

I tried to tighten it to 15ft lbs, but then the threads were destroyed :-( I got to about 10ft lbs then suddenly there were no resistance.

STOOOOPPPP!!!! 15 ft lbs is way too much. Were talking inch pounds here. Before you strip out any more you may want to consider getting an in/lbs torque wrench. As for the one that is just spinning, you'll need to Heli-Coil that one. I just hope you didn't do it to all of them.

[koolaid_kid]

Yes, they should be torqued in a pattern (should be in the manual) and in stages.
You would be best served by getting a 1/4" torque wrench, which measures inch pounds. Around 75 inch pounds should work just dandy.

10 ft/lb x 12 = 120 in/lb
Since the spec was around 75 in/lb, I bet they were destroyed.

STOOOOPPPP!!!! 15 ft lbs is way too much. Were talking inch pounds here. Before you strip out any more you may want to consider getting an in/lbs torque wrench. As for the one that is just spinning, you'll need to Heli-Coil that one. I just hope you didn't do it to all of them.

Hopefully you only destroyed one.

[Chris G]

That's the problem with a torque wrench, folk get confused or just read em wrong, or worse still use the Haynes manual for torque setting guides and find there totally wrong with dyer concsequences usually, for the normal day to day I don't use mine much, think I only used it once on the XJR I tend to use the hand tight, wrist tight, arm tight method, never stripped any threads this way.

As for the cam cover gasket I reused the half moons as they looked and felt in good nick, a smear of grease on both metal faces, and a thin run of gasket sealer over the tops of the half noons, just nipped it all up in a criss cross pattern, been good as gold.

[koolaid_kid]

Not exactly. Sometimes, but in this case it was using the wrong torque wrench.

[phrode]

Only one got destroyed. Lucky for me, it goes all the way throug. So I just put in a longer bolt and used a nut to secure it and tighten it.

Live and learn :-)

[Grimly]

I tried to tighten it to 15ft lbs, but then the threads were destroyed :-( I got to about 10ft lbs then suddenly there were no resistance.

The original Haynes manual has the wrong torque setting, due to a mis-print. I recall it mentions 17ft-lbs for the camcover bolts, and I shudder to think how many people have wrecked their threads because of that, and how many of those old manuals are still around.