Hi all,

So, it seems that one of my valve covers is leaking. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of to make it stop. New gasket, using grease to make sure it's seated, then I tried using some permatex to stick it to the cover, I tried bending the wire bale, and it still frickin leaks.

I'm starting to get a little upset. So, are there any tips/tricks that I may have missed? I'm not exactly sure what the best way to bend the wire bale would be. Maybe I need to try that again? Any special glue/goop/sealent I should try?

The only other thing I can think of is that the cover is bent. I'm going to pull it and check tomorrow. If so, does anyone have a good straight driver's side vavle cover they would like to part with?

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

It could be bend. Check the mounting surface with a stright edge and wack it with a hammer on a flat serface to clean it up. Pelican has a tech article on welding tabs to the inside to keep the gasket from sliding around.

Maybe someone will perfect a o-ring in a aluminum cover that gets bolted on. But not using the rocker arm bolts to mount it.

mike, is the vw logo on the inside of the cover upside down? it should be. cinch-a-gasket on the v.c. side of the gasket?

k

Covers leak because:

1. They are bent or selaing surface is gouged.
2. The bail has lost tension.
3. Gasket is shot

Troubleshooting techniques:

1. Does cover look bent and/or is the gasket seating surface
clean and gouge free?
2. Can you put the bail on easily by hand? A bail that can be easily slid
into the stops has lost it's tension and should be replaced.
3. Is gasket shot?

The solutions are:

1. straighten cover, sometimes easier said than done..., replace cover
2. replace bail, yes soeme folks can determine where to bend the
bail to put the tension in the CORRECT place, but if you could have
done that, you wouldn't be here asking the Q.....
3. Replace gasket

Good luck!

Don

My gaskets used to slip out. But like Kevin said, glue the gaskets in and invert logo.........no problems since


Tim

Logo is inverted, and gasket is glued to the cover, so slipping shouldn't be an issue. I'm going to check the cover to make sure it's not bent, and play around with the bale to see if I can add some more tension. Any suggestions on the best way to tweak the wire bale to add some more tension?

Kevin, what is cinch-a-gasket? Some sort of gasket goop, I assume.

Thanks for the help guys!