valva cover leaks

[saltshaker]

I have one valve cover that leaks and can't get it to stop...makes the bottom of the car a real mess!
I've been using felpro cork gaskets, any suggestions?
Jon

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by saltshaker

I have one valve cover that leaks and can't get it to stop...makes the bottom of the car a real mess!
I've been using felpro cork gaskets, any suggestions?
Jon

Half the people around here have better luck with rubber than cork... I"m one of them. Remove the valve cover, clean, apply 3m Weather Stripping goo to the top only of the rubber gaskets and put the valve cover back on. Do not torque them down; just hand squish them. Let sit for 24 hours. Then apply light grease to bottom of rubber gasket where it meets the head. Torque to 5 ft/lbs or so. Then put a glob of Ultra Grey on your finger and run it along the seam. Allow to dry. That technique has my FE down to leaking only a small drop, and sometimes none at all, after sitting for days after a long run.

[Ron61]

Patrickt's suggestions are good and will stop most of the leaks. However I had one on one car that I could never get to stop completely and I finally noticed that one of the bolt holes was just a very little bit larger than the rest. This after I had bought a new set which never leaked. I put the old set on another car and put made sure that bolt hole was flat on the bottom side and put some extra seal around it and so far they haven't leaked any. But an FE is an Fe and I think they were designed to have small oil drips from some source.

Ron

[blykins]

If you have a large step where the intake meets the head, there isn't much that's going to help.

Once a cork gasket gets saturated, it doesn't really seal very well anymore. I prefer the rubber gaskets.

Put a dab of silicone at the joint where the intake meets the head. Use a good gasket and don't overtighten the bolts.

[dcdoug]

I assume you have checked to make sure your leaking cover is flat and not distorted too?Right Stuff also worked well for me instead of the weather stripping adhesive.

[elmariachi]

I have managed to install and remove (for valve adjustment) my pent roofs a couple times with no leaks, for which they are notorious. I use FelPro corks and start by putting a 1/8" bead of The Right Stuff on the valve cover and then laying down the gasket, wiggling it around to make sure it spreads the bead out nice under the gasket and onto the cover lip. Then while that is drying I clean the block with lacquer thinner. I let that all dry 10-15 minutes and then I put another 1/8" bead on the head/intake surface. I then mount 'em up and just barely snug them to where the bolts start resisting. No leaks and I can easily pop them off with a small pry bar between the cover and the intake.