Valve covers leaking! Need some tips!

Kdubslugga · Aug 10, 2004

My new valve covers are leaking in the back, "of course, the hardest place to reach" any ways i added a new gasket set from summit, the ones that are rubber with steel inserts. anyways someone told me not to tighten them to tight or it will pull the rubber up to high and it will leak! But they are barely even tight, should i just go ahead and get them good and snug. Also im using washers with the valve cover bolts, is this a good or bad idea? or does it not matter

jrichker · Aug 10, 2004

I have the same gaskets, & I tightened them down firmly. The stock rocker covers don't need any washers.

kdog_x · Aug 10, 2004

Kdubslugga said:
My new valve covers are leaking in the back, "of course, the hardest place to reach" any ways i added a new gasket set from summit, the ones that are rubber with steel inserts. anyways someone told me not to tighten them to tight or it will pull the rubber up to high and it will leak! But they are barely even tight, should i just go ahead and get them good and snug. Also im using washers with the valve cover bolts, is this a good or bad idea? or does it not matter

The valve cover bolts are notorius for coming loose, especially on aftermarket covers. I've seen it on 2 of my buddies mustangs. Just snug them up good, if you apply too much torque to them, they will break really easily. After you tighten them down a few times they should stay put.

I see from your sig that you bypassed the smog and AC with a shorter belt. Did you use a delete kit or did you just run a smaller belt? I was thinking of just running a shorter belt but I didn't think it could be routed w/o the AC delete.

Gearbanger 101 · Aug 10, 2004

If worse comes to worse, you could always pull the covers off and run a thin finger full of HTV silicone down the edges of the covers before bolting them back on, along with the rubber impregnated steel gaskets. The reason not to crank down the stock valve covers isn’t necessarily because they’ll lift and leak, it’s because there are prone to cracking if torqued down too tightly.

battyice · Aug 10, 2004

Many people don't realize how important it is to tighten all the valve cover bolts evenly. If you have 1 bolt that isn't as tight as the rest, it will eventually leak. When I changed my valve cover gaskets last May I used the blue fel pro gaskets with steel inserts. I put them on bone dry and torqued all the bolts to 50 inch pounds. Today, more than a year later, there isn't even an oil film around them, the covers are actually starting to oxidize.

I recommend using high quality gaskets and a torque wrench, no extra sealant is needed.

04sleeper · Aug 10, 2004

If you want the best gaskets use the Ford Metal Gaskets. They are metal and come with just a raised lip of rubber on each side. They came factory after 91. They look like this.

You can reuse these over and over again and have no leaks!
I used to have a solid roller cam and adjusted the rockers periodically. I used these with ARP rocker studs for over 2 years and they never leaked.

88stangmangt · Aug 10, 2004

torqueing them down to factory specs and in the right pattern is very important.

v8only · Aug 10, 2004

89sleeper said:
If you want the best gaskets use the Ford Metal Gaskets. They are metal and come with just a raised lip of rubber on each side. They came factory after 91. They look like this.

You can reuse these over and over again and have no leaks!
I used to have a solid roller cam and adjusted the rockers periodically. I used these with ARP rocker studs for over 2 years and they never leaked.

those are what we used. we may have put a touch of locktite on the bolts too.

Gearbanger 101 · Aug 10, 2004

v8only said:
those are what we used. we may have put a touch of locktite on the bolts too.

The green locktite, I hope?

Kdubslugga · Aug 10, 2004

Hey Kdog, i have the A/C Delete but i just removed Smog Crap, didnt get a bracket kit

Kdubslugga · Aug 10, 2004

Will i mess up the TPS if i unplug it at the connectors instead of taking the 2 screws off? I need to take the Upper Intake off to get to the Valve covers, so am i good to just unplug it and plug it back in again when im done?

Gearbanger 101 · Aug 10, 2004

No, unplugging it won't change the setting.

Valve covers leaking! Need some tips!

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