Looked over this forum before I go ahead with the second gasket replacement in 20,000 miles, or four years, and have these questions:

--Are leaks with these gaskets a fact of life?

--Can you just live with this garage floor drippings if you are losing less than a quart every few months, or are you risking serious damage?

--Is there really a diff between Jag replacement gaskets and FelPro gaskets?

--Is the secret to success RTV sealant, and a swipe of motor oil and perfect torque and torquing sequence?

--any other advice?

 

Leaks are uncommon. Having the head surface and valve cover slot clean is important, but sealant is only needed at the joint with the front cover.

It's possible the valve covers are warped, or maybe cracked from over tightening.

I have only used fel-pro, except on my 97, which requires factory gaskets of a different design.

 

Mine don't leak ... I hate leaks. I can live with a little damp area .. like every MB I have ever owned gets .. but not a leak where it will drip .. that is a lot.

I only use OE gaskets (on any car) .. they must be properly tightened. Do a check .. I think you can get these from Ford for reasonable $.

Some things are not worth trying to save money, due to potential damage and/or lots of extra labor. Gaskets, Thermostats and and rubber mount/ bushing .. get OE.

I have stopped buying aftermarket belts.

 

Nor do mine. Remove the cam cover and clean the surfaces, be very careful in your inserting the gaskets into the cover, with special attention to the grommets around the bolts. then tighten them down carefully, in sequence much like you would do with head bolts, center lower, center upper, forward upper, rear lower, etc; then torque in the same sequence. Maybe a little vaseline on the gasket surface might help.

But while your at it, check the plug holes for oil and torque the plugs.

 

The way they have designed it, the rubber grommets around the bolts are defining the actual pressure on the valve cover and hence the gasket. The bolt collars go metal to metal against the head, and the grommet is thus compressed to a pre-designed percentage. It's a good design.

It's important to change the grommets when you do the gasket. It's also important to make sure the surfaces are scrupulously clean and smooth, and that you use a sealant on the two block-to-block mating surfaces. I use a black Permatex RTV with extra oil resistance.

In my case I had a leak at the rear bottom corner, despite the gaskets being only 2 years old, and installed by a dealer. But I didn't replace the gasket : I just cleaned the surfaces, put RTV on the joints, and buttoned it up with new grommets. No more leak. My conclusion is that the quality and condition of the gasket is only part of the picture.

 

One thing that should be noted when using RTV...especially on alloy surfaces, is to get the non-acetic-acid forming (when they cure) stuff. The Permatex black O2 sensor safe is a good bet.

Other thing is that you don't want a 'bead', per se, especially in areas where it can squeeze out when tightening down. The suggested method is to apply a THIN bead, and then smooth out to give a skin coat over the surface (especially when using it to 'help' a composite or paper gasket. It's there to help seal, not make up gaps in the surfaces being joined. If you need to make up gaps...then correct that problem so the surfaces meet properly, not fill with goop. That's the mistake a lot of people make with RTV.

(and if you used it on aircraft engine rebuilds...well..got some horror stories about what I've found in the oil pan of Lycomings and Connies that haven't been assembled according to Hoyle...)

Just my $.03