Camcover gasket

[D813YBB]

The camcover front gasket on my 1987 1.6 Maestro has split.

As access seems easy I thought I would have a go at replacing it myself. I've ordered the part and was wondering if it is just a case of undoing the bolts on the cover, removing the old gasket and bung in the new one and replace the cover.

Is there anything I've overlooked and would any type of gasket sealant do for the repair?

[SimonR]

Read the HOWEVER bit first!

Yeah, this job is no problem at all. Take the old gasket off and clean both surfaces thoroughly. You might need to remove some of the oil from the top of the engine so that the mating surfaces aren't contaminated.

Then fit the gasket into the cover and do the bolts up. The torque setting is very low and avoid over-tightening. I always tighten until the gasket is *just* visibly distorted by the cover, which is generally hand tight and at most a couple more turns with a socket.

You don't need any sealant and in my experience using sealant makes the job impossible because the gasket squidges out.

HOWEVER:

If you gasket has split you have to ask why. It's very likely that the oil breather pipes are blocked with emulsified oil and therefore the crank case pressure is pushing the gasket out. It's an S-Series engine after all!

Anyway, take off the pipes that go from the sump to the oil filler and carb and check them for blockages, usually in the form of a yellowish gunk. Clean the gunk out and change the oil for Unipart Silver which does not produce gunk.

[E_T_V]

Yup exactly what he said.

[D813YBB]

Well, the gasket was replaced in the early nineties and I remember the garage had a right old time getting the new gasket to seal. The recent problem has occurred after putting the car in daily use after standing for a number of years. So I'm wondering if it may be age related.

Also I changed the oil last weekend using Castrol Magnatec including flushing out the engine first, so I hope I dont need to do that again. Would the hoses be blocked after doing long distances at 70mph?

Would anyone be willing to give it the once over if I could make it across to the Great North Run this weekend?

[e692wtt]

If the hoses are totally blocked then a run at high speed won't shift the problem. They do tend to 'gunk up' with mayonnaise but as long as it's not too bad a good run will clear most of it.

I swear by Duckhams oils to minimise 'mayo' in my S-series engine. The engine produces 'mayo' but not a great deal of it.

If you manage the Great North Run, I'll have a look and see if there's a problem . We're leaving the car park/information centre at Waterhead at (hopefully) 10AM. If you PM me I'll let you have my phone number for more information.

[D813YBB]

Update

I've now put a new gasket on and tightened the bolts gently, but am still experiencing a leak in the order of 4/5 drips on the garage floor each morning. Is there anything else I can try? The gasket fit is tidy and is not squeezing out.

[Guest]

Just as an aside, I made the mistake of overtightening the bolts. Didn't realise until I'd got 50 miles up the A1 with smoke billowing out of the bonnet. The gasket had split at one point and oil was POURING out of the gap.

I have used a smear of RTV sealant around the gasket when refitting and it hasn't leaked since. This allows a lighter than ideal adjustment on the bolts and still gives a good seal so there's more margin for error.

I've been trying the new Castrol GTX oil for high mileage engines. This has temperature/thickness characteristics very similar to the usual Duckhams grade and doesn't seem to give nearly as much mayo as the normal GTX. It's a 15W/40 and I would expect it's a bit better for a very worn engine than the much thinner-when-cold Magnatec. Of course if you've got a newly reconned engine then it's a different story. Thoughts anyone?

Steve H

[Simon]

Yes, I arrived late on this post but can underline the use of RTV sealant (Unipart GCH 111) as a means of sealing against leaks. The book torque figure for the bolts is 10lbf/ft but as SimonR correctly states, just do them up gently to avoid distortion.

[D813YBB]

I bought Hermetite Instant Gasket today which is RTV silicone rubber. According to the instructions it replaces the rubber gasket.

Sorry if this is obvious, but do I junk my new gasket and apply the Hermetite instead, or should I apply the sealant to both metal surfaces and put the rubber gasket inbetween?

[G Force]

Hi You must use the gasket. If you have the later cam covers with the thick rubber gasket and you have to resort to using rtv, silicon just a liberal amount in the corners works well. If for some strange reason you have the older type with the thin string of rubber then rtv all over is needed.

Make sure you clean all traces of oil from the area so you can see whether you have stopped the leak or there is oil leaking from else where.

Cheers