It's the wrong stuff, Phil. I dont get my tech advice from the instructions on the product, I get my tech advice from the likes of 180, Maxchion, Ala_xfire, Thorn, Mr. Peabody and others like them who have gone before me.
In fact, when it comes to fixing leaky covers, I read about how some of those I mentioned had to do their fix twice in a year - and learned from THEIR experience!

Just this week, I told TWO people on Facebook to read this ENTIRE THREAD carefully, as I did, back four years ago - before proceeding. The experience of others is what I want to learn from.

 

Ultra Black RTV is the right stuff. Could your product work? Perhaps. But I KNOW that Ultra Black RTV works because it worked for me and for many others. See, I learned from reading this ENTIRE thread, back four years ago. I read how others had to do the job twice and made up my mind to do it RIGHT and ONCE. Here I am, years later, with NOT ONE DROP of seepage anywhere on the engine.

Just this week, I have told TWO people on Facebook to read this entire thread before proceeding (at least up to my posts, as what I learned was found in the posts up to that point). I prefer to learn from those who went before me, when I saw how some had to do this fix twice in six months, I made up mind to take my time and do it right. "Right" being defined by the likes of MikeR, Maxchion, ALa_Xfire Thorn and others. My mechanical skill is about a 2 of 5; I am only successful by learning directly from those I know can, and have, done the work successfully.

 

You’re the man.
I think the secret is clean surfaces, a thin even layer of sealant so that it sets up evenly through its thickness along the whole surface, let it skin over a little, apply the two parts together so the faces touch at the same time and slowly torque the screws in an even pattern so they all end up at the final torque more or less together.
Left for the time stated and check the torque again. Wait at least the recommended time before use.
Rapid setting is not what you want at home, it may be OK when assembled by a real expert or a robot.
A rapid set, an uneven layer and a delay in putting it together probably spells a disaster down the line.

Fortunately I have not had a leak and it looks like it never has been fixed. Some sealant surface pictures I have seen on the forum look like the sea with waves on it, not good. Smooth is good, ripples not, you need a steady hand and a sealant gun like that from NeedsWing would help, it is a bit pricey though. Doing the job on a bench with the valve covers off would be the best. And you can replace the valve cover seals while you are at it, if not you may end up with leaks from them.
Do a good job and you will only do it once.

I am sure that Mercedes did a good job, maybe a few errors. Their sealant is not something they would cheap out on, robots are used in many cases to apply the sealant, on these engines we cannot say though.

 

Mark: thanks a lot for your advice. what happened was that i was reading posts where it was mentioned just as RTV, and didnt think that it had to be 1 specific.
i choose the 1 i used because said that it dries fast, but also saw more than 1 black.
but now is too late, and i hope it also does the job. will see.
and, if it fails soon, will use the 1 you advice.
thanks again.

 

For someone who uses Google, asks many questions and answers their own questions as much as they do I guess choosing the right or wrong answer is a toss up.

I am on his ignore list so he will not get upset.🤪

 

Hi Guys

I am ready to do the "breather" repair. I have read this thread from end to end and believe I have a good understanding of what is required. The only thing I have been unable to determine is the bolt head type for the long bolts that hold the breather and rocker cover to the head. I have the smaller Torx screw fitting. Any help appreciated.

 

The screws used to hold down the valve cover have a male TORX head. Don't remember the exact size, but you can buy a small set of 3/8" drive female Torx head sockets at your local auto parts store. The right socket will be included.

 

Bought a full set of Torx head sockets as suggested by dedwards0323. They also have a lifetime warranty even though I hopefully will never use them again.

The Ultra black sealant and the aluminium screws have also been delivered today, so I am ready to go.

My only question that requires the answer from people who have done this repair is:- The Ultra black instructions say "finger tighten......... and leave for 1 hour then torque to correct value". Is this the case as I have only found a few posts that have actually mentioned waiting the hour. What was done by the guys & girls who have done this before and repaired the leak.

Many thanks

 

Did not use the Ultra Black RTV sealant, but would suggest you follow the directions as stated on the sealant. Makes sense to allow the RTV to "set-up" a little by waiting an hour before tightening to proper torque value. This would reduce the likelihood of extruding the sealant from various locations & preventing a strong & effective gasket from forming. I essentially followed this procedure when I performed my repair back in 2010.

 

I typically check the tightness of the valve cover screws once a year. I found that these "loosened" over time and needed to be re-torqued. If you consider doing this, you'll use the Torx socket again.

 

I take your point. You would think once something was tight it would stay tight forever. I am not one for using Loctite on threads as I have seen what can happen when it "works" better than expected and you shear a fastener.

 

I let them sit 30 minutes, maybe an hour but I think 30 minutes. I then tightened them to spec, before putting the valve cover/breather assemblies back on the car.

I used Ultra Black RTV, new valve cover gaskets and a new bolt set - no locktite. It's been four years, and around 21000 miles. I've never tightened the bolts again (other than two months after the fix). Not a drop of oil on the engine today.

I DO suggest you check the tightness from time to time, even tho I have not. Also, consider changing the gasket under the oil fill cap while you are in there, again, I didn't but it would probably be a good idea.

 

Here are the instructions for the Permatex Ultra Black, it says to apply and assemble at once.

DIRECTIONS:

1. For best results, clean and dry all surfaces with a residue-free solvent, such as Permatex® Brake & Parts Cleaner.
2. Cut nozzle to desired bead size – gaskets are best formed using a 1/16″ to 1/4″ bead.
3. Apply a continuous and even bead of silicone to one surface, surrounding all bolt holes. Remove excess with knife at once. Assemble parts immediately. Do not squeeze out silicone by over tightening bolts. Re-torque will not be necessary.
4. Silicone dries in 1 hour, and fully cures in 24 hours, at 70˚F – 50% relative humidity. Allow more time in cold weather.
5. Replace cap after use. Clean hands with dry cloth or Permatex® Fast Orange® Hand Cleaner. Clean tools with non-flammable cleaning fluid.

NOTE: Not recommended for use on head gaskets or parts in contact with gasoline.

Here is a video on how not to apply the sealant, but he sure is confident.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...T2c5pBhTrjnq9u

 

Hi everyone, this'll be my first post here. So I've recently bought a 2004 Crossfire. It has the head cover and breather cover oil leaks, among a sea of other issues.
So I've ordered the gasket, RTV stuff, and everything for an oil change ( I basically have no service history on this thing so I've decided to do that and change the spark plugs while i'm at it.)
The only thing I still can't find is a new set of bolts. Mind you, I'm in Holland, so the best source for car parts I have is amazon.de. ( Only 550 Xfire's were ever sold in Holland, so it's not like there's a sprawling aftermarket community for this car over here. )

Can anyone help me find a set, or at least the specs of these bolts? I have the service manual, but it doesn't seem to list the specs or an OEM number for these bolts.
I've been able to find that the little allen bolts are m5*18. Now I can find these, but not made of aluminum. I also seem to be unable to find any info on the weird E10 bolts that hold in the head cover.

I've ordered a torque wrench ( the ones I have only go down to like 30 nm) so I was thinking of reusing the old ones, but honestly that seems kinda sketchy to me ( if I break one bolt, I'll be without a car- and I really need it for work) plus I just want to do a decent job instead of a 'this'll do'- type of job.
I've been reading through this thread and used the search function, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus on whether or not the bolts can be reused and whether or not they absolutely need to be made of aluminum.

In short, I'm far from a mechanic, I want to do this myself and I want to do it right, which I think should be doable, but the thought of messing up my car kinda freaks me out. Of course I could have my indepent mechanic do it, but we all know how expensive that gets, especially here in Holland ( blame taxes for that.)
Does anyone have any info on what the specs for these bolts are ( especially for the E10 ones, since I haven't seen anyone mention the size, thread pitch and length for these.)?
I think I'll also email some local MB dealers if they can get a set, but somehow I expect them to be none too eager to supply someone with parts. After all, if I do it myself, they can't rip me off, which seems to be their main business model.

 

If the bolts you have removed look good after cleaning I see no reason not to reuse them as long as you're very careful w/ proper torque & tighten them gradually in an apposing pattern .
Do NOT over do the sealant application ! Although not normally my process , some folks just LIGHTLY & evenly snug the bolts & then tighten to torque after letting the sealant dry overnight
This does make sense allowing some more compressive sealing of the mating parts .
If you are at all unsure of aluminum bolt torque specs , look it up online .

 

Hi dikzak

I have just completed the breather leak, just waiting to crank the engine and do a run to see if I have been successful.

The short bolts M5-0.8 x 16mm are made from aluminium and are freely available in the UK in a handy pack of 5.
Part number - AL-CAP-M5-16-5PK
GWR fasteners Ltd, Unit 6-7 Artillery Business Park, Shropshire. SY11 4AD
These should not be re-used. (all I could find for the torque was 1ft/lb. That to me is finger tight).

The longer bolts holding the small breathers to the rocker cover and head can be used again, just clean them up prior to re-use. (Torque 9.5N/M)

 

Well the thing with aluminum is that it suffers from metal fatigue really quickly, that's why I'm so hesitant to reuse them. I've seen the 'first finger tighten, then torque down' approach mentioned in this thread before, it seems like a good idea.
I sadly couldn't really find any info online about these bolts other than that the allen bolts are M5*18 and made of aluminum; noone really mentions the E10 bolts.

Thanks for the reply! Is 16mm long enough though? As far as I'm aware the originals are 18mm long.
So the E10 bolts are not made of aluminum, or at least are strong enough to be reused? ( I'm a metal fabricator, and aluminum is a PITA to work with. I really don't wanna strip the threads or break the head off.)
Funnily enough, the service manual really doesn't even mention these little m5 bolts. It pretty much ignores the existence of the breather covers completely other than passively mentioning that they are for crankcase ventilation.
So just for clarity's sake:
-the allen head bolts are M5*18 with a 0.8mm thread pitch, but M5*16 will also work?
-Torque on the allen head bolts is basically fingertight?
-The E10 bolts can be reused with a torque of 9,5NM? ( My service manual says 10NM, but that's within margin of error)


( Also, excuse me for using this username: I really only made an account so I could download attachments. Didn't figure that I would actually post something, so I just chose some random name. 'Dikzak' means fatass. )

 

All correct.

 

The small bolts are M5-16mm long with a 0.8mm pitch. Anything longer will bottom out in the blind hole. I checked the old bolts as i removed each one. They were all 16mm long measured from under the bolt head.

 

Huh, that's strange. Good to know though