Last fall the dealership did my 08 before the 3/36 was up under warranty. A month later they did my 07 under the LPW. On the 07 they didn't just reseal.....they said there was a TSB on the 07s ....they completely replaced the valve covers under the LPW.

 

Thank you for your input; I'll give it a try. This doesn't look like a terribly difficult job as long as I have the correct tools.

 

OK, I just picked up my 5 bolts from the dealership today (roughly $25), and I got home and started taking a closer look at the job. I noticed more leakage on the passenger side than the driver side...I also noticed that all the bolts were just a little loose, so I gave them a slight twist in hopes that perhaps they all worked their was slightly loose.

My question for you all is this. Do you think I should hold off and give this newly slightly tightened thing a shot, or should I just take the plunge and get started working on making it all better now?

Please understand that I've taken heed to the warnings I've read here about over-tightening, so I made sure not to go crazy on these bolts. I just thought that many of them seemed quite loose and could afford a little tug to tighten things up.

Just tell me what you think. All thoughts are welcome.

 

Ninja,

It certainly won't really hurt things to wait and see if tightening down the bolts a bit solves the leakage problem. There are two tightening steps when fixing this and if the second tighten after letting the gasket set doesn't happen I suppose it is possible it could leak as a result. My guess is that it won't fix it because of how the covers are made and the fact that tightening can't really solve for a bubble/gap where there is no gasket.

I have almost no mechanical skills, and I was able to do this real easily. I don't have a torque wrench and went by feel which I don't recommend but I felt I had pretty good self control

This job could be rushed in an hour or so but take your time and spend the time it takes to get all the old gasket off and everything cleaned off. The point is there is little work here aside from unscrewing them, picking the gunk off and cleaning, apply gasket and stick them back on.

R

 

Rockster....thanks for the advice. I have pretty much NO mechanical experience/skill myself with the exception of minor things and regular maintenance. I'm sure I can do this job without problems, but was curious about that latest tightening thing. I agree with you, however, in that I think it probably won't make a difference. I will plan on working on this project this weekend when I have time to do the job carefully and correctly.

Thanks for your input. I am also appreciative for this forum that has helped with many questions and provided much guidance.

 

Tightening them down a bit could help. I do not expect the problem to be bubbles causing the leak. The OEM sealants are put on a far more evenly than you and I can do. I tightened mine a bit and they seemed fine, but mine were just minimally visibly leaking, no runs yet just a thin line at the joint. That was two years ago and was still fine when I sold it.

 

When I picked up the SHCS's from my local CDJR dealer, I discovered that the screws were 18 mm long. The factory screws are 16 mm long, which sometimes is harder to find. The extra 2 mm length may "bottom out" the screws during tightening and prevent you from getting a good seal. (Note: I didn't use them when I made this repair.) See my post on this.

I've got several versions of the required SHCS's for this repair. Send me your "snail mail" address via PM and I'll send you enough of each to cover your needs. I also don't recommend tightening these beyond 5-6 Nm. No more than 1/8 turn past snug during assembly. And I'm convinced (more so than others) that using a sealant designed for this application will make all the difference. I've added my $0.02 on this earlier in this thread.

Good luck with your repair. Let us know how it goes/went.

 

OK, I'll bite. Does anyone know the specs on the larger valve cover bolts?

 

INSTALLATION

1. Check the gasket for tearing and breakage. If damage is
evident, replace the gasket.
2. Position the cylinder head covers (2) on the cylinder head.
Install the cylinder head cover bolts (1) and tighten to 10

N·m (7 ft. lbs.).

 

Very nice, Dave. But I was looking for the dimensions of the bolts! Diameter, pitch and length. Sorry for the confusion!

 

Sorry, I just assumed. Dummy that I am.

 

Well? What are they?

 

OK, I'm doing this project in phases. Tonight, I disconnected the hoses and removed the covers for cleaning. Upon doing so, I noticed that the hoses that are connected to the covers don't have any king of "clamp" to secure the hose to the connectors. Would you all recommend that I add this to the reinstall?

I"m also going to attempt to add some images of what I find along the way. Tonight's pics should include covers before removal and bolts.

My point about the bolts is this....just as one of the latest posts mentioned, the factory bolts ARE longer than the bolts that I removed when taking off the covers. I would be concerned if these "bottom out" and prevent a tight fit. Anyway, I thought it would be worth mentioning. Check out the pics.

Tomorrow I will work on cleaning to make sure I get a VERY good seal when I reinstall.

 

wouldn't the bolts you took out be the factory bolts??????

 

I was reading some time back on this forum that some people were using stainless steel screws in place of the OEM aluminum screws. I warned that this may not be too smart due to galvanic corrosion and there was a reason why the factory used the special and more expensive screws.

I later found the chart that listed the various metals in order of there susceptibility to corrosion due to this phenomenon.

The stainless steel screws should not be used in magnesium and magnesium alloys. In severe conditions they should not be used in aluminum alloys either.

See the chart here.

You can see that under certain conditions the differential value of the materials anodic index (V) should not exceed a certain value. Engine blocks are not cheap and if you lived in some climates your engine could start to lose weight.

You need an electrolyte and damp salty air counts.

 

Nice link!

 

I'm told that M-B recommends discarding the old aluminum SHCS's and re-install using new fasteners. Since the aluminum material is weak relatively speaking, any excessive torque (even the smallest amount) applied during installation can stretch the screw. That makes the assembly inherently loose and places all the sealing capability on the sealant used. Once the screw is stretched, it's defective as a fastener if used again.

 

You would think so, but I am the 3rd owner of this car, and I have my suspicions that this process has already been done before -- perhaps not very well though.

 

that makes sense... especially along with dedwards above post about changing bolts...

I did mine a second time over a year ago(first time I was not as diligent as I should have been) and they have been great with the stock screws...no leaks to date...

 

true, so true. Glad to hear you have no leaks now.