Originally Posted by pizzaguy

Um, that would be the ones holding the breather cover to the valve cover, right?
Those holding the valve covers on are tighter, right?

Originally Posted by maxcichon

Y'know, it's always fun to read through a thread to see what's up.

BUT, sometimes it costs one work!

I have the replacement VC's, but haven't yet bead blasted them. I was, by coincidence, going to do that next week. I may be able to ship them in a couple of weeks. been pretty busy.

For a State employee.

180, I use VHT Wrinkle Plus:

VHT Wrinkle Plusā„¢ Coatings -- High Heat Coatings

(2) heavy coats for a nice wrinkle finish, 3 for a heavy wrinkle.

over 2 coats of self-etching primer:

Self-Etching Primer - Aerosol | Dupli-Color

following can directions.

After dissecting a number of leaking breathers, then cleaning and painting them, I have to stress the importance of removing every last bit of old sealant. And it is a bit harder than one would think.

My theory: the sealant is applied robotically and the breathers are attached the same way. The sealant always seems to be stuck quite well to the breathers, but pulls off the VC's easily. I figure it skinned over a little in manufacturing.

So, IMHO, one should remove the VC's and really clean them well before trying to apply the new RTV.

The VC gaskets are reusable so long as they are still flexible and resilient. Clean them before reuse.
But, at least they're cheap.

Steps:

1) Remove and strip/clean. This includes the M4 threads. Buy a tap if you need to.
2) Now, REALLY clean and degrease them.
3) Paint, following rattlecan directions. (I paint them with the breathers in-place, no screws).
4) Let dry 24-48 hours. Send wife shopping. Then bake @ 200F for 20 minutes.
5) Take a good, close look at how the parts fit together-you have to place a bead of sealant not just around the perimeter, but you need to seal the chamber (cross) flange and the bolt holes too.
6) Squirt a 1/8" bead on the "Figure Eight" of the BREATHER. It has the female groove. You need a bit larger bead on the bolt holes. I strike (screed) it flush, making sure of 100% coverage/groove fill.
7) Stick it together and screw it down. Soon. Don't make the MB mistake of letting it skin over!

If you use an "L-key" wrench, just tighten the M4 screws with the "short arm" of the wrench to limit torque applied. The extra sealant will extrude as you do. Wipe it off carefully. You just painted it!

Originally Posted by onehundred80

I even do that with the wheel bolts unlike the usual tire shop guys, after all it's not their car.

Originally Posted by ala_xfire

FUNNY !
When I last took mine to the local Chrysler dealer to have the wheels balanced on their dynamic road force balancer, I handed the tech my torque wrench with 17mm socket and extension set to 82 ft/lbs to put them back on.
He said he'd been doing balancing for 22 years, and no one had EVER asked to have the bolts torqued before. ( He actually said he thought it was a good idea )