It is soon time to do a valve adjustment for me. I have never done one before but I have read the dieselgiant tutorial. Question - what kind of sealer/adhesive do you folks use on the new gasket when you put everything back together?

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Charlie

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'66 VW 1300 96K miles
'97 E300D 239K miles
'85 300D 203K miles (sold Sep 2012)

None - but use a new gasket. Unless your valve cover is warped or the sealing surfaces damaged, you don't need anything else.

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1984 300TD

Thanks. I do have a new one so I guess I'm all set.

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Charlie

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'66 VW 1300 96K miles
'97 E300D 239K miles
'85 300D 203K miles (sold Sep 2012)

You're not all set unless you use a torque wrench on the nuts. 11-12 ft.-lbs. If you guess, it will leak.

Yeah, also were you, for some reason, remove the stud from the head, note the orientation as it is longer on one side. There is a nut on the stud and the correct end will need to be screwed into the head. I learned this when bolting everything back together. The previous mechanic inverted one, I coudn't get a good torque setting, after much well, colorful language I discovered a cracked mounting point on one of the stud holes, necessating a trip to the bone yard for another one, that did not have the correct linkage mount, and then another trip, and a laid up car for nearly a week. Be sure to take photos of linkage before disassembly. I found the most difficult part reinstalling the cam cover while keeping new gasket on and clean. Happy wrenching.

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83 SD

84 CD

I always guess and have never had a leak.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Well I may still put a few dots of adhesive on the gasket, just enough to hold it to the cover. I do have a torque wrench so I'm OK there too. I also have a set of the Hazet valve wrenches.

Re: 12 lb/ft of torque: John Muir's book "how to keep your ACVW alive" outlines a side-of-the-road method for torquing to 12 lb/ft or so - one grips the ratchet wrench so that the round hub is in your palm, and start to tighten down. When the veins in your hand bulge, that's about 12 lbs. I never measured it with a torque wrench afterwards but it's always worked for my oil cover plate on the V-dub.

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Charlie

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'66 VW 1300 96K miles
'97 E300D 239K miles
'85 300D 203K miles (sold Sep 2012)

The gasket will stay on the cover without any adhesive.

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Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

Yah, me too.

I clean the mating surfaces of ALL oil and "smack" the valve cover down No leaky

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

I use Japanese Tri-bond liquid gasket, same stuff is used in Japanese bikes and cars and is also sometimes found at motorcycle shops and called Hondabond or Yamahabond, works out very well, regular gaskets always cause the sweating, with this, its stays clean till the next valve adjust.

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99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT