Fixing oil leak from valve cover

[cewyattjr]

So last weekend a helpful MBZ friend came over brought his wrenches and showed me how to do a valve adjustment. They were waaaay tight, and now she's purring like a kitten compared to before. Huge difference.

My job was to put the valve cover back on, but I was talking and not thinking and didn't get those nuts down tight at all. After an afternoon road trip, I noticed a small puddle of oil. Ooops! OK, so I torqued them good.

The problem is that I'm still leaking a good puddle of oil. What's the best approach to troubleshoot? Take the VC off again, reseat the gasket, wipe it clean and try again?

The gasket is less than a year old so seems in pretty good shape, but maybe just should replace anyway?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Chuck

Originally Posted by cewyattjr

Take the VC off again, reseat the gasket, wipe it clean and try again?

Yes, and clean the mating surfaces. Any dirt/sludge left on there will make it leak.

[WINGAS]

And any gasket in a circle or perimeter needs to be torqued down ( gently on this one, dont overtighten), from center to outside, side to side. If you do it right, when you come back to your center bolts for your second go around, they're a bit loose. That means the gasket is seating properly.

[cewyattjr]

I was surprised that there are only 4 nuts holding down the VC?

Anyway, thanks for all the tips, am hoping for decent weather tomorrow so I can work under my shade tree outside.

[tangofox007]

Originally Posted by WINGAS

And any gasket in a circle or perimeter needs to be torqued down ( gently on this one, dont overtighten), from center to outside, side to side.

Just one question. Which one of those four fasteners is in the center?

Originally Posted by cewyattjr

The problem is that I'm still leaking a good puddle of oil. What's the best approach to troubleshoot? Take the VC off again, reseat the gasket, wipe it clean and try again?

There is a wire or two at the rear of the head. You might check to make sure one didn't get clamped under the valve cover when it was reinstalled. Even a tired gasket should not be causing "puddles."

[redassag00]

When you reinstalled your air filter housing, did you make sure to align the bottom with the oil drain tube?

[JimmyL]

The above info is very good {especially if you can find the middle nut on the valve cover } but you may still want to consider a new valve cover gasket. They are not expensive at all.....
Good info to check the drain tube also.

[cewyattjr]

aaaah, drain tube... will check it out. You folks are great.

[blackestate]

The first time I did mine, I got stuff on the gasket from the firewall. Make sure the gasket is not hard, and not deformed.

[Jeremy5848]

Gasket can be reused if not hard from age or damaged but new gasket is only $4.23 (1985 300D-T, ********AZ, 6-08-2008).