Victor Reins valve cover gasket leaking
 

I've used Victor Reins valve covers mostly with success. Lately they have been leaking soon after install even when glued with a little rtv. What gives? 300SD
Engine hruns well and has little blow by.

What do you use?

I've been using Victor Reinz. Had OK experiences, however the one on my '85 weeps slightly.

Have read some anecdotal tales of them leaking after install.

Quality may be dropping?

I just installed a Victor Reinz on another car and I would say it was a better fit. It clung to the cam cover and stayed in place while installing it. The one I installed on my '85 kept dropping off. Maybe that was a sign.

Next time I'll go with an Elring valve cover gasket. Apparently they are making the Genuine ones (aka the OEM supplier). They aren't much more, I don't think, anyway.

The seal goes on dry, no RTV. You might want to make sure you didn't over tighten the bolts holding it down, they should be all equally snug I think it's like 8 ft lbs. but snugged down should be fine.

I posted a thread a couple years ago about the Victor Reinz VC gaskets not going on easily without a little something to keep them in place during install.

People chimed in saying they use RTV, gasket-maker (very lightly applied), or even a bit of motor oil to get the gasket to stay. I think some people put them in the freezer first as well.

You have to be uber-careful when tightening the VC down. Learned that the "Damn is it that time already?" way.

A friend had work done at the biggest indy in town, that still works on a number of this generation, and the VC gasket even leaked a little after their install.

I used an MB sourced valve cover gasket, not a problem. OEM as shown below:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8474/...8d423020_c.jpg

On the other hand, the oil pan gasket I used was Victor Reinz, and it is once again leaking. :mad:

I know what to get next time.

Interesting. I had a Victor-Reinz gasket and one of the corners was rolled out and not seated when I tightened it down, so it leaked. I recently purchased a new Victor-Reinz gasket and it seems like they are now thinner than they used to be. I did everything properly but it looks like it's leaking quite a bit already.

I installed a new VR valve cover gasket on my OM601. The old one was leaking slightly at the passenger rear of the head. I cleaned everything very well, the gasket fit ok, and I torqued it to spec center outward to the ends. It leaked bad. I took it off and cleaned everything again, then reinstalled. Got the motor hot and retorqued when hot. Still leaked. At this point in time, I blame the gasket. I want to get an OEM gasket to replace the current VR one. Pretty frustrating...

Make sure the rocker cover / valve cover isn't bent out of shape. Make sure the little towers that you screw the cover screws into are fully seated. Make sure the sealing surface on the head is clean.

A Mercedes Genuine valve cover gasket for my 220D is $7 and for my 300TD is $28. Depending on your car, the price is probably somewhere between those two. Don't let using aftermarket parts frustrate you when Genuine is not that much more in the grand scheme of things.

(please note that the prices I gave are online prices, not from your local dealer)

And is sealer required say on Elring or MBZ? I'm going to switch. I have way too many projects to spend time practicing because of crappy parts.

Trick I use to keep them in place is I tie fishing line around the valve cover and gasket. Put the knot outside the gasket and when it's in place and snugged down snip the fishing line and pull it out.

The last VR valve cover gasket I installed has been weeping and leaving a few drops of oil where I park. It did not want to stay on the valve cover during installation, either. I need to revisit it and try a new gasket as I am getting pretty fed up with oil stains everywhere.

that's for tranny gasket ;)

10-11 for valve cover (14-15 nm)

I use RTV on gasket cover edges to hold the gasket ....wait 30 mins...snug...go...go...no leaks.....


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The Elring gasket on my 300D wasn't leaking when replaced (timing chain replacement + valve adjustment).

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8476/...3371cd53_z.jpg

According to this site, Bruss also supplies parts to Elring... and Reinz. Curious if that's different from Victor Reinz. Could it be?

Bruss Products for Mercedes BMW Porsche Audi VW Saab Volvo Mini :: epsparts.com - European Parts Specialists, Ltd.

Do the valve cover bolts on this car have a rubber grommet with a steel bushing through the center under them? If so, the rubber might be crushed out and compression of the main gasket is lacking.

There is also the possibility that the valve cover is bowed under the bolts further reducing compression.

Install the valve cover less main gasket and measure between the surfaces, the distance should be less than gasket thickness.