300SDL What is this gasket and the torque specs?
 

Sorry, I know this is a really dumb question, but I am still figuring my way around my car. What is this cover called and how tricky is it to replace this gasket, assuming I should? It does not look too bad. I am not quite sure what to search for in the forum.

I have been working my way around various leaks and other minor issues and my engine seem pretty clean now, except for this leak. As I checked the bolts around the cover, I noticed that 3 of them were essentially loose. I could turn one of them one full turn by hand! I went around and tightened everything as tight as I could with my hand on the pivot of the wrench, not the end, so I do not expect the bots to be too tight (30 years of computer programming have not given me strong hands). How tight should they be? The head gasket was replaced 70K miles ago and the car has 270K now.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1423938222

That is the valve cover or cylinder head cover. The FSM calls for 10 Nm (7 ft-lb. or 88 in-lb.) In other words, not much. It is likely they are now over-tightened and you run the possibility of distorting the cover or even the chance of cracking it.

It may be best to get a new gasket and some aviation gasket sealant. Torque the fasteners and then recheck once the engine is warmed.

Thanks for the information Sam. I should clarify that I did not tighten things as hard as my initial post might lead you to believe. It really was just by hand with no leverage and just enough that it felt like it would be OK. It was less than 7 ft-lb almost certainly.

In any case, here is what I did with this information: I loosened all the bolts and re-tightened them to 55 in-lb all around first and then 88 in-lb all around. The car was not driven at all between my hand-tightening and now. It was like that for maybe 2 hours. I would not expect any damage.

When I loosened the bolts, some of then made a cracking sound (but not all). I wonder if they had thread lock. Should I pull them back out, one at a time, and clean them, dry them, blue thread lock them and re-torque them?

I also cleaned the oily residue around the cover (it had been dribbling down the outside of the transmission dip-stick sheath, all the way to the ground), so I clean that up as well to check for evidence of leakage over the next few weeks.

If it still leaks, I will definitely change the gasket. It looks simple enough. I need to find this "aviation gasket sealant". Never heard of it.

I will re-torque after the car warms up.

Anyway, any additional opinions will be much appreciated.

Thank you.

It is an excellent, non-hardening sealant that won't form strands or blobs (like silicone) and possibly get into the oiling system. Most auto parts chains have it on hand.

aviation gasket sealer - Bing