Cam cover screws torque setting

About to replace the cam cover gasket on my 3.6 XJ40. I have searched through all my manuals and cannot find the correct torque for those cover screws. Can someone point me at a source.

From memory they are Cross Head screws? Just tighten down snug. After a few cycles go around again and check if there is any movement.

Yes, but there’s ‘snug’ and ‘snug’ Robin! I’d like to be sure and find out the recommended torque! And I seem to remember they were star socket (forgotten the name)of the screw head fitting

From the Haynes Manual, Torx drive is the correct term I’d forgotten they were those.

Thanks Robin. Ah, valve cover screws! I was looking for cam cover screws! I see it is 10 -12 Nm

Alan, make sure you check all the washers under the torx screws for signs of cracking before you tighten them down. They’re shaped to fit the recesses and are made from a very brittle metal and crack easily, this makes them come loose very quick and you end up with the cam cover weeping.

Thanks. I don’t remember those. I suppose I’d better get a new set before starting the job? According to my fiche it is EBC1294. If I can’t get them, I wonder what then?

17 pence ea from SNG

Yes, I’ve since found local sources (Jagdaim in Melbourne). Thanks heaps for the input.

Just out of curiosity, many of you are talking about torx head screws, and in all my years of owning one of these vehicles, I have never seen one that didn’t have phillips head screws. Is it possible they are actually from later built cars? Here is what mine looks like.

Mine is definitely Torx. 1987/88 model 3.6. IMHO Torx is a much better head. Only problem is many people start the job on a Sunday and realise they haven’t got the driver, so they bodge with another type. Fortunately I have a set. They are used elsewhere on the car, eg the door hinges.

EDIT: Just found out they are Philips! See later post.

I definitely agree they are used elsewhere on the car. Just never seen them used for a valve cover on our cars. That’s very strange that they used torx for some. Now I’m going to be on the lookout for others when I hit the shows or junkyards.

My deepest apologies everyone. I just checked my valve cover screws and they are indeed Philips! Not Torx

That screw is a posidrive

Just to toss a little fuel on the fire, here is what mine look like:


Socket (hex) head cap screws (technically bolts) with copper washers. No, these are not OEM! Makes for positive drive using an Allen (hex) wrench, but easy to over-tighten.

Foggyoo, I’m not familiar with posidrive. How is that different than phillips?

The four lines between the grooves mark it as a posidrive, different angles on the driver.Google it.

Just about to belatedly start the job. Does anyone use a gasket sealant/goo and if so which one? Aso, as another poster noted, the screw are not philips. They are posidrive.

One thing that has come up is to use OE gasket rather than a 2nd tier supplier. Too far back in the past to remember if I used any sealant.

Alan,

As Robin says - using an OE gasket for the cam cover is important (as opposed to the leak-prone after-market one(s) on offer) without sealant is the answer.
Also make sure that the screw holes are clean and dry before you put the screws in otherwise you cannot judge when they are evenly and suitably ‘snugged down’.