I had a small leak at the back of the right hand cover. The guy said
that he lifts the whole top off the engine to do the job, not one
manifold at a time. To me this seems like it could put the fuels rails
and other parts at risk for damage and then be rather difficult tp put
everything back down with out twisting the rails or other stuff
connected to the manifolds. He said he does it this way all the
time…saves time and money. Has anyone ever had this job done in
this manner before on their V12’s?
That’s the way we all do it. It’s much easier on the mechanic, the
hardware involved, and the customer’s wallet.
I took a small socket and snugged
up the rear cover bolts a bit and seemed to stop the leak but this is
a temporary fix.I know that the gaskets should be changed out and
would be a good time to put new half moon seals on also.
I recommend you do NOT reassemble the cam covers in OEM
configuration. The cam cover gasket/half moon seal arrangement is a
leak waiting to happen, even if installed correctly, because the
gasket is not properly compressed over the half moon seal. Rather,
there are two alternatives for a vastly more reliable and longer-
lasting seal:
-
Omit the cam cover gasket altogether. Use the OEM rubber half
moon seal. Apply Loctite 518 all over the mating surfaces and all
around the half moon seals. This will seal reliably until the half
moon seal dries out and rots away, at least 10 years, probably 20.
It also saves a bundle on those cam cover gaskets, since they are
expensive.
-
In place of the rubber half moon seals, use solid aluminum plugs
offered by Ron Kelnhofer. Apply Loctite 518 around the aluminum
plug. Use the gortex cam cover gaskets, which will be properly
compressed against the surface of the aluminum plug. This will seal
reliably until the sun burns out. It does cost more to obtain the
aluminum plugs and the gortex gaskets.
-
Fill the half moon holes with epoxy and then assemble with the
gortex gaskets. This is difficult to do in the car due to the angle;
it’s easy with the tappet block on the bench because you can just put
covers on both sides and fill it up and let it dry.
Under no circumstances should you use paper cam cover gaskets.
You should also plan to replace the cam cover bolts while in there.
You’ll need to find out whether yours are SAE or metric. Once you
find out, buy a box of alloy socket head screws that are one size
longer than the OEM screws, perhaps 1/4" or 5mm longer. Install with
one split ring lockwasher and one flat washer under each head, making
sure that the flat washer is small enough OD to sit flat on the
surface of the cam cover.
Finally, as you know Shipwright’s Disease will set in. You should
also replace the flat washers under the 3/8" head nuts along the
outboard edge of the head with thicker washers, something 1/8" thick.
You can do that one nut at a time without disturbing the head gasket
integrity.
You’ll also want to reinstall the intake manifold gaskets with the
newer 2-piece models, but make sure to cut the 2-piece gaskets into
10 pieces before installation! The only pair to leave connected is
the 3-4 on each bank.
All that is at a minimum. There are other tasks you could undertake
while in there, including checking the valve clearances, replacing
the valve stem seals with Teflon seals, resealing under the tappet
block, etc., etc.
– Kirbert
// please trim quoted text to context onlyOn 12 Nov 2012 at 5:27, Skyman wrote:
