Valve Cover Gasket?

[fritts]

Question, when taking off the valve cover is a new valve cover gasket mandatory? Does it usually fall apart?

Thanks

Ryan Fritts

[navysnail]

a new one is usually needed, i would recomend it because they are cheap and you can use rtv if you have nothing else

[DAEDALUS]

There's a downside to using RTV if the cover isn't designed for it. What will happen is the RTV will squeeze out way too thin. This makes it weak and it will fail sooner. That is, RTV .001" thick is not as robust as RTV .020" thick. Covers made for RTV have a groove that ensures the RTV will maintain the proper thickness at all times.

[BadMojo]

Question, when taking off the valve cover is a new valve cover gasket mandatory? Does it usually fall apart?

I've re-used mine a few times. As long as it doesn't look damaged, just re-use it. If one of them is damaged, it's only ~$11 to order a new one.

[240fan]

I am putting Felpro in in a couple hours, do I need to coat it with RTV or just put it in??

[sinitry23]

what is RTV? I was thinking of changing my vavle cover gasket as well.

[ESPER]

just to be safe i would always replace it for my peace of mind, its not too expensive, but if you replace it and it is still secure with no oil leaking, then obviously you should be fine, so put it back on, run it and check for leaks

[ESPER]

rtv is a chemical you squeeze out of a tube and apply in between and once u put the valve cover back on, it will dry to arubberlike state

[BadMojo]

I am putting Felpro in in a couple hours, do I need to coat it with RTV or just put it in??

Just put it in. The only thing that needs RTV is the little half-moon pieces that sit in front of the cam sprockets. You just need to put a bead of RTV on the curved side of the half-moon and that's it. The FSM doesn't call for any RTV on the valve cover gaskets themselves.