Replacing rocker cover gaskets.

[Subru]

Im going to replace the gaskets myself and wanna know the do's and dont's and any tips.

How clean should the surfaces be, and do I need to use a sealer as well as the gasket?

Would be nice if someone could be bothered to write up a quick step by step. 

I know there are videos but I dont find em too helpful for some reason...

As far as I can tell it goes like this:

Take air box, water thing and battery out. Remove coil packs (change spark plugs as its a good time to I guess). Remove 8 bolts. remove cover. Clean gasket area on rocker cover like hell. Clean the semi-circle things at the end of the cams. put gasket in the cover and put back. Tighten bolts (I think there is a special tightening arrangement which I dont know..) and put everything back. Sound about right?

How tight should I do the bolts, a torque wrench will not fit,

[Joker]

lmgtfy / checks the FAQ

 

How to: Rocker Cover Gasket Replacement (Fixes leaks onto exhaust manifold)

-benjamminn

 

try that from here : [Unfortunately Photobucket has hidden all the helpful images

 

[slystiguy]

 

[IZichard]

1 hour ago, Subru said:

Clean gasket area on rocker cover like hell. Clean the semi-circle things at the end of the cams. put gasket in the cover and put back. Tighten bolts (I think there is a special tightening arrangement which I dont know..) and put everything back. Sound about right?

How tight should I do the bolts, a torque wrench will not fit,

A mirror and a small flathead screwdriver helps to pick off the old silicone from the sealing surface on the head.

 

Be sure to replace the spark plug tube seals and the sealing washers at the same time.

 

Make sure the seal is correctly seated in the groove. If it isn't then it can pinch and tear when you tighten the cover down. Be careful that the seal does move when you lower the cover down onto the motor again as it is a tight fit and easy to catch it on the cam cap bolts.

 

You will need 8 small dots of silicone on the seal. One on either side of the two U shapes at the front of the motor. Plus one on either side of the two plastic half moons at the rear of the motor. If you get the genuine gasket it will have flat spots for each of these silicone dots iirc.

 

No particular tightening order just be sure that you tighten it down evenly not one at a time.

 

No need for a torque wrench, just use a small 10mm spanner or a small 1/4 inch ratchet with 10mm socket. Tighten them until they bottom out (should be able to do that with barely more than finger strength) then a tiny tweak more. They really do not need to be that tight. If you lean on one apparently they break easily, I've never had it happen to me but rest assured that if you are ham fisted and break one your day will really suck. Please exercise restraint.

 

Typed on my phone so sorry if it doesn't make sense.

 

 

[boon]

You will want to kill yourself by the end of it if you go into it without a low-profile quality ratcheting non-offset 10mm spanner.

 

This is extremely specific, but it is the only tool for the job. The bottom rear bolt is almost against the chassis rail (passenger side)

 

It is a massive anus of a job. The torque required for it not to leak is not a long way from where the head shears off the bolt.

[Subru]

6 minutes ago, boon said:

You will want to kill yourself by the end of it if you go into it without a low-profile quality ratcheting non-offset 10mm spanner.

 

This is extremely specific, but it is the only tool for the job. The bottom rear bolt is almost against the chassis rail (passenger side)

 

It is a massive anus of a job. The torque required for it not to leak is not a long way from where the head shears off the bolt.

I have a decent 10mm ratchet spanner, dunno what you mean by low profile tho.

So your pretty much saying I could easily shear the bolt? arrgh, I hate not being able to use a torque wrench for things like this. I will prob end up tightening it not enough now... 

and yes I will die if the bolt shears...

[boon]

Low profile == thin-ish head

 

The standard method is to not tighten it enough, start the car, watch oil pour out the bottom, turn the car off, spray it all down with brake clean, tighten it a bit more, start the car, watch oil fall out, turn it off, spray it down, burn yourself on the now very hot heads, tighten it a bit more, this time it is maybe tight enough.

 

Still better than shearing the head off a bolt.

Seriously, if I had a hoist and air tools and S***, I would probably bite the bullet and pull the motor, do both rocker covers and any other BS (rear main seal + kidney plate, cam belt, water/oil pumps, blah blah blah). Then you could use a torque wrench

[Subru]

44 minutes ago, boon said:

Low profile == thin-ish head

 

The standard method is to not tighten it enough, start the car, watch oil pour out the bottom, turn the car off, spray it all down with brake clean, tighten it a bit more, start the car, watch oil fall out, turn it off, spray it down, burn yourself on the now very hot heads, tighten it a bit more, this time it is maybe tight enough.

 

Still better than shearing the head off a bolt.

Seriously, if I had a hoist and air tools and S***, I would probably bite the bullet and pull the motor, do both rocker covers and any other BS (rear main seal + kidney plate, cam belt, water/oil pumps, blah blah blah). Then you could use a torque wrench

Subarus... lol

My mechanic said that I could release one of the engine mounts so I could move it around a bit. Would it be possible to jack up the engine, unbolt all engine mounts and move motor to the side so I can fit torque wrench down there?

[IZichard]

It really isn't that hard to do it in place. You just need a small 1/4 inch ratchet with a standard short 10mm socket. Then as boon said you will need a ratcheting 10mm spanner or just a combination spanner with a kink in it to get the bottom rearmost bolt.

 

You really don't need to mess around with engine mounts or anything. Just be careful.

[calebwrx]

1 hour ago, IZichard said:

It really isn't that hard to do it in place. You just need a small 1/4 inch ratchet with a standard short 10mm socket. Then as boon said you will need a ratcheting 10mm spanner or just a combination spanner with a kink in it to get the bottom rearmost bolt.

 

You really don't need to mess around with engine mounts or anything. Just be careful.

It's easy enough to do without raising the engine, you just have to be patient and take your time. 

No torque wrench needed, just use a small 1/4 inch ratchet, don't even think about using a 3/8 or you'll strip the threads