Replacing valve cover gaskets questions

Hi all, well it's time to replace the valve cover gaskets on my 99 911. I heard it's a special sillicone and not an actual gasket? It's leaking on both side and I also have a cam sensor leaking on 1 side. Do I need special tools to do this job? (to hold the cams in place or the chain?) Is there a procedure somewhere? Does someone has one in a manual or something. Anything else I should do since I am there? The car has 88k miles and I have own it for 2 years now. Any inputs on that job would really help. Thanks everyone J-F

There is a sealant, not a gasket. It is recommended to have a cam holder, about $400 at Pelican. The bolts are to be updated on re-install. Not the hardest job, but it depends on your ability and patience. There is a procedure in the service manual.

Thanks salayc. Anyone else? No one work on their cars here? I check and it seams to be fairly an easy job to do, I just want to make sure I am not missing something and I want to order all the parts before I start the job....

You definitely want the cam holder tool. There is no gasket, loctite 5900 is used. Its not really a hard job per se but take your time and make sure you clean everything before going back together or its going to leak again. Exhaust manifold and muffler removal are obviously required so you might think about getting new hardware and gaskets/clamps. I would also consider replacing the spark plug tubes and o rings. Lastly I would also replace the 12 encapsulated bolts.

just make sure not to over torque the bolts and you should be fine. Goodluck

Quotes source post: 6703721

.....and we wonder why these motors leak so much......

You might want to taqke a look at this post of mine. Shows the tool I made, and covers some fo the hazards of using the cam tool. You definitely don't want to damamge the expansion plugs in the end of the cams so be careful! I would hate to see you blow out a plug like I did for something so simple as resealing the cam cover. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ded-plugs.html Removing the muffler and engine mounted bracket is pretty much required. While you might be able to do it with them in place, the time it takes to remove the two will actually save you more time as it makes everthing much more accessible. Removing the manifold is not neccessary on the 1-3 head (drivers side) but is neccessary on the 4-6 side to get the cover off. I take out the long bolts that go through the bracket and then loosen the clamp where the muffler connects to the cat. the long bolts are alot easier to get at then the three bolts that hold the muffler bracket to the engine bracket, and these are usaully badly rusted. They are also welded to the bracket, so if you break one off it is a pain. By the way, you are going to want to take off the rear bumper to do all this, about a 20 minute job. There are actually 21 bolts that hold on the cam cover, tow boltsw that hold on the sealing plate for the cam solenoid and 4 bolts that hold on the oil pump, two of which go into the head and two that go into the cover. the soenoid cover has to be resealed when it goes back on, these are known to leak. The oil pump is uspposed to come off per the manual, but you could probably just remove the two bolts that go into the cama cover. If you take of the pump, mark its postion as it is specific to how the pump works, you cannot but it back in rotated. It also has an o-ring that might need to be replaced. If you want to reuse the bolts for the cam cover, use some loctite blue on the ends, I also use a little sealant arond the caps to make sure they don't leak, or you could buy 21 encapsulated bolts, they list for $.25@. All these small bolts have a 7.5lb torque. Careful you don't want to overtorque them and strip them out of the aluminium. Locatite 5900 is pretty hard to find, although the Porsche deale will sell you a small tube for a list price of $30+. I researched this and Permetex Ultra Copper RTV is the same Oxime silicone with a higher temp rating, and is a quarter of the cost. Finnaly, if you don't have a set of manuals I would get one first, you can get them on CD for about $60 and it is a great investment, saves alot of mistakes. If you want some pictures I can take some and send them, my engine is still partially dissasemvbled waiting for some parts. Good Luck !

Dharn55. I currently have leaking valve covers. Just curious as to how the permatex copper rtv worked for you now that some time has passed? Would you use it again or go with loctite? I'd appreciate your insight. Thanks. Current 01 996 Former 82 targa

Quotes source post: 11994854

Just so it is clear what you are dealing with, the "valve covers" are actually the upper half of the camshaft plain bearings. This is not the place to slop/slather on just any old sealant and use the bolts to squeeze out the excess. The sealant used not only has to spread out and seal the covers and prevent oil from escaping out of the engine but it must also seal and keep the oil -- under pressure -- from escaping inside the engine. An internal oil leak is a hard leak to detect and in the mean time it can result in one or more cam bearings receiving less than the proper amount of oil. Additionally in spreading out the sealant can not add any thickness that prevents the camshaft cover from forming a metal to metal contact with the top of the head. The sealant seals by spreading out and filling the small depressions that exist on the sealing surfaces so even though the camshaft cover is making metal to metal contact these sealant filled depressions represent a sufficient barrier to oil seeping out or even being forced out under pressure between the two surfaces. Furthermore the camshaft cover must fit down tight with no gap on the top of the head to ensure the cam bearings are round and the cam journal in the bearing has the proper clearance. To this end the sealant to use is specified and the bead diameter is also called out so the sealant can spread out over/between the camshaft cover and head mating surfaces yet not form excessive amounts of sealant flashing inside the engine. This wants to be avoided because the sealant flashing will come loose over time and if there is enough could possibly result in internal oil supply problems going forward.

Make sure it is not the spark plug tubes that are leaking. Sometimes you can get fooled on this one.

Quotes source post: 11996703

+1

I have used the Permatex and have not had any issues. Look up the specs for the 5900 and you will find it is nothing that special or different. The biggest difference is price. IMHO