Change a Rocker Cover Gasket

[Admin/Founder 2]

After having had a Rocker Cover gasket in my possetion for 12 months and promising myself every week id do it next week well ive finally done it

I know its only a little how to but it may help others? Im one of those people who are enthusiastic but then i worry myself sick that ill muck up a job so then get too frieghtened to do it
Once i have though and i realise it wasnt as bad as i thought im happy to do the job in hand again

So what will you need?
Youll Need a 5/8 inch socket or spanner.
A new Gasket

Some Gasket Sealant Compound

A Stanley knife blade though id recomend one of these Scraper tools for a safe way to use a knife blade as an effective Scraper

You may also need some engine degreaser like Gunk or Similar if your rocker cover is in need of degreasing and some Old cloths to clean the mating surfaces
This was the rocker Cover before removal you can quite clearly see the lack of Gasket

Then Remove the Cover with a 5/8inch socket or spanner and remove the Gasket.
If your lucky the Gasket will just pull way easily in one go
Or like ours you may find half of it has disintergrated
this was what was left of ours

the bit missing was not suprisingly the bit from the front of the cover,which explained the oil loss from the front of the cover
There were a few small bits still hanging on the the cover these were removed using the scraper
At this point the inside of the Rocker Cover looked like this

after a thorough degreasing it looked much better and was ready for its new Gasket

the new Gasket was given a thin smear of Gasket sealant,not very much is needed at all and a little goes a long way

then first clean the face of the cover where the Gasket sits with an alcohol based cleaner i used panel whipe thats used for preparing panels for paint but you can use any alcohol based product
then gently fit the Gasket sealant side down to the face of the cover locating it in the correct place using the four locators around the inside of the cover to get the Gasket to sit in the right place
It should now look like this

then take the oppertunity to clean up the Bolts,these may not look that special but believe me they where filthy beforehand

Then fit the bolts back on the Rocker Cover ready to fit the cover back on the engine

Then use alcohol again to throughly Clean and degrease the mating surface on the cylinder head
From This

To This

Then bolt down the the cover again and torque to 3.5lbft if you havnt got a torque wrench they just need to be tight enough to grip the Gasket tight but not so tight they compress it too much
When in place it should look a little like this

The Engine really needs cleaning as does the outside of the Rocker Cover itself but ill do that when i Clean,Degrease,and Paint the Engine

[asahartz]

I'd also say to replace the rubber seals under the top bolts - they're only 40p each from Minispares and will save the likelihood of another leak from the top!

[Admin/Founder 2]

i did try to get some but our local mini place Somerford mini was out of them
I think ill get some next time theres a show on

[asahartz]

Yes, that's why I bought 10 on my last order - while they were in stock!

[sam09]

Ah so you're responsible for why we couldnt buy any............... And I thought it was only christmas and other bank holidays that people panic buy, Obviously I am wrong!

[(minisniper)]

I will be following this "how to" guide if I have to change mine and if it goes wrong I can blame you LOL ;D ;D ;D

Only joking Jodie but I willl be phoning you if it does!!!!

[asahartz]

Nov 12, 2009 19:27:25 GMT sam09 said:

Ah so you're responsible for why we couldnt buy any............... And I thought it was only christmas and other bank holidays that people panic buy, Obviously I am wrong!

No, I have 7 Minis so I work on the principle that if something needs doing on one, it's likely to need doing on some of the others sometime! So I keep a box of "standard stock" parts, which also includes ball joint sets, CV boots, driveshaft oil seals, flasher relays...

[julian0987]

also guys and gals if you haven't got any gasket glue then good ol' trusty superglue works just aswell to apply the gasket.

[kalkat]

I would suggest that you don't use a silicone sealer for gasket assembly - gold Hermatite is good.

Silicone sealants are nicknamed 'Gorilla Snot' by mechanics ;D It sticks like nothing else to things and often little beads of it can come away and end up in places it shouldn't be

Emma

[clambod]

I would not recommend any sealnt on the gasket and certainly not superglue. I used to use red hermetite, gold hermetite and blue hylomar. the only thing I use now is lithium grease. You only need a quick wipe clean on the surfaces. The gasket does not "stick"to any surface so no scraping bits off. Believe me it's simple, cheap and it works. Never had a leaky rocker box since using grease and I've done quite a few.

[julian0987]

well lets put it this way superglue saved the day for me hehe had nothing else!

[clambod]

I'd have used a smear of vaseline if no grease

[morris1100]

I have seen rocker cover gaskets get sucked in because of the vacuum from the breathing system or get blown out from excessive crankcase pressure. For this reason I would not use a lubricant as a sealer on a rocker cover. (it gets worse with chrome plated rocker covers!)

I use Permatex Non-Hardening Aviation Gasket Sealer No3. (sometimes sold as Loctite Non-Hardening Gasket Sealer) on one side of the gasket and I use contact adhesive on the other side.
My way is to clean everything and then glue the gasket to the rocker cover with the contact adhesive. Then I paint the other side of the gasket with the Permatex.
This allows me to remove the rocker cover repeatedly without damaging the gasket.