Member
Hey guys, after doing my timing chain guides, my valve covers aren't sealing on either side and is leaking oil like crazy. I'm pretty sure it's because they are covered in deposits of burnt oil/crud on the mating surface of the covers themselves. I tried cleaning them the best I could when I did the job but obviously, that was not good enough.
I'm seriously considering just getting them cleaned and powder coated, and sent out some emails requesting quotes around me, but I'm curious what others have done to remedy this situation?
I think I read somewhere that someone let them soak in soapy water overnight and that did a good job, but I have no idea if they had the same situation as me with the deposits creating an insanely course mating surface.
Artifically Aspirated
Moderator
Did you check to make sure they aren't warped?
Is this the first time you've done E39 valve cover gaskets? They can fall out of the groove if your not careful, also the 1/2 moons on the back might not be located correctly in the head.
Jbird
The upper timing covers need to be pushed down to make them even with the valve cover surface if they are not flush they will leak a lot
Member
First time doing them, I've only owned the car for about a year. It has 115k miles on it, think they could be warped that early? They didn't leak before the timing job. I followed the instructions I found pretty closely as far as the half moons and pushing the upper timing covers down but anything is possible. The majority of the leaking does appear to be coming from the back of the engine so it's possible the half moons aren't seated properly.
Member
Pretty sure gaskets fall off the groove somewhere, run your finger around and fell if gaskets seating fine, like Jim said, especially the half moon area in the back towards the firewall.
Member
get amirror and a light back there to look. As the Walkinator stated feel around back there as well
Member
Use Permatex RTV to help seal the gasket on those half moons. Use RTV only on the half-moons.
Member
Yeah I did that before. Like I said, I followed the diy to the T. I have a parts car I'm gonna pull the VCs off and have powder coated and just swap em out.Originally Posted by Chedley
Artifically Aspirated
Moderator
You also need Permatex on the junction where the upper timing covers gaskets meet the head.
Headliner Hipster
Use Permatex #84520 or "Hylomar Blue". NOT RTV. Both sides on both sides (haskets both sides, metal mating surfaces both sides)
Use Elring gaskets, avoid Victor Reinz like the plague. And renew all the grommets.
Make sure you have everything really, really clean. Acetone and a rag and clean into the channels and the mating surfaces really good. Then spread the permatex blue with a synt soft flat brush (3/8" wide, don't use an acid flush brush as it will leave some hair below, use a nicer artistic grade brush). Once the gasket dressing flashes (about 10 minutes) assemble. Do the gasket into the VC first and then coat the gasket to cyl head surface and the grommets, leave it flash and assemble. You can coat the underside and the lower flange of each nut (on the 3 grommets upfront,I mean) and the underside of the washers on the remaining 8 x side nuts.
Diehard E39 driver.
I'd rather die or take a walk before driving an E60 or any BMW made after Y2K.
"Your momma's so ugly she makes Bangle cars look nice"
Member
what helped me when I did my guides was to put a little RTV dabs in the valve cover itself so the gasket would stay in while I tried to install it. I had to redo the drivers side because one of the half moons didn't fall into place.
But everything above it correct. Also, where is the oil leaking out from? Where the upper cover meets the head? in a corner?
'98 M3 5spd - '03 540it 6spd M-Sport
Member
BMW specifies a jig that ensures the lower cover is flush with the cylinder head surface, before tightening the bolts.
Ed in San Jose '97 540i 6 speed aspensilber over aubergine leather. Build date 3/97. Golden Gate Chapter BMW CCA Nr 62319.
Member
ditto on avoiding reinz gaskets
Member
My VCG tips that worked for me:
No need to powder coated the covers . Just thoroughly clean it with watery soap & engine degreaser.
Clean up the mating surfaces for the gaskets.
Use FelPro brand gaskets, (short of BMW oem gaskets -from the "stealer"-)
V8 connoisseur
Same thing happened to me yesterday. Worked on the car till about 10 last night getting everything back in order, and the darn passenger side valve cover leaks at the half moons. Such a disappointment...back at it this evening
Member
Buy BMW OEM gaskets from FCP and warranty them out when they inevitably start leaking again in a few years, the aftermarket junk like Reinz, Felpro, etc are iffy at best.
When I had my spare set of valve covers coated and then installed them they leaked. I pulled them off and found that the powder coater did a crappy job of masking and got powder coat in the gasket grooves. After spending almost an hour per cover scraping out and cleaning the gasket grooves I haven't had any leaks for the past 12,000 miles.
Some people on here like to completely cover the gaskets with Hylomar Blue but that's messy and I wouldn't do that unless it was a last ditch effort to seal it up after failing several times. I just use Hondabond on the half moons and where the front timing covers meet the heads. Seat the gasket into the valve cover completely dry, apply sealant to the head mating surfaces, then carefully install the cover.
The half moons at the back of the heads are a real pain to clean properly with the engine in the car, but take your time and do it right. You need to get all of the old sealant off.
You don't need a special jig to get the timing covers perfectly flush with the head, I've been using a piece of 1/8"x1" aluminum cut into 2x 2" pieces and 1x 8" piece. Put the 2" pieces over the timing cover/head joints, put the 8" piece along the back of the head, then install the front 4 valve cover nuts (NOT the 3 bolts at the front) with the rubber grommets removed and the washers doubled up until the covers are perfectly flush.
Another possibility is that the garbage magnesium valve covers BMW chose to use are warped to the point that they won't seal right and will need to be replaced.
Last edited by MotorMouth93; 01-17-2020 at 12:24 PM.
Member
Thanks for the tips. I got Elring gaskets from FCPeuro and they will get here Monday, I'm going to spend a lot more time cleaning the "channel" that the gasket fits into on the covers. I didn't do a great job the first time and I bet that is the problem.
Last edited by Deadwake; 01-18-2020 at 08:00 AM.
Headliner Hipster
Consider the permatex gasket dressing I recommended. JimLev recommended it to me and installation went like a breeze, and it's one of those things that makes you wonder why they don't do it that way in the first place. Rolls Royce recommends it and uses it on all their engines, even the BMW ones. And since it's non hardening it can be lifted up and resealed staying tacky and doing its job.
Diehard E39 driver.
I'd rather die or take a walk before driving an E60 or any BMW made after Y2K.
"Your momma's so ugly she makes Bangle cars look nice"
Member
are the Victor Reinz really that bad? working on car now and ordered those gaskets. read other posts and some youtubes on valve cover gasket replacement. I got some Permatex ultra grey. next is disconnect the electrical box from the fuel injectors. read up on that too. wtf. is there a easy way??
Headliner Hipster
Yes, they suck. They seem OK but they will leak anywhere within the first 6 to 8 months of you installing them, even with the ultra grey. Maybe a year if you're really really lucky.
The easy way is doing it the right way the first time around. Having to reckeck and redo it all over again because you cutted corners or used a poor quality gasket or a poor choice of materials is a pain in the butt. Re. undoing the e boxess off the injectors, it wounds more complicated than it is. A long pick will help you unlock each injector, then the securing clips gets to stay in their channels as the box can be pushed in with those in place and you avoid losing them.
Diehard E39 driver.
I'd rather die or take a walk before driving an E60 or any BMW made after Y2K.
"Your momma's so ugly she makes Bangle cars look nice"
Member
I used the Vic Rein, mine leak. I only put the sealant on the reccomended spots. next time I will do the entire surface. I cleaned everything really well and tried to use a cross tightening pattern. Does any one know what the jig looks like? I wa just curious to see it.
Member
I put more sealant that is recommended and I believe that actually caused more harm than good, I think the sealant hardens somewhat under pressure and heat and made a weak seal. I have elring gaskets now and they are much thicker, no leaks so far.
Headliner Hipster
Ditto! the grey Permatex sealant (or those heavy, thick gasket making compounds) hardens and then the rubber has trouble sealing over the irregular surface, and oil seeps. It's actually worse than no goop at all.
Diehard E39 driver.
I'd rather die or take a walk before driving an E60 or any BMW made after Y2K.
"Your momma's so ugly she makes Bangle cars look nice"
Member
still working on my project. read on another board about coating gaskets with glycerin before installing them in VC. cleaning VC right now. alot of baked on crap and crud in gasket groove. carb cleaner works good. scrap then sand groove. then re-assemble
Member
and, looked in Bentley manual, they say coat the VC grooves and head surface and base of gasket that meets with head with glycerin. This has been a good learning experience. I want to put it back together and not get any leaks for some time. the idea of new valve cover, ebay, new $440. each with gaskets, don't think so on that.
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