Originally Posted by
rctitus
Our friends at FCP Euro sell this part as a replacement for the aluminum screws on the breather covers:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...-n000000004436. I compared it. It's too long, the head height is also longer, oh, and it's steel (stainless?)! Please convince me that this is OK.
Originally Posted by
dcskmail
I bought the breather cover aluminum screws in 2019 from Fastener Express : m5x .8 x 16mm socket head cap screw 7025 t6 plain aluminum order here :
sales@fastener-express.com or call Amy Boehm / Kelly Maresca 714-238 0016 or you can use the old ones unless they are stripped, just snug them and let the RTV sealant do the work
The SHCS (not necessary to buy a TORX head screw) spec shown
in the post above by dcskmail is the correct screw to buy. When I first bought replacement screws from Chrysler 'way back when', they also supplied a screw that was too long & it 'bottomed out' in the tapped hole. When I bought screws from a fastener supplier, the only difference was I bought steel screws that were coated in a corrosion resistant material (typically marine grade) so I didn't get any galvanic corrosion between the steel & magnesium/aluminum breather & valve covers. And because these were steel screws, they could be used over & over if the breather covers ever leaked again (mine haven't since the repair in SEP/2010). I attached a PDF file I put together that shows the screw sizes & tightening torques during re-assembly.
Oh, and another thing. When I did this breather cover repair in SEP/2010, I found that nearly all of the the larger valve cover screws were loose. I ended up re-torqueing these all to the 10 N-m setting. And I check these every couple of years to make sure these & the breather covers are still tight (having steel screws in the breather covers allows me to re-tighten these instead of replacing with new aluminum screws).
(Note: The valve cover gaskets on my 2007 Coupe have never been changed. I believe the fact that I check the tightening torque every couple of years, and re-torque as required, is the major reason I haven't had to do this maintenance service.)