Did this repair back in SEP/2010. Going on 6 years now without signs of leak. Probably just jinxed myself!

 

Thanks, buddy.

Mine don't leak, but my (1st attemt) paint job didn't adhere properly and is chipping/flaking off.

Have to have another go at it....

 

Put in oven @ 350° for 10 to 15 min. WARNING ; Make sure your wife is gone (hindsight being 20/20) ! Even oil from your fingers, can cause a lack of adhesion ,not immediately, but it will separate as it cures over time.
Edit: This is in preparation for wrinkle (crinkle) paint, NOT for curing sealants !

 

Two things:

1) Procedure. I just don't accept this "take the breathers loose, clean the mating surfaces, re-RTV them and put 'em together". I really do think that the only way is to remove the valve covers and breathers as an assembly - THEN separate and clean them up once they are off the engine. I have issues with dropping debris into the engine and I question just how clean you can get the surfaces with the covers on the engine.

2) TIME. I cleaned the livin hell out of all four pieces. Let them dry out (mostly the breathers) in front of a fan and dehumidifier overnight. THEN, when I re-RTV'd them and put them together, I tightened the bolts finger tight and let them sit 1/2 hour. THEN I tightened the bolts to specification - letting the assemblies sit in front of the fan and dehumidifier again. After a long time sitting there drying (5 days but only cause I had to leave on a business trip), I then put the assemblies back on the engine.

I do not expect everyone to go thru all of this and CERTAINLY no garage is going to do so.

 

Guys,
The product I used was developed for flat face, gasket free sump/final drive installation and is extensively used in industry.
My covers had been sealed before I bought the car. it was clear that the previous hands had not wanted to spend the extra time cleaning of the old sealer. Also from 35 years working in an engine laboratory for a major car makers R&E department, I know you have to let this stuff cure. My guys loved it because it gave them a rest !
The bit that surprised me was the very small vent hole in the casing at either end where the link pipe goes on. I resisted the temptation to enlarge these vents to ensure lower case pressure.
By the end of September the car will have covered over 2000 mile in Europe with a good stint on the Autobahn. I have a tour booked, there will be no prisoners some will be pedal to the metal driving. Let's see what falls off 😎

 

The startlingly small holes are sized just right. Those that have opened them up have seen codes thrown.
The only danger is when twits use less-than-approved motor oils and sludge closes them up.
Throwing codes.
This is the cost of eliminating PCV valves.

Oh, well. I'm sure you knew this, with your background and experience.

 

I love my Mobil 1 �� First think I did was ignore the service history and service the car. The air filters had been badly fitted, it was nice to have a clean start.
Even fitted new discs and a set tyres, the old ones were budget and rubbish in the wet.
On here I read about 5:20 Mobil 1 being used in the manual gearbox that's something I'm interested in hearing more about, handy as I keep a stock as a few of my collection use it.
D

 

I went with 5W20 in the Graphite car (in my sigline) at around 80,000 miles - it helped. I have now come to a conclusion, the way to get nicer smoother shifts in the Crossfire involves three prerequisites:

1) Put some MILES on the car, it shifted way better when it had 75,000 to 116,000 on it than when I bought it at 44,000.

2) Change the transmission fluid to Mobile 1 5W20 (It DID help)

3) Drive the car like a SPORTS CAR with a stick, not a pickup truck with a stick...

 

Yes manual boxes are normal here, arguably more fun, although shock horror I have an F250 auto that does a lot of my running around. I really enjoy the Crossfire it's not an SRT6 just normal with 93,000 miles.
I'll change the gearbox oil next service and it will be 5:20 :-)

 

I have both the service manual and the Chilton manual (Chilton manual wasn't worth the money). Both manuals give no particular order for the bolts to be removed on both the valve covers and the breathers. What order would you suggest on removing and reinstalling?
-John

 

It is entirely conceivable that with such low torque, the pattern does not matter. But I still used an "end-to-end" opposites pattern. Tighten one in the middle to about half the spec. Then, do one on one end, then one on the OTHER end, then tighten those partway between the middle and end - then when all are done, repeat at full torque.

But again, with such low torque, I'd bet it matters little. Six months and maybe 2500 miles - still not a drop of oil anywhere - just had the cover off Saturday at a car show.

 

Agreed with so few bolts so low a torque I just worked centre out. However if your covers are still stuck firm you will probably have to give a little effort to remove them. They are quite rigid and the removal and re fit was no worry whatsoever.
I can only emphasise removing all the old sealer is important, use a good brand of sealer and do not even start the engine for 24hrs to allow full cure time.
500 miles hot drive so far with no trace of a leak. Should do 2000 mile plus before the end of September I'll report back ��

 

You can change the oil any time of the day, you do not have to be too specific.

 

We are not talking of much torque here, so going round and incrementally tightening them would be fine, but incrementally tightening them from the center out would be best I guess. Do not tighten the breather covers to the same torque as the valve covers. They are different size screws so different values apply. OEM breather screws are aluminum so they are or were tightened using much less torque than steel screws and used only once ideally.
The torque value of the breather screws is around here somewhere.

 

True I can change the oil any time of the day although I'll pass until after the car tour in France. Keep watching, you guys'll get a load of laughs out of my errors...

 

I'm glad you got the joke, many would have had it zoom over their head.

 

Found this info from one of my posts on fixing the breather cover leaks.

 

I should find exactly the post but :-)
I did the vent covers what some say is the short way and posted pictures. I said I was of to do about 2000 miles in France much at fast motorway speeds. Well I got back after near 2500 miles and was a bit busy so with 3000 miles I can report 100% fix
I took pictures to post but I am suffering brain fade and can't remember how to post them here.
To recap I took the breather covers off spent ages cleaning off all the old RTV the re RTVed the covers and fitted them. Then the important bit allowed a 24hr cure/dry time.
3000 fun miles later no hint of any leak, nothing. The cleaning and dry time are very important.

 

If you go to the toolbar at the top of the new post or reply page you will see a yellow icon with mountains. Click on it and you get the option of where to get your pictures from, mostly it will be by using the bottom option which gets the pics from your computer. Easy peazy.

 

Thanks for the help. I decided to paint the covers while I fixed the leak. Now it just needs a wash. Hopefully no leaks now!