Rubber valve cover gasket longevity.

Wondering what sort of longevity you guys/gals get from your rubber valve cover gaskets in different climates.

We have regular 30c to 40c days in summer, which is when the leaking starts.

I'm about to replace mine again, although they are probably close on 5-8years old now, along with the rubber bolt donuts.

Can't see a real restorative that would plump them up again after being subjected to God knows what heat and oil contaminants but I'm all ears!

Thanks.

 

You could try the oil of wintergreen treatment that works well on carb boots.
However, it may take some time to revert to the right size and shape, as I suspect it will grow and never fit again.
It's a reliable treatment for carb boots, because they're smaller and constrained, but they can get very loose and floppy, but do shrink again.

 

Wintergreen is excellent, although I've never tried it on anything other than laser printer rollers.
Mate, these things look like dried up, oil infected licourice.
I actually expect the road Nazis to sticker me for leaking if they have a quick look.
How long since you replaced yours?

 

As an aside I've ordered 2 from the UK. Good people.

 

I imagine the left hand side of the road gaskets are more prone to leaking than the right hand side, that being said at 30 to 40C oil is going to get rather thin in the motor on the highway anyway and could start seeping under the gasket with a little crankcase pressure and all the oil splash under the cam cover. I replaced my gasket with a right hand type two years ago along with the rubber buttons and it still seeps slightly when it get really hot, say 34C and I'm running 10W40 JASO rated oil.

 

Does seem like that to me also, the temp bit.
I need to find a decent degreaser that doesn't ruin the aluminium.

 

Don't know what you have available down under but I use either naptha for a solvent or acetone as a degreaser for aluminum. Don't know if Jaycar is still in business but they used to have some really good spray can electronics solvent/degreasers and these would also be suitable for cleaning the aluminum without doing any damage. Basically it comes down to things that are highly reactive be it acidic or strong alkaline that will etch and/or dissolve the aluminum, hydrocarbons will not.

What I have done to make my cam cover seal without weeping was clean the gasket retention groove all the way around then use a product known as Permatex High-Tack gasket sealer that comes in a little metal brush-in-cap bottle. It's kind of a snotty thin red gum that basically brushes on and I used the brush to just "dab" a little into the retention groove then placed the gasket on top of this and once everything was squared up placed the cam cover with the gasket on a flat surface and put some weights on top to evenly squish everything into place while I prepped all the bolts with the new rubber compression cones. It's these cones that are responsible for making the gasket seal properly as they set the actual downward force and keep it relatively even.
Now none of this is going to matter if the cam cover or cylinder head is warped. Honestly if the leak has been a somewhat recent thing and the head has never been off I'd be inclined to believe the rubber cones have deteriorated unevenly and allowed the cam cover to warp slightly and this can be verified by placing the cam cover on a known flat surface and checking around the perimeter with a 0.127 to 0.254mm shim feeler gauge, if the gauge slides under easily in one spot and not the other it's warped.
Things might come back together with a set of new compression cones but ultimately you might be looking at another cam cover.

 

Good advice brhatweed. Thanks.

 

The gasket should last forever, properly installed using Brhatweed's recommendation. If your rubber cones are old, there ya go. Want something better, get the ones for an FJR that have a metal cap on them (assuming yours are only rubber like the ones I just found on my new-to-me Seca 600.. Bit thicker too methinks but use the same retention screws..........

PS - I use Permatex Ultra Gray to "glue" the gasket to the valve cover, don't need much. It is runnier than regular RTV and has a long work-time. Clean up with isopropanol damped rag.
However, I used to use Permatex High Tack.... hasn't been readily available near me, but I'm gonna get me some when I run out of Ultra Gray.

 

Ahh the glue part. Common thread in the advice!
I didn't bother with that part when I replaced it originally, since it was leaking and I had to almost chisel the old stiff gasket out.
I will remedy!
Thanks.

 

I'm invested in getting the permatex high tack. It seems the local car shops carry 100 permatex products and quite a few jb products but Nada high tack. I will not be dissuaded!
eBay maybe.

Is this the right gear?
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1570520...6bIh1XMQ0QkD28_VikZIzBN5qBkiziLQaAtqhEALw_wcB

 

That's the what you need and the stuff I use to seal my cam cover gasket. It's acetone solvent so you can thin it later if needed and it never really hardens, just stays kinda tacky but it's wonderful stuff. Just remember to absolutely clean the groove in which the gasket sits before using any sealer.

 

Excellent, ordered. Acetone cleanup, nice.