Valve cover and oil pan gaskets

[azblazor]

My son and I are putting on new valve cover gaskets and also we are replacing the rear main seal and front timing cover crank seal.
Question: Is it OK to use the felpro gaskets that came with the gasket kit for the valve covers and oil pan? Do they leak if used? Is it better to use just RTV?

[DmaxMaverick]

They will leak. If not right away, soon after. If you don't intend to remove them anytime soon, definately use RTV. The gaskets can be used successfully if they are sealed with RTV, and it makes it much easier to get them off, if you have to soon. Most rebuilders don't use the gaskets anynmore.

[TimK]

I agree. I used RTV and never had problems with leaks. It was a real bugger though when I wanted to get the oil pan off. If you are replacing the front seal, check the damper pulley for wear. There are other posts on this site describing how to do this. If it fails then engine will soon fail too. Also check the surface that the seal contacts. If there is a grove in it, you can get a speedy sleave to repair the surface. It will make the new seal last a lot longer. Also, the damper pulley bolt on my truck wasn't long enough to pull the damper back on to the end of the shaft. Avoid using a hammer to tap the pulley back on. This hard on the thrust bearings and with the history the 6.2L block has with main bearing web crack, the pounding definitely won't help. I suggest finding a longer bolt to get it started and then going back to the original bolt once the pulley get's on far enough. I can't rememember exactly but I thought the thread was like a 14mm fine thread. It's was not a common size at my local autoparts.

TimK

[jcomp]

If you do end up using the valve cover gaskets, don't follow the Haynes manual spec of 16 ft-lbs for the bolts. You will bend the valve covers and crush the gasket. Learned this one the hard way.