Valve Cover Gasket - Where to buy?

All,

When I did the WP, hoses, belts...all that stuff on my 97 a few months
back, I got all my parts from Rock Auto. The valve cover gasket I used
was a "Fel Pro VS50364R".

The box clearly stated to install the gasket dry, which I did, with
the exception of putting dots of sealer at the six bearing cap
corners. I torqued all of the bolts to spec, whatever the factory
service book called for. 7-10 ftlbs maybe?

Fast-forward 700 miles or so. I have leaks from both side of the valve
cover, but no leaks, ironically, at the front or back where the sealer
was placed. I cleaned everything meticulously, and when I took the VC
off to do all the work, it had not been leaking and was, as best I
could tell, the factory gasket.

Needless to say I'm a little miffed. Anyone else had this happen? Do I
need to get a dealer gasket to chase the drips away? Or maybe I should
send a letter to Fel-Pro and complain.

Chris
(....does not like oil leaks.....)

On Oct 29, 6:54*pm, Hal > wrote:
> All,
>
> When I did the WP, hoses, belts...all that stuff on my 97 a few months
> back, I got all my parts from Rock Auto. The valve cover gasket I used
> was a "Fel Pro VS50364R".
>
> The box clearly stated to install the gasket dry, which I did, with
> the exception of putting dots of sealer at the six bearing cap
> corners. I torqued all of the bolts to spec, whatever the factory
> service book called for. 7-10 ftlbs maybe?
>
> Fast-forward 700 miles or so. I have leaks from both side of the valve
> cover, but no leaks, ironically, at the front or back where the sealer
> was placed. I cleaned everything meticulously, and when I took the VC
> off to do all the work, it had not been leaking and was, as best I
> could tell, the factory gasket.
>
> Needless to say I'm a little miffed. Anyone else had this happen? Do I
> need to get a dealer gasket to chase the drips away? Or maybe I should
> send a letter to Fel-Pro and complain.
>
> Chris
> (....does not like oil leaks.....)

Chris, I would go back and retorque the cover. See the Miata.net
Garage section: "Valve Cover Gasket Replacement" info. to do it. At
700 miles, it should not be leaking.

Bruce

jasper wrote:
>>I torqued all of the bolts to spec, whatever the factory
>> service book called for. 7-10 ftlbs maybe?
>>
44-78 inch pounds - just over 1/2 that guess.

On Oct 29, 8:54*pm, Hal > wrote:
> All,
>
> When I did the WP, hoses, belts...all that stuff on my 97 a few months
> back, I got all my parts from Rock Auto. The valve cover gasket I used
> was a "Fel Pro VS50364R".
>
> The box clearly stated to install the gasket dry, which I did, with
> the exception of putting dots of sealer at the six bearing cap
> corners. I torqued all of the bolts to spec, whatever the factory


i just replaced mine as well...seems better now.
maybe i got a poor gasket to start with

shrug, i like it not dripping.

peter

Hal, Did you follow the proper sequence / pattern for tightening the bolts?
That's critical in this situation along with the actual torque spec.

Chris
99BBB

"Hal" > wrote in message
...
> All,
>
> When I did the WP, hoses, belts...all that stuff on my 97 a few months
> back, I got all my parts from Rock Auto. The valve cover gasket I used
> was a "Fel Pro VS50364R".
>
> The box clearly stated to install the gasket dry, which I did, with
> the exception of putting dots of sealer at the six bearing cap
> corners. I torqued all of the bolts to spec, whatever the factory
> service book called for. 7-10 ftlbs maybe?
>
> Fast-forward 700 miles or so. I have leaks from both side of the valve
> cover, but no leaks, ironically, at the front or back where the sealer
> was placed. I cleaned everything meticulously, and when I took the VC
> off to do all the work, it had not been leaking and was, as best I
> could tell, the factory gasket.
>
> Needless to say I'm a little miffed. Anyone else had this happen? Do I
> need to get a dealer gasket to chase the drips away? Or maybe I should
> send a letter to Fel-Pro and complain.
>
> Chris
> (....does not like oil leaks.....)
>

I guess I've been lucky. Reused the same factory valve cover gasket and
front cover gaskets several times. The secret has been to put a very thin
layer of the almost universal liquid silicone rubber "gasket maker" down
after cleaning the mating surfaces.

"Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
...
> Hal, Did you follow the proper sequence / pattern for tightening the
> bolts? That's critical in this situation along with the actual torque
> spec.
>
> Chris
> 99BBB
>
> "Hal" > wrote in message
> ...
>> All,
>>
>> When I did the WP, hoses, belts...all that stuff on my 97 a few months
>> back, I got all my parts from Rock Auto. The valve cover gasket I used
>> was a "Fel Pro VS50364R".
>>
>> The box clearly stated to install the gasket dry, which I did, with
>> the exception of putting dots of sealer at the six bearing cap
>> corners. I torqued all of the bolts to spec, whatever the factory
>> service book called for. 7-10 ftlbs maybe?
>>
>> Fast-forward 700 miles or so. I have leaks from both side of the valve
>> cover, but no leaks, ironically, at the front or back where the sealer
>> was placed. I cleaned everything meticulously, and when I took the VC
>> off to do all the work, it had not been leaking and was, as best I
>> could tell, the factory gasket.
>>
>> Needless to say I'm a little miffed. Anyone else had this happen? Do I
>> need to get a dealer gasket to chase the drips away? Or maybe I should
>> send a letter to Fel-Pro and complain.
>>
>> Chris
>> (....does not like oil leaks.....)
>>
>

Chris,

I agree that it sounds like the gasket is leaking. With my prior
experience with oil leaks, at the dealer, I would suggest using a
spray sealant similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-80065.../dp/B000HBICK2
that is the exact product that we used at the dealer and have never
had a problem with leaking gaskets. While torque specs and tightening
sequence are important, quality of gasket and use of a spray sealer
will provide a better result.

I Will post torque specs and sequence later today.....

I know you said it was leaking out of the sides of the gasket but a
VERY common place for it to leak is from the Cam Angle Sensor (cas)
while the valve cover is off it's pretty simple to replace this common
problem.......

Justin Morrow
www.UndisputedAutosport.com

(703)509-2584

rod's miata 1.8 enthusiasts says 55lbf in and done in the same spiral
pattern as this fellow uses...
http://markspizz.net/?p=211
rod notes that if you don't have a torque that read in inches "moderate
finger pressure against a wrench is sufficient and will compress the rubber
seal enough to seal the cambox."
fwiw, mine started to leak a few months after a shop did a timing belt
replacement. tightening helped a litte but still leaked. ultimately i
repalced it with oem from www.finishlineperformance.com ($26).

"Hal" > wrote in message
...
> All,
>
> When I did the WP, hoses, belts...all that stuff on my 97 a few months
> back, I got all my parts from Rock Auto. The valve cover gasket I used
> was a "Fel Pro VS50364R".
>
> The box clearly stated to install the gasket dry, which I did, with
> the exception of putting dots of sealer at the six bearing cap
> corners. I torqued all of the bolts to spec, whatever the factory
> service book called for. 7-10 ftlbs maybe?
>
> Fast-forward 700 miles or so. I have leaks from both side of the valve
> cover, but no leaks, ironically, at the front or back where the sealer
> was placed. I cleaned everything meticulously, and when I took the VC
> off to do all the work, it had not been leaking and was, as best I
> could tell, the factory gasket.
>
> Needless to say I'm a little miffed. Anyone else had this happen? Do I
> need to get a dealer gasket to chase the drips away? Or maybe I should
> send a letter to Fel-Pro and complain.
>
> Chris
> (....does not like oil leaks.....)
>

Christopher Muto wrote:
> rod's miata 1.8 enthusiasts says 55lbf in and done in the same spiral
> pattern as this fellow uses...
> http://markspizz.net/?p=211
> rod notes that if you don't have a torque that read in inches "moderate
> finger pressure against a wrench is sufficient and will compress the rubber
> seal enough to seal the cambox."
> fwiw, mine started to leak a few months after a shop did a timing belt
> replacement. tightening helped a litte but still leaked. ultimately i
> repalced it with oem from www.finishlineperformance.com ($26).
>
Bicycle mechanics/suppliers should have low range torque wrenches for
bolts on derailleurs etc. Local auto shops and hire places don't seem to
have them in stock here. I happened to buy one by mistake, as the seller
advertised it making almost the same error you have above - "55lbf" - I
thought I was buying a 20-120 foot pound wrench.

The FSM instruction (Nb) is he
http://i37.tinypic.com/6z6a2f.jpg