schwett

i stupidly went to pull my valve cover today... took all the bolts out, etc etc and then realized that i wouldn't be able to get it off (due to other things in the way that i wasn't willing to remove.)

and then, more stupidly, i realized that i didn't have any liquid gasket OR my torque wrench!!!!! (left it elsewhere.)

so i just put it back on and guesstimated. the torque listed in the helms for those little guys is really low... but it seemed like even with a small amount of force on the socket wrench they just kept turning. i didn't want to strip anything, so i stopped after a while.

what's the worst case here? i drove a bit, no leaking oil or anything. if it's not 100% sealed, is a bit of lost oil the worst that can happen?

[ashamed]

thanks in advance

0Mike95lude

it should be fine. Last time I pulled my valve cover we just tightened the bolts "tightly" and didn't need any gasket sealant. No problems here.

0Import RP

iTrader: (7)

yeah i pull mine off all the time, and dont bother torqueing it...jsut make it "tight"

JG Luder

not too tight though, cause you can cause it to crack.

Yeah, worst case, you leak a little. Wah. You're good to go.

DirtyLude

I forget what the torque is, but it's really low. Below what most torque wrenches will do. If you do them too tight, the just strip them. Too loose isn't a big deal.

Finest

Just make sure to tighten them snug. I broke one bolt off once and had to run to the dealer to get a whole new stud. After that, my gasket wasn't aligned correctly and I was leaking oil onto my intake manifold. I drove around for about 30 mins when I realized there was smoke pouring out of my hood!

Drove back home, realigned the gasket then tightened the cover snug. It was good then.

A LITTLE leak isn't bad, but a huge leak is a big problem. But since you didn't take off the cover, you should be okay.