'morning folks. I'm interested to see you both saying that no sealant is required? The gasket is a quite compliant rubberized jobbie and I thought it would not require sealant so, some years ago, when I did my first one, I fitted it dry and within about a week or so there was a very slight leak beginning at the front end. Perhaps interestingly, the Haynes Panda manual does not specifically recommend using sealant on the 1,2 engine but their Grande Punto manual does recommend using it "in the corners" on the 1.4 .
I notice also that there are posts on our forum where sealant use is recommended - but only in the corners. Personally, I like the "security" of applying a small amount to the corners only - being careful not to apply too much which might be squeezed out and get into the engine internals. It doesn't seem to be needed on the straight sides and I would not be putting it anywhere near the little, integral, seal for the oil supply between the head and cover as sealant getting into the oil supply to the cam journals or VVT solenoid would inevitably end in tears!
I've noticed that the gasket tends to leak with age. Maybe it becomes less compliant with age? So if you are going to reuse an existing gasket - maybe you can't get a new one - I'd definitely be using some sealant. However fitting a new gasket if you have the cover off is definitely to be recommended. I've heard it said they seem to last just slightly longer than a cam belt change interval?
I would also recommend buying one of the kits which include the little "O" seals for the cam oil supply - there are 3 for the cam journals and one for the VVT solenoid oil supply - which, by the way, is there whether your engine is VVT or not - Not so long ago I had the covers off both my own 1.2 Panda and my boy's VVT Punto and these "O" rings were not very "springy" when I "poked" them with a wee screwdriver. The kits I bought only contained the cover gasket and I left the old "O" rings in place but I'm not too sure how good a seal they are now making and I'm intending to buy the wee seals this summer and renew them just for peace of mind despite the fact that my local wee FIAT indy tells me not to worry about it as they don't routinely renew these "O" ring seals and don't get any problems.
The design of the cam cover around holes where the small hold down bolts fit is very interesting. Look closely and you'll notice that there is a raised "rim" which stands proud of the rest of the mating surface. You can see them clearly in this video of one of the older engine types, but they are all like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysviEZd746E
When you tighten down the cover bolts these "pads" make contact first so are actually controlling the "crush" on the gasket. So once these "pads" come into contact with the top of the head it doesn't matter how much more you tighten the bolts, you're not going to "sandwich" the gasket any tighter. This is important for two reasons:
1) If you have a leak and you think it's coming from the gasket, there is no point in trying to further tighten the cam cover hold down bolts. Unless the bolts have actually worked loose - which I've never seen - trying to further tighten these wee bolts is very likely to end up with you snapping them!
2) The wee hold down bolts are tightened to a very low torque figure. puntodeltathema helpfully tells us it's only 8Nm above. Few people will own a torque wrench which will go as low as this but all you need to know is that you GENTLY tighten the bolts until the metal "pads" contact the top of the head - which will crush the gasket correctly - and then just "Nip" them up slightly. By the way be careful when undoing these wee bolts as they are known to seize in the head and are very easily snapped.(Aluminium/steel corrosion again!) In fact this chap has a broken one holding the top belt guard to the head which he mentions - probably resulting from the same corrosion problem on an older car like this? If you find you have a tight one try giving it a good squirt of releasing fluid - something like Plus Gas - and then repeatedly tap on the top of the bolt head with a small hammer (I have a wee half pound ball pein which is ideal for this). The idea is to introduce a shocking effect into the bolt which helps the release oil to penetrate and tends to break the hold of the corrosion. It's the repeated gentle shocking vibrations which do the job. Just keep tapping and gently trying the bolt with a socket but don't force it. I've tapped away and repeatedly sprayed fluid for sometimes ten minutes or so with problems like this. Doesn't always work, but saves a load of hassle if it does!
I wonder how many of you use sealant for this application and who doesn't? How's about a wee straw pole here?
) and there's Mrs S. the Elder (my old mum, who had a Uno but who doesn't drive any more).