Looking for additional info / experience on small oil leaks on the cam cover gasket.

Our 2005 'B' had to have the cam cover gasket replaced very early in its life due to 'oil misting' appearing on the lower reqions of the outside of the cam belt cover around the area of the "round 2 inch diameter bulge" and below.

Since the gasket was replace things have been alot better but not perfect.

We used to have a Punto HGT (which did well over 50K miles before the 'B' replaced it) and there were no problems at all in this area.

What is your experience?

Till I get to do a cam belt change and stip all the covers off it seems to me that the head area where the gasket has to rise up over the cam shaft profiles is a stressed area regarding PERFECT oil sealing.

Do you have a completely dry, oil mist fee lower cam belt cover?

You need to put a bead of silicone along the gasket for the cam cover where it meets the head. Those cam gaskets do not seat properly and usually leak.

afroking said:

You need to put a bead of silicone along the gasket for the cam cover where it meets the head. Those cam gaskets do not seat properly and usually leak.

Click to expand...

Thanks, which is exactly what I thought. Personally I use Hylomar (Blue).

Also explains why after the warranty replacement we still have a much smaller misting problem.

I guess come 1st cam belt change I'll have to go the long route and strip the top down and put gasket back with Hylomar (or similar). Not what I really wanted to do for a simple cam belt change.

Its not too difficult to do the belt properly, in fact it is quite simple. If you do happen to struggle, have a look at the Fiat Barchetta official service manual, there is a link in a sticky at the top of the forum page.

For god sake be careful when replacing the cam cover, the bottom furthest right hex bolt will snap the corner of the cover if over tightened. Just nip it up gently.

Hi,
I have a leaking cam cover gasket/joint and have ordered a replacement. I do have a few questions before I replace the gasket though and hope someone can point me in the right direction. Questions are;

a. Do I need to remove or loosen the plastic cambelt cover to lift off the alloy cam cover?
b. Has any-one cleaned dried and re-used the existing gasket? This is for curiosity as I have ordered a new one, I ask as I can re-use the cover gaskets on the BMW R1150 and this uses a similar material gasket.
c. I have seen in the workshop manual that the torque setting for the cover bolts is 7.8NM which I take as a finger tight then a bit more. Any advice from those that have done this is appreciated.
Thanks everyone
SteveD

I'm struggling to remember as I replaced the gasket when I did the cam belt as I used the proper cam lobe locks which require the rocker cover to be removed to get access to the cams to fit the locks.

The gasket I guess in theory could be reused as it is very similar to traditional "O"-ring material. My only concern would be that at the cam sprocket wheel end the gasket takes a tortuous bend horizontal, bend upwards, bend to level, bend back down, bend back to horizontal and finally a bend horizontal.

With the gasket material having been formed over time it may not sit exactly as it did on replacement and that may lead to potential leaks. I kept my old one as an emergency spare and pattern guide.

Use a torque wrench if you can. If not then loose finger tight + 45 or 90 degrees is probably right.

Many thanks for a speedy response. I intend to use the new gasket and like you will hold on to the old one. I am considering buying a torque wrench that will register the low range, my existing wrench starts at 25NM.
Your suggestion is a more consistant approach than my ‘just a bit more’.
Cheers

Best to use a new gasket when refitting the cam cover. Regarding the actual fitting, care is needed when tightening the fixing bolts, if you look on the underside of the cam cover on each of the fixing holes you will see a raised lip, but it's only on the inside edge of the hole. So overtightening the bolt will distort the cam cover resulting in it cracking. Best to use as Afrocking suggests use gasket sealant also.
As you may have guessed I managed to crack the corner of my rocker cover, thankfully I was able to have it welded.
Hope this helps
Regards Dave M

Thanks for the advice, I will take it all and use the sealant Hylomar (Blue) as did Afroking.
Cheers

A few images, of the raised lip, and the result of over tightening the fixings

Thanks for all the advice, gasket changed, no dramas. Hopefully this will last until cambelt change,
SteveD