Torque for valve covers

[clarkedj]

I have a '78 124 Spider runs great after a lot of work. I had a head job done on the car back in Sept.. I have noticed that there is oil leaking from the car. No surprise for a car 30 years old. But the leak is dropping onto the exhaust and causing some smoke nothing serious but annoying. I also noticed a collection of oil around the top of the plugs where the plugs enter the block. I have cleaned the oil out and torqued the head bolts to make sure they were set to the proper tension. My question is : Is there a torque setting for the valve covers? I have been unable to find such a spec but before I tighten the covers I wanted some other opinions.

Thanks for the help

Ed Clark

[TulsaSpider]

Yea good idea to ask here. My book doesn't address them. When I got my 78 one of my valve covers was cracked from someone over torquing it, pretty severely I'd say. I just siliconed it upand it fixed the leak, but I need to replace it, just another thing on my list. If it's on the pass side check the oil filler cap, mine leaked from there too, you can get a new gasket from one of the suppliers if that's the case. Make sure the oil isn't coming from the distributor base and also check the middle two exhaust studs, they are prone to leaking.
Good luck!
Clark

[mdrburchette]

I usually go finger tight and then 1/2 a turn with the allen wrench, but I've got wimpy fingers. I'll second Clark's suggestions, especially the oil filler cap if you're getting oil puddled in the spark plug holes.

[Ernie]

Ed,

When I first got my '78 Spider it left drops of oil on the driveway. After de-greasing the engine I thought I found the problem when I noticed the little elbow hose from the block to the oil-vapor separator was broken.

I ordered a replacement hose and changed it out thinking all would be well. To my surprise, I now had oil around the spark plugs, oil coming out of the filler cap, oil dripping from the distributor onto the exhaust manifold, and the dip stick was being pushed out of it's tube, also sending oil everywhere.

The fix was cleaning the oil-vapor trap. I haven't seen a drop of oil in the driveway or garage for over a year.

When the elbow hose was broken the crankcase was venting through the broken hose. After I fixed that, there was no vent, so oil came out of everywhere.

It's a pain to get to the single bolt holding the thing in place. I'm not sure if the job can be done without taking the intake manifold off, but I can tell you that after trying, it's not worth the trouble. It's much easier to just go ahead and take the manifold off.

Ernie

[TulsaSpider]

Yes I ran into the same problem as well, much to my chagrin!
http://www.fiatspider.com:16080/f08/vie ... a&start=45
That is a tedious job.... but if your separator is clogged (especially with a rubber grommet ) (not in your case I am sure) it will force oil out anywhere it can. After my wee bout with my oil separator mine leaks oil no more!! See if you can easily blow through the hose (connects to the breather) that leads to the crankcase via the separator, that might give you a clue if it's clogged.
Also make sure the flame arrestor is clean. it's located in the air cleaner where the crankcase hose fits on.
You know if I knew my separator was clogged I would try this.. or maybe even do it once a year?
1 drain the oil.
2 leave the oil plug out
3 get some B12 chemtool or engine flush or something similar
4 get a clean pan and place under the oil drain
5 pour the chemical down the tube, collect it, filter it and repeat a few times... or get a couple of bottles of it of course.
6 fill it back up with oil! and hopefully problem solved!

I must say that I haven't tried this. If anyone knows a reason this should not be done please pipe up!
Has anyone tried this before? I can't be the first one to think of this??
So has anyone tried this??
Clark

[So Cal Mark]

you've got to be careful about flushing an engine. If you break sludge loose, it can end up clogging the oil pump screen and that always ends badly

[TulsaSpider]

Good point!

[clarkedj]

Great responses guys. I appreciate the help. Looks like I may have a busy weekend with trying to find this leak. Great idea about the filler cap had not thought about that for the oil on top of the plugs. I'll let you guys know what solves the problem.
I guess I can give my buddy his torque wrench back.

Again Thanks

Ed Clark

[ventura ace]

You may want to check your covers for flatness. If the sealing surface isn't flat, it's difficult to get a good seal. Take both covers and hold them to each other like a sandwich, then hold up to a light to see if you see separation anywhere. If yes, then they aren't flat. A machinist showed me this trick, then proceded to fix the non-flatness by holding the covers down on his big belt sander to remove the high spots. The covers haven't leaked since.

Alvon