what a ****. do it right 1st as last tho. i hope i dun get leaks, il be gutted, lol

 

well that's the thing, i put a good even film of threebond on there. maybe i should have put them on 'dry'?

 

How about the seals for the cover bolts, what state were they in?

Come to think of it what state were the cover seals in too?

 

check the bolt seals that hold the covers down. A lot of people neglect these when trying to sort oil leaks on rocker covers. I've got 2 engines in my garage at the moment and both leak slightly from the seals that go over the bolts.

One thing you could try if you still suspect it's a leak on the cover gasket still is removing the bolts, remove the seal washers and place a washer on the bolts then the seal washer back on. What this effectively will do is allow you to put more pressure on the gasket when tightening the bolts.

It does appear that the bolts only go in a set depth and the std washers (when they are new) will put the correct pressure on the rocker cover with the new rubber part being at it's thickest.

 

they don't work dry, they need 3 bond, and you need to use new gaskets and bolt seals for reliable results when doing a motor that's a few year old. Even when done properly the genuine gaskets can leak after 2-3 years.

I've not heard of much success with non genuine gaskets.

 

Well I used a pair of brand new gaskets but reused the bolt seals, but they were fine as far as I could tell. Maybe I do need to replace the bolt seals anyway though, to get the right tension as you say. Hopefully Subaru will have them in stock tomorrow morning.

 

teething problems are fun, i dun think, lol, mines a runner, fuel leaks on fuel mod, fixed one, anohter popped up, tackle it tomorro

 

Well I guess I'd rather have leaking rocker covers than fuel line problems, but feel sorry for you! We're both in the same boat anyway!

 

yeh, i think its all worth it tho, i dont think the fuel lines will be hard 2 fix, just a few connections, lucky, easy onces to get too. touch wood.

im going bk down garage now, and spend a few hrs tweeking, i think the idle is a manifold leak somewhere, and i kno i have a crank on the intercooler y pipe , defoo not helping right now.

good luck with urs today.

 

Well I'm pretty sure that once this leak is fixed then that will be it, nothing else to go wrong. I suppose thinking about it I've done OK, the coolant puddle that I found has not reappeared, no trouble at all with the clutch and gearbox going back on, electrics have been fine. A couple of rocker cover leaks aren't the end of the world. Although saying that, I've just spent an hour and a half getting them off, most of that time really is clearing everything out of the way, which is a major pain in the **** after having just put it all in hoping to get the engine run in!

I still can't get the o/s cover off because of those stupid pipes everywhere. Still, the gaskets were new when I put them on and they feel fine now so I think it is more likely that the bolt seals were dodgy and not putting the correct pressure on. How you're supposed to get a torque wrench in to do them up again properly, I don't know. Any tips?

 

Mini Digital Torque Wrench

 

id go for the feel of it, if that makes sense. as u put pressue on ul kno when it right, or, would it be possible for u to undo engine mount bolt and lift engine up enugh on a slight angle to get in there. mayb worth phoning zen, api for advice on it, or drop them a pm.

i just took mine for its 1st drive, that leak took me 5 mins to fix, just had 2 cut pipe and fit new clip, got no coolant, oil leaks, so far so good. drove better than ever and felt great, lots of power and earlier boost. didnt go over 3000 rpm, but started boost 2500.

good luck with ur leak, its a major hassle them rocker covers.

 

my none genuine gaskets lasted 10 mins LOL!!!

what a mistaka to make-ahhh

 

OK well I've got a set of bolt seals on order with Subaru, should be here Tuesday. Meaning the car's out of action all weekend and then it'll most likely be two evenings work to get it all back together...I just spent another half hour clearing everything out of the offside wing area to be able to remove the o/s rocker cover. What a pain in the ****ing ****.

Next problem is, the Threebond has cured on there too well to easily come off. As anyone who's done this job knows, there's hardly any access to get at it with the scraper and I'm bound to miss a bit. Obviously it all has to be clean enough to eat my dinner off if it's gonna seal up properly. Any chemicals that will dissolve the silicone so I can just wipe it off? This Threebond seems to not be like other stuff that will come off with a fingernail, it's tougher.

 

How do the dealers go out about doing the job? I'm pretty sure they access it all from the underneath ? The reason I say this, is when mine was done they only had the car for an hour to do the job.

 

where did u put the threee bond on the rockers, i only put it over the front, where it meets the end cam shell. the rest is just gasket. mine cud fall off now if unbolted. and so far i have no leaks. id defoo think about raising the engine up, the gear box will lift with it considerably. no need to undo anything then, just move pipes. just undo engine mount bolts.

 

congats on the full build, takes a fair bit of bottle, respect.
been reading for a couple of hours
like it!

 

Well I slotted the gaskets into the rocker covers dry i.e. just rubber into the metal groove. Then I filmed the head mating face with Threebond, then fitted the cover on and tightened it up. I wonder if maybe I should have put more of the stuff on, or less? Or in a different place. I went all the way round, perhaps I should have just done the bottom and rear edges...

 

that may b causing ur leak tho, if its been compresses and hardened and created a air bubble, or even got under gasket and lifted it away from rocker.

i went on what the impreza manual i have showed, which is gasket in rocker, sealer over end cam shell, the ones that hold cam sensor. and fit rocker dry.

have u contacted api, zen or lateral for advice on best method to remove cover.

maybe some thinners or a panel wipe will attack the three bond. both then evaporate away, but ud need to be carful not to get on block as its all painted, panel wipe wud be safe on painted engine, thinners may attack paint. may b worth putting some three bond onto card, allowing to cure and trying different chemicals on it, see what will make it pltyable to remove cover.

 

Silent, I had the same problem after changing my rocker cover, first time round I put too much threebond on and the gasket leaked. The second time I applied less threebond and no leaks

 

i dont understand y ur three bonding a gasket, the idea of three bond is to create a gasket, but there is a perfectly good one already there, think ur creating problems by using three bond.

 

Not true.

The factory manual calls for 3 bond in a few specific areas, however the early gaskets are not too well designed, and benefit from the use of 3 bond all the way along the bottom, and often all the way around. Rocker bolt seals are fine with just grease, rubber grease works a treat, same for the "rocker chest gasket" around the spark plug.

 

my manual stated over end cam shells and around bolt seals. and that was it. so far i have had no issues with mine, and thats a fresh DIY build. i also used old gaskets and they only had sealer in the areas i said above.

working for vauxhall, we also dont three bond and re use rocker gaskets etc unless damaged.

and i think it wud be very difficlult 2 three bond everything with engine in car as space it tight. imo

 

Are you sure about sealant on the bolt seals? What manual is that?

You can't really compare an inline 4 when looking at rocker cover gaskets, for obvious reasons!

It's not "easy" to 3 bond the entire gasket with the engine in situ, but it's not exactly impossible either.

 

il double check the bolt seals, but im sure i did. i can defoo see ur perspective, and it makes sense, but i think to much bond can cause issues. subaru from factory dont seal gaskets completely

 

From the factory, they can leak within a few years! which is why they changed the gasket design in 97, 98 and 99, 2001 and again in 2006

 

mines 98, well bk 2 helpin silent i think, lol

 

Well mine's also a MY98 and I curse all Subaru rocker covers. It's just a stupid design. You'd think that with the rockers on the sides where they're obviously gonna have oil just sitting there down on the bottom edge, that they'd come up with a better fitting design. Anyway I have got sealant eater stuff coming in the next day or so which should get rid of the Threebond that's already on there so I can clean up the mating faces properly. Should be collecting 12 brand new bolt sealing washers from Subaru tomorrow which I'll use rubber grease on, thanks for the tip. Am I right in reading that you can use rubber grease on the spark plug seals as well rather than Threebond?

I am wondering whether last time I took a bit too long getting the rockers bolted in and the Threebond hardened a little before it finally was tightened down?

 

Thats the way im reading it

 

never needed 3 bond on the spark plug gasket, they don't get cooked quite like the main rocker cover gasket.