Best way to Descale water pipe connections?

I don't put anything on the cork gasket, I do smear a little engine oil on the 2 rubber end bits so they slot in easier.
The gasket has the studs in the head to stop it moving about, on my old mini I used to use a little grease as nothing held that gasket in place.

I do find you have to nip the bolts up a little bit more in a month or so and don't over tighten to start with.  

had so many conflicting stories,

ive been advised a bit of vaseline to help seal?

will have a bash tonight

just waiting on these injector seals now 

Vaseline melts when it gets hot and I would not want that stuff getting into the head and mixing with my engine oil....

Personally I haven't used anything when fitting the rocker cover gasket, never had any leaks.
As well as what Mark said, I've always tightened down in  a similar way to you would a head to block, just to keep it even.

sound, cheers both!

The car will get there by march lol

On the cork gaskets, never use any sealant, it will make it slide as you tighten it and leak.  It will get oily enough as you drive it.

I only use 2 Drops of RED RTV on that gasket, it is where the Cam over Rubber meets the Cork Gasket.

Tighten the Valve cover down from the Center to the outside in a Zig-Zag Pattern.  if you don't have an in/lbs torque wrench it wouldn't hurt to buy one.  The nuts on the studs should only be tightened down to 87 in/lbs.

To tight and the gasket puckers and leaks, too loose and it leaks 87 in/lbs is the Goldilocks of tight.

Same if you replace the studs and go with the one piece rubber gasket, that is one drop of Silicone where the cam over goes and 87 in/lbs.

cheers Bri!

9NM (87in/lbs) aint very tight at all is it?


will see if i can get done tonight but im waiting on these injector sleeves from your side of the pond, they are in pennsylvania at mo so unsure if rocker lip will get in my way too much



 

I just use a 10mm socket on an extension bar without anything on the end and twist the bar by hand, leave it a month or so then re-tighten the nuts and check for any signs of oil leaks around the cam cover.

I don't have a torque wrench which will go that low…     

mark1gls said

I just use a 10mm socket on an extension bar without anything on the end and twist the bar by hand, leave it a month or so then re-tighten the nuts and check for any signs of oil leaks around the cam cover.

I don't have a torque wrench which will go that low…     

a 1/4 drive in/lbs or n/m torque wrench isn't as expensive you would think, I would imagine that EBAY or the like would have them for less than 30euros.

It is a lot less than snapping off a water outlet bolt/stud in the head or block.  Most outlet flanges and other 10mm or less bolts only require 87 in/lbs of torque to fully seal and or tighten.  I have used the elbow method and have stripped out a few water pump housings steel into aluminum or potmetal isn't forgiving of over torque.

Years ago in a northern climate far-far-away, I stripped out the bolt on a water pump t-stat cover…. Sunday repair to a daily driver Diesel Rabbit.  I recovered from this mistake by a bolt and nut, I was glad it was the one I could get to.  Didn't learn my lesson yet, but had a leaking valve cover gasket… So like I had done on my previous cars MG's, GM's, Rovers, Toyota's, used a Shellac on the cork, and tightened the nuts by hand… only to have the gasket slip and then leak a week later, so I replaced it again, I used silicone this time, and a week later when removing it is when I noticed that it had slipped out of position when tightening as Silicone is slippery unless allowed to fully harden under a clamp.  Same thing a week later…. I stopped by my VW parts shop and talked the VW parts guy/ shop owner where I usually bought most of my stuff, and that is when he said these magic words.

"No sealant on the Cork at all, save for 2 drops of RED RTV where the Cam over meets the cork to fill in the gaps.  Tighten the Valve cover from the middle out similar to a head gasket, and for God's sake use a torque wrench at 87 in/lbs… It will not leak again for a few years."

Lesson learned as money was tight but I bought a torque wrench for 30 dollars, and what do you know, I spent more on the 3 other gaskets, and sealers than I did for the Torque Wrench…..

I started to look up the torque of all the things I stripped over the years, and found that my Torque Elbow was really lacking.  By following the Torque settings in the Bentley I learned.  I also learned that after torquing, to slightly tap the object with a small hammer (tap tap tap)….then retorque, and presto I would get more movement out of the nut bolt or whatever…

Yes there are folks out there that can set it by hand as I thought that I could too over the years, but MG's and Dubs are different.. after all it is only a valve cover gasket…..  I had to learn the differences..

She lives!!! 

Cheers for your help boys! 

Filled up and running, albeit in garage and not been on road yet!

Good to hear it's now running. Fingers crossed its easy from now on.  

lets hope!

few little drips of coolant, new jubilees need a bit of a tighten and then lets hope some more

I find the jubilee clips need a little bit more tightening as well, I check them all over after a month or so if I've removed them.

Distraught boys!! 

Tightened everything up and all seemed fine, oil pressure sound, oil temp sound, engine heated up then noticed it had got cooler, then came back to temp but no fan?!? 

Hoping it is just the fact I hadn't taken her out and that it's minus 3 outside that the fan didn't come on as the thermostat is brand new.

But that's least if my worries….. there was a tiny leak behind the new flange in the side of the head ☹️☹️☹️

Tightened the nuts as much as I dare and it's now the smallest glisten of water under torch light. 

I'm absoloutly gutted! Gonna have to drain the coolant and strip it off again and add more gasket sealant ☹️

When I thought I'd cracked it too 

My fan hardly comes on at this I've of year, just make sure you have burped the coolant system and all the pipes get warm, bottom radiator hose should be the very last to get any heat.

Now that you've already done it won't take that long this time, you don't even have to drain the system, just remove the offending outlet and it looses what ever water it looses? Just frustrating having to redo the job hours after thinking you'd sorted it.

I'd poss look at making a DIY gasket from a sheet of 2 or 3 mm neoprene rubber?

As with Mark, I wouldn't expect the fan to kick in this time of year with ambient temp around zero.

Early-1800 said

Now that you've already done it won't take that long this time, you don't even have to drain the system, just remove the offending outlet and it looses what ever water it looses? Just frustrating having to redo the job hours after thinking you'd sorted it.

I'd poss look at making a DIY gasket from a sheet of 2 or 3 mm neoprene rubber?

As with Mark, I wouldn't expect the fan to kick in this time of year with ambient temp around zero.

bloody hope so!

gonna book a day off work and hit it on a day where i can just relax rather than tired and irritable after a 9-5 lol

is there nothing to smear on inside of water pipes to help with seal other than just tighten the jubilees?

I wouldn't smear anything on the hoses. Use good jubilee clips that have a nut shaped bolt that you can get a socket on to nip them up rather than those with just a slot that you just mangle up with a screw driver.

When I restored the GTI I replaced the hoses and clips and after a few hours running the engine was dribbling water all over the place making me panic….

The rubber hoses had just compressed a bit under the clips and allowed coolant to escape. That's prob why VW started to use those vicious springy clips that self adjust their vice like grip. 

Bloody annoying that is. Old cars, they are a joy!

As it is ridiculously cold, I's suggest warming the pipe before tightening the jubilee - get a hairdryer on it. Would make the pipe more compliant and you might get a tighter grip with the jubilee.

Or just run the engine, that should warm up the clips…

I've been trying to keep hold of the original VW spring type clips as they do seem to work better…