Rocker gaskets

Hopefully this is a simple one.
I’m on holiday and my bus is leaking oil from the driver side rocker cover. It’s all over the exhaust and heat exchanger. I’ve luckily managed to find a shop selling a few spare parts. They only had some Scat ones so..
I’m about to fit some polished Scat rocker covers with cork gaskets. I’ve looked online for advise but have found conflicting information.
Do I need to oil or grease the new gaskets to get a better seal??
Thanks

I used to just fit them dry when I had a type 1 motor and they worked. I've heard stories of porous cork gasket on the market causing all kinds of problem but really they should just work! Good luck with the rest of your trip

creationblue said:

I used to just fit them dry when I had a type 1 motor and they worked. I've heard stories of porous cork gasket on the market causing all kinds of problem but really they should just work! Good luck with the rest of your trip

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Thanks.
I’ll give everything a good clean and fit them dry I think.
I just need them to work for the rest of the trip until I can sort it properly. Anything will be better than the current ones.

Make sure the rocker covers are actually flat, bend the bail arms to get a little more tension, and buy some thicker gaskets from here.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/31474423...J7KND0&hash=item494837ebd5:g:KFkAAOSwGNxa~gSN

After putting them on, leave them overnight to bed in before you start the engine.
It worked for me, but I am sure others will say otherwise.

J & P

Both new rocker covers and cork gaskets are fitted, oil topped up and engine run for a few minutes. All seems well, no drips or gushing leaks. I’ll take it for a drive tomorrow and see how things go
One thing to note on those Scat rocker covers is they have little tabs to hold the gasket in place which is helpful, but… it’s really easy to knock them when fitting and pinch the gasket resulting in a bad seal.

Guess how I found that out

First time doing this for me so a little hiccup on the way was to be expected.

gas1man said:

After putting them on, leave them overnight to bed in before you start the engine.
It worked for me, but I am sure others will say otherwise.

J & P

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Only read this after fitting. Left them for about 15mins before starting the engine. Seems to be okay

I’ve tried a few variations but settled for bolt on alloy covers that might be the same as those Scat ones. I use cork gaskets with blue hylomar to keep the gasket on the cover and a smear of grease on the opposite side just to seal it and to make them, reusable a good few times. Others swear by the stock ones with tight bails. The other thing I do is stuff the gap between the rocker box and the zoorst with some kitchen roll to stop most of the oil going everywhere and stinking for a week. Sometimes I even jack one side up a bit and get a stand under to tip the oil back over the other side then do the same the other way round.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,, Or just don’t put oil in,,,,,,,sorted

These ones still use the bail arms so it was fairly straightforward to swap over.
Would you use the blue hylomar on cork gaskets? Its too late this time as I’ve already fitted them but good to know for the future.

Too late for the exhaust and heat exchangers… they’re covered in oil from the leak. The old rocket cover had warped somehow and the leak was pretty substantial. All cleaned up as good as possible but it’s going to stink for a while.

Jacking up to stop the oil is a good shout though. I’ll defo do that next time.

New ones look pretty shiny though! Bit out of place under there

I’d had to use sealant to stop regular aftermarket gaskets leaking but just greased some of those thicker ones and they’ve been fine so far this year.