In one day my rocker cover gasket has just dissapeared. On all sides around the cover there is oil coming out. How hard is the gasket to replace and how do i go about doing so?

Also i have a second TP with the engine dissasembled in the boot. The rocker cover gasket is still complete so is it worth just swapping the covers? or should i get a new gasket?

Takes about 20 mins to swap over the rocker cover gasket. (including cleaning your rocker cover)

Id suggest buying a new one (wont cost anymore than $15)

Ok to pull off the rocker cover do i need to disconnect all the hoses etc? or can it be pulled off without doing that? Also do i need some special gasket sealant?

Just disconnect what you hafta to get acces to the face of the head and rocker cover.

Give it a good clean and if you want to use a sealant just use a little "aviation form a gasket".
It comes in a little bottle with a brush in the lid, its not to expensive and dont block things like silastic can.

Buy a new gasket like Bain said, its cheap and saves doin it twice when the old gasket fails.

Piss easy job, dont overtighten the rocker bolts either, just snug them down, no need to kill yaself tightening em and saves breaking them. :D

Hey there, ahh, looks like Ol'Farts beaten me to it :D , heres what i posted anyways

All you will need to do is unclip the accelerator cable, take off your spark leads, and take the two oil breather hoses off (they should just slide off). Once thats done you then have the two rocker cover bolts to undo and thats it! take out whatever may exist of your old gasket and give the edges a thorough cleaning

Make sure that when you prepare the surface for your new gasket you get a stanley blade and take the extra crud away from both surfaces on the cover and head to get them flat and true (this may also be a good time for you to get some polish out and get that rocker cover looking like new again). Then position your new gasket in position on the head. Once you have done that id reccomend that you put some high temperature silicone sealant just aroind where the waterpump cam sits and at the opposite end of the head where the timing-chain sits, dont worry too much about smearing any sealer anywhere else. pop your cover back on, tighten up the two cover bolts (at 20nm from memory) and connect the respective hoses and plugs together and your done.

If your handy under the bonnet this is one of the easiest repair jobs you can do for your engine, and it should only take 5 minutes!!!

Have fun :D

-Wagon*

I was told not to use any sealant on these engines..

I havent on the 2.6L 4 banger TR my girlfriend has.. So far no leaks :)

My main problem is that because of the disintegrated gasket my car now has no oil in it. So no drive for me to get a gasket. I'll have to grab one tomorrow i guess.

Thanks for all the help!

I was told not to use any sealant on these engines..

I havent on the 2.6L 4 banger TR my girlfriend has.. So far no leaks :)

really thats a bit odd, last time i didnt use enough sealant it ended up leaking a fair bit of oil near the water pump cam and near the timing chain.

although i seem cursed when it comes to gaskets and sealants.

I was told not to use any sealant on these engines..

I havent on the 2.6L 4 banger TR my girlfriend has.. So far no leaks :)

Correct Bain, I too have been told not to use any sealer on the rocker cover gasket, but as we are dealing with a design flaw with these engines it is best to seal the gasket at the waterpump and timing chain ends of the engine to rectify sealing. Using a little sealer will not kill your engine it will just make it seal better :D

Think of it as DIY research + development for your car :P

cheers

-Wagon*

The trouble with silastic on rocker gaskets is that the excess on the inside forms into slimy globules that get into yur oil galleries and can block em. :)

The trouble with silastic on rocker gaskets is that the excess on the inside forms into slimy globules that get into yur oil galleries and can block em. :)

True true Ol'Fart. Im yet to experience any issues with applying to the point of "excess" but ill keep a check on how things go anyways, cheers for the heads-up :)

-Wagon*