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I was trying to get rid of a sqeak when I'm in Park and I thought it was the belts being loose or something like that. I noticed that on one side of the valve cover there is nasty dirty oil building up. So I had the 10mm in the ratchet and set them all really tight. A couple of hours later at coffee with a friend He told me I shouldn't have done that tightening. That I could have screwed up my gasket and that I should have a special measuring wrench to do it etc...
Is he right? I'm certainly not a mechanic, Just an apprentice wanna be with this forum as my mentor.
And besides I didn't get rid of the sqeak but my belts are tighter.
Any advice would be appreciated.
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The torque on those little acorn nuts is 9 ft-lbs, which is not much at all. Gaskets compress over time, so they sometimes need to be retightened to seal again.
I wouldn't panic. If it was already leaking, you had to do something. If tightening it did not solve the problem, then replacing the gasket is the solution.
I've done it a few times, not too difficult if you have a torque wrench. All the common manuals should have the procedure with pictures. The hardest part on my car was removing the wires and vaccum lines that cross over the engine, but I do not think that you have many on a LH motor.
Leaks on the valve cover normally come from the filler cap, not the gasket between the head and the valve cover. A new rubber seal for the cap should cost less than a dollar, I replace mine every couple of years just for fun.
If you are going to invest in a torque wrench, I prefer the kind that you set the torque on and then it clicks. The dial kind are pretty hard to read most of the time.
--
1981 242 GLTi 1967.5 122S
Seattle, WA
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Maybe yes and maybe no. Depends on the condition of the gasket, but it is not a major dela to replace it. A cheap torque wrench (3/8ths drive) and a good metric socket set is a good buy.
But also check the flame trap located in the rubber hoses coming up between the head and the intake manifold. The plastic screen inside if its is clogged can cause the pressure inside the engine to blow the seals and gaskets and the first sign is oil leaks at the head, valve cover and front end (also the rubber plug at the rear of the read).
Keep an eye in the valve cover leak and replace it if it returns.
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posted by
someone claiming to be Lawrence
on
Sun Sep 19 11:02 CST 2004 [ RELATED]
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Hey,
If you check the torque values for you valve cover gasket, there isnt very much torque applied in the area. I dont know the exact values, probably less than 12ft lbs. I understand that in addition to bending the valve cover you can crush the gasket, causing it to lose its sealing ability. It needs to be able expand and contract a bit with the constant changing temp.
good luck
Lawrence
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You should use a torque wrench on those bolts to tighten them evenly or you'll bend the cover a little, making any leaks worse. You can get a cheap 1/4" drive torque wrench from harbour freight or similar that will do the job.
Also, is the oil comming from around the filler cap? you can get replacement seal for the cap for very little.
look here for more info: http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/EngineSealsBeltsVent.htm
Most of the things in the FAQ's involving the engine and trans will apply to your 200 as well.
--
-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '82 Mercedes 300SD
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it is the pcv system (positive crankcase valve). There is a plastic box under the "flame trap" which is probably blocked. Part is ~50 $ and this will make the problem go away. Get a new oil filler cap gasket and O ring while you are at it. Checking the flame trap and hoses was not enough for me and I had this exact problem. I hope this helps.
--
__Stef; 81 DL wagon B21A 313000km
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Thanks to all of you for the advice. I'm not driving this next week so maybe I'll have a chance to fix it if I did it wrong. Most of all I'll have the chance to change out the Oill Filler gasket and the Flame trap clean out.
I had read a little on here about these things but really didn't know where it all was. I think I may have an idea now.
This car has been an adventure already. I've had a tie rod and cat. converter and tires put on, ordered and fixed one odometer gasket just to find the other one is busted and now it's on order.
I managed to get it inspected and Titled in Texas...strict air standards
and thats just the first 3 weeks.
But overall I do love learning how to work on it.
Now if I can just figure out this squeak when I accelerate....any more ideas?
Again, thanks for all the opinions and advice.
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The squeak could be your harmonic balancer - the crank pulley that drives all the belts. It's a centre disc, with a rubber ring in the middle, and the outer pulley ring. If the outer pulley starts slipping, it can squeak. Paint a line from the inner ring to the outer pulley. After running the car and hearing the squeak, check to see if the line is still straight. If not, you need a new harmonic balancer.
BTW, when this happens, the timing mark on the outer pulley can not longer be used to set or check your engine timing, because it no longer represents the true crankshaft position.
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Look for shiny surfaces on the belts where they fit into the pulleys. If they are shiny that means they have been slipping, and they are the source of your squeaks. You may yet have to tighten the belts, or replace them. If you can get the car to make the sound when you are stopped, while in neutral and stepping on the gas, then you can pretty easily locate the sound while a friend is behind the wheel giving it gas. You can spray water on belts to temporarily stop the squeak, so you know which belts need replacing/tightening.
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All the advice is good. It's Friday afternoon with a good weekend in front of me to try all these things.
I just spent 35.00 at Southwest Auto. Those guys were great also.
I wasn't sure where & what everything was...so he just walked me out to the shop and popped open the hood of a similar 240 and showed me the flame trap and the intake thingy and the harmonic balancer then took me inside and showed me the new harmonic balance and talked about how why this thing works and I understand crankshafts now.
So I'm all charged up to try this flame trap clean out and setting the belts and the lock nuts on the belts. etc...
Of course I think I'll take the advice of drawing a line on the balancer and see if it changes before I spend the money to replace that balancer.
I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Grateful thanks of an apprentice wanna be.
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the squeak is mostly when I'm idling. Also 100% of the time when I first hit the gas, no matter how often there is a sharp short SQUEAK then nothing as long as I'm accelerating. I think this may indicate it's my steering belt and not my a/c belt right?
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Regarding your squeal, it is a squeal not a squeak, right? Here is one more possibility. It is a long shot, but you might have a leaky water pump upper (mushroom) seal. Try this. After a cold start look at the top of your water pump where it is attached to the cylinder head. See if any antifreeze (usually green) is there. If so, be aware that antifreeze can and will leak onto your belts causing a squeal. Goes away as soon as you drive off. Ask me how I know this....
The valve cover oil leak could be anything. Old valve cover gasket, but more likely a clogged flame trap or flame trap hoses. Not likely to be the oil breather box as previously mentioned.
You might want to do a little research on these problems and feel free to post back with any follow-up questions. BTW - There is a ton of info here on the flame trap issue!
--
Jim 90 244DL 242K
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