changing valve cover gaskets, questions
 

Changing valve cover gaskets in

1990 740 turbo and 1992 740 non-turbo

any pointers for me? Do the bolts need to be torqued? They look very small and I don't want to break them. Will a putty knife be good enough to scrape the old gasket off? Anything I should apply to head or valve cover or gasket before putting it all together again?

Dear volvoQ's

Doing a valve cover gasket replacement.
I took mine off some parts stuck to the two parts the cover and head used a hardwood wooden scraping tool of my own pattern so as not to gouge the soft aluminum parts it worked. I used acetone to clean mating surfaces you could use lacquer thinner. Be careful of not to spilling solvents protective cloths suggested. I did not like the cork replacement got a fiber kind checking after I did the valve work I recleaned the mating surfaces and used a non hardening gasket sealing compound which held the gasket in place while I aligned the parts up so as not bend warp twist the gasket as the previous person had done. The previous owner who ever did the work had a slight oil leak a the front of the engine suggesting a cam shaft oil seal leak which turned out to be a valve cover gasket damage issue. As to tightening – torque Bentley says 9 ft lbs since following there values I have snapped fasteners I do it by feel in non critical areas like this, with a ¼ drive socket wrench. The pattern of tighten is not rotational but back to front and to the center gradually little by little tightening all fasteners to an even value. As the gasket is compressed evenly this way, I have had great success and no leeks.

Your truly,
Keith