Strengthening the valve cover.

[talon96tsi]

My valve cover on my 91 tsi is cracked to hell, and i lose about a quart a month through the thing. I have another valve cover for it, but i want to make sure it wont crack to hell too. Is there any procedure to make it stronger and less prone to cracking?

Any insight would be more then helpful guys, thanks!

 

[Stanford]

Easy, don't over torque the bolts. Thats what cracks them. The torque rating is very low for them.

 

[boostedinaz]

Yup ^^^^^

Just be gentle. Not everything needs to be torqued to 8 million lb/ft.

 

[talon96tsi]

Havnt had any problems with my moms since i replaced it, and the gasket, but mine was cracked long before i bought it, and covered in jbweld so it wasnt me!

Is there any substance it can be treated with?

 

[boostedinaz]

Havnt had any problems with my moms since i replaced it, and the gasket, but mine was cracked long before i bought it, and covered in jbweld so it wasnt me!

Is there any substance it can be treated with?

Nope, just tighten it to spec and call it a day.

 

[steve]

Nope, just tighten it to spec and call it a day.

Well, start with a new gasket and seals, tighten it to spec and call it a day. An old, rock hard gasket doesn't seal very well.

Steve

 

[mavisky]

An easy way to keep the valve cover safe is to never install any of the bolts with anything larger than a 1/4" ratchet. The smaller the ratchet the better, as you'll have better feel of just how much force you're putting on the bolt.

As for the already cracked factory VC you could sand it down where cracked and jb/weld that area then repaint it. That should help considerably.

 

[talon96tsi]

Ive never seen so many mods in one thread haha. Anyway, thank you for your help guys!

 

[brute]

Put the 10mm socket on like a 6 inch extension. Don't use the rachet, just put the extension in your hand and tighten them. That's how I do it. So I don't over-tighten.