Re: 4KS cam cover gasket

[James Marriott <marriott@micron.net>]

Larry Smeins wrote:
> 
> The cam cover gasket is leaking again on the 84 KS that I gave my son.
> This is not a new problem.  The present gasket was installed about 40K
> miles ago when he was going to school in Butte, MT.  He went through
> several gaskets before getting one to seal.  In the process several of
> the studs stripped out of the head but he managed to get everything
> sealed.  Now some more studs have pulled out and I need to replace the
> gasket.  First: any opinions on helicoiling the cover hold down stud
> holes in the head?

I just replaced the gasket _again_ on the '86 4ks last last weekend. I
started to replace it with the spiffy last-forever rubber job, but Audi
Parts gave me the 5-cyl job. :-(  Grrrrr! This was a contributing factor
to my "FI" trouble on the '87 4kq. ;-)

Anyway, before noticing I had the wrong part, I pulled the studs in
preparation for installing the rubber gasket. The studs only go ~1/2"
into the head, but the threads seem to go all the way through, and the
hole is certainly open on the bottom ('86 10:1 1.8). Remove the studs.
If you can't thread a bolt (6 mm bolts can be had ~1 1/4" with all
threads) all the way in to some good threads, try chasing the threads
from the bottom (problematic on the manifold side) with a tap. Then just
replace the stud with the long bolt. The torque for the nuts is only 7
ft-lb. How the h*ll did several of them get stripped??? Also, make sure
the stud is bottomed in the head. The nut seats on the shoulder of the
stud once it's "tight." This prevents the gasket from getting totally
mashed. If the stud is loose, there'll be an un-tightenable gap on the
_bottom_ of the gasket.

> Then: what is the best gasket to use and what gasket
> sealer to use with it?  I've started using rubber loaded cork gaskets on
> my Chevy and am leaning that direction for the Audi.

I've tried everything. German, gyppo, Fel-pro. Plain, anti-seize,
krypton, Super-blue, etc. I've decided that this is a semi-annual job on
this car. Kinda like the door handle lubing.

hth,
James
'87 4kq, 157k
'86 4ks, ???k
'64 Falcon Spring Convertible, original, ungreased door handles