cam cover replacement

[sambb]

Question concerning cam cover gasket renewal. Other than putting a little dab of sealant at each of the four corners before putting the gasket down, does the gasket fit as is onto the mounting grooves alone, without any other sealant? I've seen loctite hi tack gasket sealant spray being used to treat the gaskets before they are laid down. Just curious what others have done.

Also re the half moon and its gasket (associated with the cam tensioner) , I've been told that its good to do those at the same time. Mine isn't leaking from there - is it likely to spring a leak if its not already by being disturbed when the cam cover is lifted or is it a best practice type of deal. I ask because it looks like a hell of a lot more work to add that into the equation of what otherwise looks like a very straightforward cover gasket job. Is it possible to do those without lifting the inlet cam by just releasing the tensioner bolts and sliding in the half moon and its gasket or do you have to go the whole hog and lift the inlet cam, release the tensioner with the special tool and lift the tensioner assembly entirely for proper access?

thanks
sam

[simon k]

I'm just curious what it looks like under there - VVT is really interesting - minis tend to 'develop' a little bit of VVT after 20,000km or so, but it's a bit hard know what it's doing.... adding a controllable tensioner or pressure driven adjustable gear would be pretty cool

VWVortex.com - Who is using VVT to make power?

The Audi TT Forum :: View topic - 1.8T VVT - Information

any reason you're taking the cover off?

[sambb]

YouTube simon this will give you a good run down of whats under there.

found the answer to my own question. The half moon and its gasket can be accessed without removing the inlet cam. I'd thought they were under the tensioner in a way that meant the inlet cam had to removed to get at them but apparently not. see below:
YouTube

so does anyone have the cam tensioner compression tool that I could borrow for a 6 pack?

[sambb]

bugger - found the exact leak point. Its the half moon below the exhaust cam shaft. That means I need to lift the exhaust cam at minimum so i'll have to find out what that implies for the whole process ie regarding not loosing timing whether or not i'll need a cyl 1 end of the motors camshaft seal too.
any advice appreciated.

[simon k]

the exhaust cam is the one with the timing belt on it, maybe the inlet can stay put...

I wouldn't be too concerned about lifting the cams - mark the position of everything before you start etc. etc.

[sambb]

Yeah I think it'll be a cse of compressing the tensioner, lifting the exhaust cam to do its half moon seal, bolting it back down and then lifting the tensioner and inlet cam to do the other. Once thats all done then i'll attack the timing belt including getting the pulley off to make way for an adjustable timing pulley which will be on its way soon. Have no idea if pulling the cam pulley off is going to be an ordeal or not - hopefully there's a simple way of doing it that doesnt require vw 'special' tools.

[simon k]

Have no idea if pulling the cam pulley off is going to be an ordeal or not - hopefully there's a simple way of doing it that doesnt require vw 'special' tools.

rattle gun

The manual shows a special tool - I usually make something when I need them, I needed one for the Subaru's crank pulley when doing the timing belt. A couple of bolts and a bit of RHS

the '2085 seal extractor' looks like a neat jigger, but a centre punch and a screwdriver will dig it out

[sambb]

I was thinking just a rattle gun but dont know if thats a bad deal for the valve train or not. I'm sure there are some generic cam pulley holders kicking around that actually work. I'm not even sure that once the bolt is out whether the pulley needs a puller or just a little tap to slide free. Yeah i think i'll have to leaf through the manual first and get torque wrenches etc organised.