Leaking valve covers - S&S P93

[kestrou]

Title says it all - and the root of the issue is the S&S provided gaskets are rubber and the valve cover bolts keep backing out…

Doesn’t leak when I retighten the bolts…

Is the best solution to get different gaskets, or use a thread locker (which I hate to do), or just suck it up and retighten the bolts every couple months?

Kevin

[farmall]

There is nothing wrong with anaerobic thread locker used per instructions. It's used on billions of fasteners in production. I used it on all sorts of hardware without problems and nearly always use red Loctite gel for convenience. I don't use absurd amounts on small fasteners.

Don't forget to clean both threads with a non-residue producing solvent like brake cleaner first.

Non-hardening sealants are best for flexible rubber gaskets because those are used on parts expected to shift a bit during use. Permatex High Tack and Hylomar Blue work well. I've not used Permatex 85409 for rubber but I've never seen a "bad" sealer, just people using the wrong sealer for their application because they go by "monkey see monkey do" instead of reading a bit on manufacturer websites.

The technically smart play would have been S&S using form-in-place gaskets (appropriate sealants like Toyota FIPG) but so many owners would fuck that up I see why they didn't.