Defender TD5 Rocker Cover Gasket replacement

[Fox Four]

Good evening,

You guys have been invaluable during various parts of my TD5 overhaul. I’ve got a leaking rocker cover gasket, and I’m about to replace for the first time. Any advice would be extremely appreciated.

Kind regards

Fox

[V8 Freak]

It's a fairly simple operation....

Remove the acoustic cover (3 X 13 mm bolts), un-clip the breather pipe from the top and undo the 13 x 8 mm bolts....

Lift off and clean the cover and head where the seal lands really well. 

There us a "U" shaped section at the rear of the head... This is generally where these gaskets leak.

I always add a small amount of sealant over this section to help seal here.

Take care to land the whole seal in place and refit the X13 bolts etc., not excessively tight as they are quire small... Torque setting for these is very low but cannot remember it off the top of my head.

 

Good luck. 

[dave88sw]

One point to mention, every bolt has a "top hat" shaped seal where it passes through the cover.  Do not turn the rocker cover over while removing it and once removed, lay it on a bench/floor when you pull the old gasket off because all of those top hats will fall out.  Lay the new gasket on the cover and push each of the tap hats through from the other side and they should hold in place.

[V8 Freak]

I tend to put the bolts and top hats in after...

Dave makes a valid point above.. These are buggers to find if dropped in the engine bay as they end up in all manner of impossible places... (Including on top of the front Diff... Ask me how I know..)

[Fox Four]

Really appreciate the advice, thank you very much. Top tip on not losing the top hats!

Edited March 15, 2018 by Fox Four

[Vogler]

According to the workshop manual one should put two dots of sealant of approx 3mm diameter on the top corners of the 'U' on 10p models.

Use caution so no sealant can get into the small hole in the bottom of the 'U', it's part of the oil circuit.

Greetings,

Joris

 

 

Edited March 16, 2018 by Vogler
Screenshot and 10p reference added

[V8 Freak]

I put a thin bead on the rubber gasket because it’s easier to control as it’s not reaching over the back of the engine and clearly visible. 

It doesn’t need much and if applied sparingly it won’t spread and block the drain hole. 

But that is the area I was referring to in my original post. 

 

Neil

[Fox Four]

Great, thanks guys!

Fox

[sheathy]

Hi all, my TD5 has started a slowly leak from exactly that point V8 freak indicated so I will be doing this job soon.

I was just wondering if someone could recommend a particular sealant to use? Fox four, did you do this in the end? How did you get on? I was wondering if it was was worth doing the injector seals whilst I was in there as I've heard they are a common failure on the td5. There's no sign of any problem from mine but I wondered if it's prudent to do the job anyway? I've only had the vehicle a few months and don't think it's been done before. 

Cheers!!