Nice write-up. On my short list of things to do, so this is real timely.

 

Time for another addition to the sticky.

I used a gray permatex on mine (don't recall which one); it's only been a bit over a year but no sign of leaks. My fingers, though, will remain crossed.

Nice job, Kobus. On a personal note it would be cool if you could make the play. I'll only be at the GTG for an hour or so because we have a matinee that day, so it seems more likely I'd miss you there. Have a great trip and be safe.

 

Thanks, Kobus. I added it to the engine sticky so now we have three DIY stickies related to the covers.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w21...g/forums/w210-e-class/1368898-help-tips-diys-power-train-drive.html#post3573138

I have heard Mercedes dealer mechanics using Toyota sealant for this job. It appears the Toyota sealant is superior. I believe it was discussed here before.

 

Forgot to mention, the sealant I've purchased and plan to use for this job is:

Victor Reinz, Reinzosil Liquid Sealant; 70ml Tube

Your Parts Search Returned 1 Part(s)

Has anyone used this sealant yet?

 

I went to autopartsway.com and entered MB p/n 003989982010 for the sealant.

 

I have just finished replacing valve cover gaskets and resealing breather covers and replacing spark plugs on both of my W210 E320 and thought I’d share my experience…and suggest some does and don’ts. I suggest buying the two vacuum hoses on the left hand valve cover and small aluminum bolts that hold down the breather cover before starting. RMEuropean carries the breather cover vacuum hoses and possibly the bolts.

First remove the air filter box in its entirety. No need to remove the air filter itself , simply take off the air scoop on the front of the box and disconnect the mass air flow sensor (simple) from the air filter box (two clamps). Now simply pull the air cleaner box up off its three grommets. Now, next remove the air pipe (induction)assembly. This is the pipe from the mass air flow sensor to the Throttle Body..a few things before you attempt this..its comes off in one piece, have a look at the part first on RM European (.com) or All Data so you know what you are dealing with. You first need to remove a bolt on the right valve cover at the back that holds the air pipe assembly in its position, and then remove two vacuum hoses attaching to it. Now lift up the small resonance filter next to the mass air filter, two small grommets hold it in place, it swings up. Look on the diagram from RMEuropean or on Alldata and you’ll see a locking tab on the bottom of the air pipe assembly (air induction assembly) where in attaches to the Throttle Body and a positioning bracket on top where it attaches to the manifold . This bracket is easily broken, if you can lightly press down on the locking tab and push the air pipe assembly back towards the firewall it will come off in its entirety and open up lots of space. I broke the top positioning tab on the first car but not the second..its only for helping to position the pipe assembly while reinstalling so not essential.

Now with the air filter and air pipe assembly removed you have lots of room. Good idea to give the top of the engine a dusting before taking off the valve covers so not to get dirt into the valves etc. Next I removed the coils (torx 30) and let them fall down beside the plugs and fender. Next I removed the small bolts and larger ones on the breather cover and then took a pries bar or screw driver and gently removed the Breather Cover on both valve covers (no problem, came off easy).I then removed the vacuum hoses (cut them off if you have bought new ones) then the remaining external torx 10 bolts and removed the valve covers.

Now with the coils still attached to the plugs I used my spark plug removal tool from Oh Lord (or a 17 mm open end wrench) and popped off the spark plug wires. Next I removed and replaced the spark plugs (no anti-seize). Do not replace the spark plug wires until you have the valve covers back on. My plugs hadn’t been changed for 6 years and 130000 kilometers..it was a work out.

I cleaned the valve and breather covers with brake cleaner and a wire brush then blew them dry with an air hose and wiped down with a clean cloth. I used Permatex Ultra sealant to reseal the breather covers. After squeezing the sealant on I used a flat screwdriver to press the sealant into the channels on the breather cover. After securing the breather covers to the valve cover I let them sit overnight. Make sure you replace the small aluminum bolts with new ones (Mercedes $1.50), I learned the hard way and had to use an extractor to get the broken one out. Also make sure to clean out the old sealant left in the bolt holes that receive these bolts otherwise the bolts won’t properly seat (4NM torque only!!).


When replacing the valve cover gasket I used a few dabs of sealant to hold it in place while replacing the valve cover. With the valve cover back on I used a small mirror to ensure the gasket had remained in place then tightened torx 30 bolts to 9 NM torque.

Now used my new 17mm offset open-end wrench to replace the spark plug wires and then tightened down the coils.

Now replace the air induction assembly remembering to use the positioning bracket and lock tab , you shouldn’t have to force it. Attach all vacuum hoses, replace air filter box and hook up mass air flow sensor and its electrical connector. I took this opportunity to also replace the o-ring on the dip stick and rubber seal on the oil filler extender. This would also be a great time to replace the Crank Shaft Position Sensor and Oxygen Sensors if required.

The engine looks great, no leaks and runs fabulous. Thank you to all that have contributed to this DIY fix. I hope my addition is of some help

 

Do you have the part number for the 2 vacuum hoses on the left? I ran a search on autohausaz and it returned 6 results.

Your Parts Search Returned 5 Part(s)

 

Do you have the part number for the 2 vacuum hoses on the left? I ran a search on autohausaz and it returned 6 results.

Your Parts Search Returned 5 Part(s)

FCP EURO has all of the parts needed for these gasket changes, including cover bolts, which are now upgraded with stainless steel bolts. Also, all parts from this company come with a lifetime warranty, including filters and wiper blades. ALL PARTS- LIFETIME WARRANTY!!!

 

I had posted about a year ago a description of resealing the breather cover on the M112 engine.

I think many people feel that they need to replace there Passenger Side Valve Cover Gasket when in fact it may be that they need to Reseal their Breather Cover. Thank you for a great DIY. I posted this to one of our on going Blue Stickies on the R129 forum at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r129-sl-class/1445845-my-99-02-m113-maintenance-4.html#post5236863

 

lynns
I have the same feeling as your regarding to the leaking of oil from the breather cover instead of the valve gaskets on both bank. I examine the two engine , S & E class, on the pass. side, any location before the middle cylinder is dry. On the driver side, the last cylinder close to the fire wall is dry. I will gamble to replace the breather cover seal with the D176404 Victor Reinz Sealant 70 ml from autohousAZ or RMeuropean if either of them has the 5 aluminum screws. As I have 2 engine breathers to seal, this will be my short cut and hopefully, we are on the mark.

 

I will gamble to replace the breather cover seal with the D176404 Victor Reinz Sealant 70 ml from autohousAZ or RMeuropean if either of them has the 5 aluminum screws. As I have 2 engine breathers to seal, this will be my short cut and hopefully, we are on the mark.

May I suggest that you go to Parts.com for p/n 003989982010 MB sealant and screws and any other parts that you need like a new wiper assembly, etc.

 

Thank, I was exhausted to locate the 5 screws last night except the dealer. What is the parts # for the screws in parts.com. I cannot find the match in Pelican, AutohausAZ or RMeuropean. Lynns, what is the mileage on your MB since your last RR breather cover seal ? As I check on the air hoses, 4 of them, they are all hardened after 10+ years, I am going to replace those too, cause I am not sure they will not break when I remove them from the cover, and the cover seals are only $30 for both , I have a 2nd thought to replace them too. Actually, after remove all the obstacles above the breather cover, the time to remove the valve cover is insignificant. The major of me RR the hoses b/c I found motor oil traces on the 3 connectors and the cover connection too.

 

I was exhausted to locate the 5 screws last night except the dealer. What is the parts # for the screws in parts.com. I cannot find the match in Pelican, AutohausAZ or RMeuropean. Lynns, what is the mileage on your MB since your last RR breather cover seal ? As I check on the air hoses, 4 of them, they are all hardened after 10+ years, I am going to replace those too

I have a 2000 SL500 w/ a 113 engine w/ 60K miles and have never replaced my Breather Cover Sealant or Valve Cover Gaskets. You probably will not find the screws that your looking for at the above web links. That's why I suggested parts.com or your local Dealer. The p/n's are noted in the DIY PDF and are p/n 000000004439 and p/n 000912005010. One is short and one is long. FWIW, It's my guess that if you took your car to an Indy for the repair that they would NOT replace the screws. It's probably more important that you use the MB Sealant and not the Autohausaz version.

 

lynns
I will RR valve cover gaskets in the E as it has 130K on the clock but the S , I will RR breather cover gasket only b/c only has 89K.

 

These are the screws for 1998 E320



These are all the screws I bought for my 98 E320

1) 14 N 000912 005010 SCREW RIGHT M 5X18 005 screws
2) 29 A 001 990 83 22 SCREW CYLINDER HEAD COVER TO CYLINDER HEAD, RIGHT 013 screws
3) 29 A 001 990 84 22 SCREW CYLINDER HEAD COVER TO CYLINDER HEAD, RIGHT 005 screws

Now let's say after you open the right side breather cover, you break the oil neck, you need to order these parts to put it back. The oil neck is super flimzy.

1) 47 A 000 010 14 85 FILLER CAP OIL FILLER CAP, CYLINDER HEAD COVER, RIGHT 001
2) 47 A 111 018 03 02 CAP OIL FILLER CAP, CYLINDER HEAD COVER, RIGHT 001
3) 41 A 111 018 00 80 GASKET 002
4) 35 A 112 010 00 64 OIL FILLER NECK 001

Remember, you can get all these part numbers from EPC-net Online

Use IE because it doesn't work on other browsers.

 

Iam looking at the cost difference of the screws, dealer is @1.50, Parts.com @1.2, depends on the handling charges, I may get it from dealer. I need 10 screws for both cars. Do you know the vol. of the MB sealant ? The victor remiz is 70 ml.

 

It cost too much to buy from Parts.com, shipping charge is $10.99 plus $4 shipping, I dont know their charge for tax either. My total cart charges from AutohausAZ is around $75 with all hoses connectors and 2x 70 ml of Victor Reinz sealant except the 10x screws.

 

It cost too much to buy from Parts.com, shipping charge is $10.99 plus $4 shipping, I don't know their charge for tax either. My total cart charges from AutohausAZ is around $75 with all hoses connectors and 2x 70 ml of Victor Reinz sealant except the 10x screws.

Yea, in order for parts.com to be of value you need to buy at least $67.00 worth of product. And they do not charge tax unless your in Florida. Please read the above post #10.

 

The major reason I do not use MB sealant b/c it leaks anyway since they were used from factory OEM. I think the OEM sealant is only good for 10 yrs or 50K miles.

 

Before I come up with my parts list, I research on EPC and matched the pic. with the sku. I already fixed my list for parts last night for AutohausAZ:
4 vacuum hoses: 1120180.182, .282, .382, .482 =$21
1120180209 connector= EPC #158, sub. vendor# W0133-1810284 $3.75
1179901578 3x hose connector, EPC#164, Reuse old parts
1110180080 oil cap gasket $1.75
N000.9120.05010 sub. EPC new# 000.000.004436 (Kobus' pck.) x10 =$15
Left & right valve gasket =$30
Victor Reinz 70 ml sealant x2 = $18.8
Why you break the oil filler neck when you can get the breather cover away from the valve cover, before you disassemble oil neck ?

 

2000 E320 Breather Cover

I saw the diy and decided to go ahead and get mine done, as it needs to be fixed. I went ahead and got the short screws, the sealant, and the vacuum hose. The dealer was out of the longer screws, and also said that I probably didn't need them. Sure enough, when I was torquing the cover down, one of the long screws snapped. So, now I am going to change the valve cover gasket. Looking at these screws, I think it is smart to just replace them all.

 

The correct sealant

The sealant that ”hides” in the MB tubes are Loctite 5970 – this MB use for sealing engine block, oil trays, valve covers etc. at assembling at factory – AMG included.

Loctite 5970 High Performance Silicone Black - Henkel

Notice size when ordering.

 

The sealant that ”hides” in the MB tubes are Loctite 5970 – this MB use for sealing engine block, oil trays, valve covers etc. at assembling at factory – AMG included.

Please see the attached PDF.

 

When I did mine two years ago I used Dow Corning Silastic formed in place gaskets,premium silicone. Specs temp to 230 degrees C, but you only have ten minutes to work with to assemble. Results so far have been good.
My tips are to use a 2mm bead and don't apply too much,just enough to fill the groove and no more.
Also ensure that there is no oil left on the surfaces,use a residue free solvent to clean all surfaces thoroughly.
Make sure you clean out the holes for the bolts,they often have old sealant in the threads and at the bottom.
Bolts are 16mm M5 stainless steel,you can use allen head,phillips head or torx.

 

My tips are to use a 2mm bead and don't apply too much,just enough to fill the groove and no more.
Also ensure that there is no oil left on the surfaces,use a residue free solvent to clean all surfaces thoroughly.
Make sure you clean out the holes for the bolts,they often have old sealant in the threads and at the bottom.
Bolts are 16mm M5 stainless steel,you can use allen head,phillips head or torx.

Only worked on driver side so far. Have everything squeaky clean and have run some s/s bolts into the 5mm holes just to be sure there is no sealant in there. I will be using OE aluminum machine screws. They screw in easily too.

I will clean once again with acetone or brake cleaner before final assembly. Interesting that WIS (See Below) says not to remove ALL the silicone. It says to not get to a metal finish and to leave hard silicone in place!

Have removed most of the ducts on passenger side including the one hard to get at bolt. Just gave up for night because I couldn't figure out how to use large screwdriver to release the duct catch at rear of engine WIS also talks about detaching a cable (see attachment) Did I miss this in the sticky instructions?

This is the part of Kobus's write up where it seems a screwdriver is supposed to come into play. Maybe to unlatch bottom connector?

Once the bolt has been removed, you can swivel the intake pipe up and backwards to give you better access to the breather cover. The intake pipe is held in place by the clip on the top, indicated in the photograph below. It is also fixed by another clip at the bottom which you don’t need to worry about since you don’t need to remove the intake pipe fully. Note that although it looks as if the clip separates in the middle, it does not. You just pull it away where it hooks into the engine block.

Tried pulling duct aft, but something still holding it, it seems. Bottom clip?

 

Maybe it will interest you to get a feedback on my results, close to 7.5 years after sealing both cars with the genuine MB sealant:

E320 - 50K+ miles, still no leaks
SLK320 - 86K+ miles, still no leaks.

So I'm quite happy with the results so far.

 

Baie dankie Kobus. Certainly a lot better than when you used Permatex! Could have something to do with synthetic oil compatibility?

 

I will clean once again with acetone or brake cleaner before final assembly. Interesting that WIS (See Below) says not to remove ALL the silicone. It says to not get to a metal finish and to leave hard silicone in place!

Maybe because that is a different part, machined surface ,with different sealant? I reckon best to remove it all on the breather covers and valve cover.These parts are cast Magnesium which have a comparatively rough finish.
Also note that the bolts are only needed to hold the cover in place while the sealant hardens,they don't have to be really tight,I just tightened by feel without leverage until just firm.Maybe 3 Nm.
Sorry I have no knowledge of that air intake duct system.
Ps. Many people replace the valve cover gaskets at the same time,due to the time saving,and often they leak as well around the same time.

 

Maybe because that is a different part, machined surface ,with different sealant? I reckon best to remove it all on the breather covers and valve cover.These parts are cast Magnesium which have a comparatively rough finish.
Also note that the bolts are only needed to hold the cover in place while the sealant hardens,they don't have to be really tight,I just tightened by feel without leverage until just firm.Maybe 3 Nm.

Those cleaning instructions were referred to in the Crankcase Vent system (Breather Cover) WIS instructions. I have seen that hard black surface coating before. It was hard to get off. Seems like they want us to leave it in place! I cleaned my first cover mostly to bare metal Figured it must have been that way when being built!

WIS say 4Nm for the aluminum bolts, 8Nm for the bigger ones.

 

Aluminium bolts are not very strong so be very careful not to break them.
Many people replace them with stainless steel.
All sealant instructions say to remove all traces of oil and old gasket in order to get an effective seal, so that's what I would do.

 

Bear in mind that the valve cover is magnesium. Mercedes were probably concerned about galvanic corrosion in choosing aluminum. It is not easy to find a good material for fasteners that thread into magnesium alloys. This is from one site that I googled:

Galvanic corrosion is another concern when fastening magnesium parts. When magnesium contacts other metals in the presence of an electrolyte, such as road salt, severe galvanic corrosion can occur. To keep that from happening, the mating parts must be made of galvanically compatible metals; plated with galvanically compatible metals, such as zinc; or coated with an electrically insulating material, such as nylon. Ferrous alloys, titanium alloys, and nonferrous alloys containing nickel or copper have poor galvanic compatibility with magnesium.

Aluminum screws are available for fastening magnesium parts. However, aluminum screws may not be strong enough to form threads in some magnesium alloys.

Even when S/S screws are used with aluminum, the screws corrode out first unless some type of coating is used (Common on sailboat masts). Worse if air can't get to the stainless.

 

Thanks Graham.
This information from atmsmshr is very good too.
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220-s-class/1927017-valve-cover-gasket-breather-cover-sealant.html

 

That is a great thread on the subject. One thing I noticed was that atmsmshr said the new bolts from dealer were stainless (part 000000004436). I went out and checked my new ones. They feel heavier than the originals. Checked with magnet and they are strongly magnetic. Some stainless fasteners are magnetic. But definitely not aluminum! So I guess MB made the change.

One other thing I noticed was that some breather covers have 3 screws on the driver side. Mine has just two. The extra one on some engines is just below the oil filler. Maybe just on V-8s or later engines.

 

Got that air pipe off without breaking anything! It's not so obvious how to do it.
I didn't find the bottom tab until I had the airpipe off!

First, I removed the vent hose that passes by the top clip.
then pried the top clip open and pushed back. After several tries, it released.
I rotated the entire air pipe and somehow the bottom clip released.
Took some pics!

1. Relative positions of upper and lower clips

2. Bottom tab that they say needs to be pushed down

3. Underside of top latch showing where it latches

 

Based on many threads on this forum, the correct sealant is Loctite 5900, sold as MB part # 003 989 98 20 10. My local dealership parts desk had this and was quick to confirm that it was what they use for breather covers.

BEWARE the expiration date! I bought a tube from AutohausAZ and it was set to expire the month that I went to use it. Too bad I didn't notice that expiration until I had the valve cover on my bench with the breather cover removed. The sealant was damn near impossible to squeeze out of the tube (though oddly, once it was out, it seemed as fluid as it should be). I don't know if I can trust the seal it made and may have to reseal that cover again. The non-expired tube I bought from my dealership dispensed easily.

My local dealership also gave me this tip about removing the old sealant. Apply Loctite 7200 gasket remover to dissolve the gasket, gently scrape and wipe clean, then use Loctite 7063 post-remover cleaner. Both were available at my local dealership. Well, "were" is strictly past tense. When I went in to buy the Loctite 7200, the parts desk gave me 001 986 71 71 09 which is a pump spray can of what I swear is denatured alcohol. They claimed the 7200 was no longer used (though it was like two days earlier when I asked). Searching online suggests that 7200 is not for sale in the USA, but is in the UK and other countries.

So, keep an eye out for Loctite 7200 gasket remover or ask your local dealership if they'll sell you some. Apparently, that's the secret to removing the breather gaskets.

Last tip about breather covers: After applying sealer into the grooves on the breather cover, run a razor knife over the grooves to remove any sealer which is above the groove walls. I thought my sealer was level with the grooves, but when I put the cover back on the valve cover, sealer gushed out both outside and inside the covers (as visible through some of the holes). I may have to redo THAT cover to prevent excess sealer from gumming up the oil sump (which the forum posts say will happen).

 

B
My local dealership also gave me this tip about removing the old sealant. Apply Loctite 7200 gasket remover to dissolve the gasket, gently scrape and wipe clean, then use Loctite 7063 post-remover cleaner.

They are just quoting WIS. Link to WIS is in this post above

It's not rocket science to remove RTV . Bulk of mine mostly fell off or could be scraped off with fingernail! - Permatex sell a gasket remover and any brake cleaner will work for subsequent cleanup. The hard part is the mechanical cleaning without damaging sealing surface.

The factory sealed cover on my car did show some sealant had oozed on inside. WIS says not too "spread" the sealant (see pdf) Just lay a 2mm bead in/on the groove and put it on immediately. Maybe your old stock sealant didn't 'flow' into the groove?

Apply a 2.0 mm thick bead of sealant observing the bolt holes (arrow).
Do not spread the silicone bead.
Process sealant within 10 minutes

 

M112 Valve Cover Gaskets and Breather Sealant



Very helpful writeup and images in the .pdf file. Just redid valve cover gaskets and resealed breathers on our E320. What a mess!

The PO used a shop in San Angelo that did the job in 2013 and again in 2017. They used what looks like PMTX Ultra Gray on the RH side and Ultra Black on LH side. Also used ultra gray on the "no name" valve cover gaskets and managed to get it inside in various places on the valve train - both sides. According to maintenance records, name of the shop is Rick Henry's in San Angelo. Also found all the bolts on the valve covers were either just finger tight or actually loose. Car was leaking surprisingly little oil onto the exhaust manifolds. With all the loose hardware and sloppy seal job, it was leaking from the gaskets and around the breathers. It looked like last time around they didn't clean out all the old sealant on the breathers before putting in new.

Took me 2 full days to clean up all their mess. Fortunately valve covers were not warped and no sign of leaks after redoing everything. Also replaced all 4 breather hoses and fittings. We bought the car in June of this year and had started smelling a little burned oil. After comparing sources I got all the parts from genuinemercedesparts.com (internet/discount parts service provided by RBM/Atlanta). Difference between their prices and aftermarket sources is insignificant, plus I got the 003-989-98-20-10 MBZ Sealant. Their valve cover gaskets fit perfectly. Did not need any kind of sealant around those gaskets. (BTW their price on the sealant is only $17.50/tube.)

Valve train and internal engine look very clean, almost like new. PO kept a good oil change schedule with Mobil 1. My thanks to the contributors to this thread, especially author who provided the .pdf with parts list and photos. I invested in a new torque wrench and carefully made sure all the valve cover bolts ended up with 80 inch lb. I did it in stages from 40 to 60 to 80 and waited overnight taking it to 80. I tend to baby this car because SWMBO likes it even more than I do! Thanks again guys for all the good info.