Sealant between valve cover bolt and grommet housing?

awakened

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This is my first time removing and replacing these 4v valve covers. It looked like there was some type of sealant between the head of the bolt and the grommet housing that it contacts when I removed them. Seems to me this area needs some type of sealant. What should I use here?
20181014_234215.jpeg


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awakened

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Never used sealant on mine.
I've not been able to find any information saying that it needs to be done but here is a picture of what they looked like when I removed them.

There was clearly some type of sealant used by a previous owner. The valve covers weren't stock so I'm sure it was something that the owner did and not necessarily a factory thing. However, without adding sealant isn't there just metal-to-metal contact in an area that sees oil? I've heard of some people having leaks around the bolts. (see pic, not my motor)
20181013_135304.jpeg
20181015_094601.jpeg


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01yellercobra

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I've never used sealant either. If the grommets are bad I could see it leaking. Most gaskets kits include new grommets.
 

awakened

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The sealant is under the head of the bolt, not part of the grommet - basically teflon paste. New bolts come with it, I think I addressed it in my build thread:

Aluminator Gibtec Build
Thanks jrgoffin!! I just looked through your build thread and that Teflon coating is exactly what I saw on the grommet stands and the bolt flange. It looks like the new bolts you bought came with the coating already applied (Your picture below). Now I just need to find out what to apply when reusing the old bolts?


20181015_151231.jpeg


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jrgoffin

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I had black RTV left over from the build, so when I pulled the valve covers to re-torque the head studs, I may have used that (will have to look again). Otherwise, liquid teflon as mentioned. Definitely worth using - Ford put it there for a reason.
 

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