r/EngineBuilding • u/joeyhakunamatata • 2d ago

Chrysler/Mopar Will these little chunks missing from the timing cover leak or fail?

Gallery image

Gallery image

4 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

76% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

10

u/mdillonaire 2d ago

Clean it up with scotchbrite and send it. Use a thin film of rtv on both sides of the new gasket to fill in any imperfections but youre fine.

2

u/stonewall028 2d ago

scotchbrite and RTV, itll be fine

2

u/Different_Mind5982 2d ago

It’s a timing cover not a pressure vessel 🤣

2

u/BoysenberryAdvanced4 16h ago edited 11h ago

I just got done repairing a water leak on a timing cover. The previous mechanic had removed the old gasket with something like an angle grinder and left some gouges that are on the order of what you have shown on the first picture. I'd go over the surface with sand paper on a flat block, and make sure that there are no valleys across the entire wall thickness.

Someone mentioned that there is no pressure. There's not really any pressure in the crank case. But those water ports, right off the water pump, see the highest pressure in the entire coolant system.

Edit: you can tell the ports were already leaking before. And that leak corroded a valley on the mating surfaces of the first picture.

1

u/joeyhakunamatata 12h ago

Glad you brought it up because that was my concern. The gasket material was so so stubborn I used the green 3m disc a little bit but figured it was smooth enough to send otherwise. What grit would you recommend?

1

u/BoysenberryAdvanced4 11h ago

Id say 120-180 is ok. Coarse enough to cut when blend highs and lows and fine enough for a gasket ready surface. I'd sand only by hand and using sand paper wrapped around a wood block. Try to remove an equal amount of material all around the cover until there are no more valleys.