16v rocker cover gasket

[Haribo!]

reassurancedone anything with a 16v so just for reasurance could someone give me a brief set of directions for changing the rocker cover gasket?.... just to make sure i dont mess anything up 

[jezza16v]

Did mine a month ago, make sure you get original VW gasket set & new gasket for the large to small manifold & make sure it is for a 50mm inlet. VW cocked mine up and gave me a 42mm one so I had to use the old one.
1    Unplug the ht leads & unclip the plastic tidy casing and fold them back out of the way. You dont have to remove the plugs.
2    Unplug and remove the ISV & pipes and move them away from the top of the engine.
3    Disconnect the plastic inlet pipe from the throttle body, and the electrical connector to the throttle body.
4    There are steel brackets holding the manifold up off the back of the engine, I found it best to unbolt these from the engine block, x 4 bolts, awkward to get to but not too bad.
5    Disconnect servo vac hose from the RH end of the manifold.
6    Unbolt the large inlet manifold from the small manifold and then fold it over towards the right, there's no need to disconnect the throttle cable. just rest it all on something soft to protect the bodywork.
7    The rocker cover will now be fully exposed and easy to get to. I would suggest you immediately stretch a couple of layers of clingfilm over the exposed inlet manifold tubes so you don't drop anything down them.
8    Undo the 8 bolts holding the rocker cover down and remove it and the rubber gaskets & half moon gaskets....
9    Clean up all the mating surfaces and refit the new gaskets.....

Don't do what I did, I got carried away and fitted the gaskets, cover all bolted down etc. and I'd forgotten to put in the new 'half' moon gaskets. If VW had given me the right manifold gasket I'd have had the whole lot back together and started it up without them  :embarassed: Its only cos I went back to the gasket box to check the gasket description that I spotted the missing half moons in the box....... arrghhh!!! Had to undo it all again to pop them in. Mind you after all that I've still got a tiny weep from the half moon on the gearbox end!!!  Hope this helps. 

[Haribo!]

cheers mate 
and bugger, i just ordered a rocker cover gasket, do i need to do the the inlet one too? its like 20 quid from vw is that an acurate price or do you think theyve got me a kit? if its a kit then it wont be for my 50mm, as i didnt specify....

[jezza16v]

Well, the rocker gasket kit does not come with the manifold gasket set, its a separate item. As it happens my old one came off as clean as a whistle so I was able to re-use it and get a refund on the incorrect one. There are two manifold gaskets, one from the smaller manifold to the head (you don't need that) and one where the manifold splits into two at the front of the engine, that's the one you need. The manifold gasket by itself, for the wrong 42mm one they gave me (W027 129 717D), is £7.83 + vat on my invoice so I guess the correct 50mm one will be about the same, I'd get one rather than take the chance, just make sure its the right one! The rocker gasket set on my invoice (W027 198 025) is £16.35+vat by the way.    BTW don't use any sealing compound, the rubber gasket is pretty thick, and don't over-do the small bolts holding the rocker cover down, the head is alloy and you'll strip the threads out no bother. Good luck 

[Haribo!]

ah ok, sound advice there, ta very much 

[Haribo!]

right ive done it! toom me 20 mins and was really easy, cheers for the direction,    they were a big help   

[chrish22]

just wanted to say, after finding no info on this is haynes book that I've followed you directions, fantastic cheers.