550 Cam Cover Seals/Gaskets

First, my apologies if this has already been addressed on the forum - I have spent about 20 minutes reading through search results on several different searches I ran on the subject with no joy.

I am in the process of putting all the parts in the Ricambi “major maintenance kit” in my 1999 550M…changing timing belts, etc. Yesterday, when I pulled the cam covers off, I noticed the person performing the previous belt replacement had sealed the fore and aft ends of both covers with black RTV. Well, the right-hand cam cover wasn’t sealed too well at the forward end – it had a bit of an oil drip.

I have all of the brown rubber o-rings, lip seals, etc. and I plan to pull the cams out and renew these. Can anyone recommend from experience or conventional wisdom whether the RTV is a good idea? Should any other sealant (e.g. Hylomar, Hondaseal) be used on these gaskets or the intake gaskets? Right now my plan is to renew all the seals and gaskets, and use a small bit of “The Right Stuff” black RTV at the corners of the round seal carriers and the flat surfaces of the head and valve cover.

Thanks for any insight you can provide…I’ll probably be back on here asking other questions before I ever get to putting the cam covers back on! LOL

Best regards,
Eric

 

Thanks guys. It's back together with no leaks. Runs like crap though....I'll figure that one out in a few weeks when I have time. Can't believe it's valve time since I went around several times while tensioning belts and always came back to my marks...and those on the cams themselves. Hopefully I've just hosed up some vacuum hoses....

Merry Christmas,
Eric

 

Thanks, FBB I appreciate the suggestion. That manifold is a mother, all right. Two of us set it on there, but I can see how that thin paper gasket could get cut. Ironically, when I tore it down, probably 20 of the 24 intake nuts were only finger tight (socket on a wobble extension, but no ratchet necessary). After I first lit it off last night I thought I found the issue - I had overlooked connecting the 1/2-inch vacuum line where it connects to the aft end of the left plenum. Was bummed when hooking it up made zero difference. Makes me think there has to be a monster vacuum leak elsewhere if that didn't seem to affect it!

The thing I'm embarrassed to say that I'm not sure about is the little 5/32 vacuum lines that go to the fuel pressure regulators, nipples on the top an bottom of the plenums, and up to the fancy aluminum tank by the radiator. I kinda guessed at them right at the end last night and very well could have them wrong. Figured the regs needed a manifold vacuum reference, and beyond that just made sure everything had a hose on it. I know I have all of the larger ones correct (now!), but couldn't find any clear documentation on where they go (boy, the Italian shop manual writers could learn a thing or two from the Japanese...) so if you or anyone else has any guidance or recommendations, they would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, when I get back from my trip I'll either have a look at my racing buddy's '00 550 in Norfolk, or get with the gentleman that owns a '98 550 in Chesterfield, VA that was kind enough to PM me regarding my problem.

One other issue, and I know I've read on the forum about timing belts typically being too tight upon replacement by folks inexperienced with these specific ones - mine are making noise like they are too tight, no doubt they are. I'm not one that believes things will fix themselves, so I'm looking for advice here. I set the tension per one of Taz's posts utilizing 612 tension specs. Installed the new P/N belts and tensioner pulleys, of course, and set to loose end of 612 spec: just over 340Hz as sum of both long spans on each belt, using the MotoReva tool. Very repeatable measurements, even after several rotations. They seemed awful tight to feel, but I was trusting the objective spec. I can reset tension fairly easily - does anyone have a recommended [lower] freq to target?

Thanks again to all for your help.

Merry Christmas,
Eric

 

Thanks, Pete. I'll get some reading done now that I'm sitting here at the airport, and look forward to meeting you when I return from overseas.

Best regards,
Eric

 

Oh - and I wouldn't put down the "hand method" so quickly...I was always taught a Gilmer belt is tensioned correctly when you can just twist it 90 degrees with your thumb and two fingers. Of course these are REALLY heavy, but that 340Hz sure felt tight to the "twist test"!

Thanks again,
Eric