Valve Cover Spark Plug Gasket Orientation

Can anyone confirm which is the correct way to install the valve cover spark plug gasket? This image below shows it with both orientations. Which is correct?

 

Go to the 16:02 mark

 

Bottom one is how mine are

 

The one with the red showing through is the correct way.

 

the bottom looks right

 

The top is correct the tube has to slip inside the seal and the your going to have a hard time doing that with the seal upside down. That is also how the original seals are installed if you look at them before removing them.

 

2 votes for top, 2 votes for bottom.

@ztwatson watch the video @Digiratus provided. It will show which 2 were right and which 2 were wrong.

 

I installed it the way shown at the top in that photo, the way Timmy has it installed. Seems like that is the way it is designed to allow for easy installation with the spark plug tubes. It was also impossible to get the edge flush with the inner spring side up. Thanks for the input.

 

The bottom one is correct. When crank case pressure builds it's going to fill the cavity of the seal and "close" or fill the cavity with pressure so that the inner cone closes against the tube. The top one will just allow crankcase pressure to blow by and cause all sorts of nastyness.

*edit*

what nobody realizes about Timmy's walkthrough is that he has it the same way as the bottom, just the inner lip of the seals he is using isn't cone shaped like the apex/felpro brand. you can see a cavity around the inner portion of the seal. that cavity must be inward like the bottom seal in your photo.

 

Around 16:35 in Timmys video I believe you can see the inner metal and spring parts of the seal, as he is stating that this is the side not to use.

Why would the part exposed to the oil have the metal showing?

Why would the gasket be designed in such a way to not sit well inside of the cover (if to be installed as you said)? I had them as you suggest and they would not sit flat with the edge, but did once flipped. Put another way, why would the bottom of the seal be rounded to sit on a flat part?

Not trying to be combative, just to reason through it.

 

No worries. I've worked in Auto parts since out of highschool, I'm used to questions like yours. Lets see.

I've looked up so many seals in the after market spec books that I'm very familiar with how seals are designed and why they're designed the way they are. I recognize the design of the OE seals in the video which is why I said for you to use the aftermarket seals in the orientation I did. Since the OE seal is confusingly identical on both sides, you have to look for the "cavity". the cavity of the OE seal is very different from the aftermarket seal you're using. The OE seals have an S shaped cross section to it whereas the aftermarket seal you're using has more of a U shaped to it and the inner lip is beveled in. making the inner part of the aftermarket seal you have seem "cone" shaped.

Each side of the following 2 photos are correctly oriented with each other. The toyota seal on the right has an extra lip on it making it even tighter than the aftermarket seal, but the aftermarket seal will do just fine since it's designed to employ the positive pressure in the crankcase in the cavity i'm referring to. The OE seal doesn't need to use the positive pressure, it's suffices on it's own by design.




I'm not sure what you mean by the "metal part" showing in the video. But it'd be better to have metal exposed to oil rather than the elements. have the metal on the inside so it gets oil coated on it and doesn't rust from water in the outside air. I hope that answers your question.

The seals don't need to sit flush. again, they're on the inside of the valve cover and resting on a lip on the outer side of the valve cover. Positive crank pressure will push the seal out and against that lip at all times. it will hold in place from said pressure and that little bendy tab.

I'll try and clarify more if that's not good enough.

 

i'll mention this again. if you do end up putting the seals in like the top seal in your picture, that will allow for positive crank pressure to bleed through which is full of oil vapor. that will get messy.

 

this might confuse things more but if you take a look at the chicago rawhide spec book here on page 62 it might explain the cross section better. here's a snippet from that book. The OE seal is designed more like "HM21" and the aftermarket seal is more like "HM3"

 

Skip to about 1:10
https://youtu.be/1dp1rtF5h_w