Questions re rocker cover gasket

[St0rm91]

so my brothers rocker cover was leaking and I told him that it’s not hard to replace... my mistake for assuming common sense, he’s just forced it on after smothering it with sealant.

Just got some pictures and he’s used the wrong gasket (doesn’t match up with engine profile on my car which is the same), assuming it’s for the older engine model which has a curved depression.

My question is, on ship we don’t use sealant for gaskets, just lubricate them with red grease. Is it different for a car? I’m going over to replace it properly at the weekend, should I be using a sealant on the gasket or is red grease fine?

Also Apparently the Haynes manual I got him recommends 3Nm as the torque settings for the rocker cover bolts. Surely that’s not right since it’s nowhere close to hand right?

 

[DEdgeMac]

The 3nm will be compensating the new firmer rubber gasket so it's to hold it firmly in place without squashing the rubber down too much to lose its sealing capabilities over heat cycles- contracting and expanding. I'm guessing on top of that the plastic rocker cam covers will be more prone to cracking too.

 

[frank]

there are 3 different types of cam cover seal, dizzy/coilpack/black plastic and 3nm is enough to compress the rubber seal

 

[St0rm91]

Cheers lads