REAL Lifetime Silicone Gaskets
The Last Gasket You Will Ever Have To Buy...
No more dirty bellies and no more (expensive) shop hours hunting for pesky, if not potentially dangerous oil leaks
On-Line Orders   Contact Us

While all engine oil leaks are an annoyance, if your SUV or Jag develops a leak it can mean a messy garage floor, and the same with your motorcycle.  But with your Mooney, oil leaks can be more than just an annoying dirty belly  nose gear doors.  Facts are, often engine oil leaks are our only precursor to impending serious, if not flight-critical problems like like cracking cases or cyl. heads, failing oil lines, and even things like mags* or alternators working loose and about to fall off!   Thus to be safe, every oil leak must be tracked down and either repaired or at least  identified if for no reason than to make sure it isn't the only sign you will ever get of an impending catastrophic failure.  If REAL gaskets can hold 20+ lbs of air pressure for weeks on end (see photo on left and below), just think how well they can seal with little or no pressure differential on your operating engine!
*See MOA's THE MOONEY PILOT Magazine for more real-world accounts of Bendix D-2/3000 mags working loose and falling off 4 banger Lycomings in their multi-part series titled; "Bendix Falls"

One of the main sources of (non-critical) but hard to diagnose oil leaks are push-rod tubes and valve covers.  Real Gaskets Tennessee is a manufacturer of state of the art AMS 3304 silicone rubber valve cover and push rod gaskets for Continental, Franklin & Lycoming aircraft engines. These silicone rubber gaskets are known for being the best at sealing and being leak/seep-free for the life of your engine.  They are made from aerospace/mechanical grade AMS 3304 silicone and won't break-down and deform like cork or neoprene.  They are 100% reusable, designed to withstand temperatures up to 400°F, and guaranteed to be leak-free for the life of your engine.

REAL Valve Covers

Valve covers are a common source of annoying engine leaks that plague most aircraft engines and get worse as your engine ages.  Lycoming and TCM use different gasket material for this application but both seem to have similar problems.  Lycoming for example, tends to use cork gaskets and while acceptable when brand new, cork valve cover gaskets have their shortcomings and tend to be problematic especially if your mechanic leans on the screws too much when tightening the valve covers.  Cork isn’t all that resilient and tends to “take a set” and be permanently deformed.  If they leak, the common “fix” is to crank on the screws some more but this then depresses the cork even more to the point of the cork gaskets becoming nearly useless.  

Since lots of oil is pumped to the rocker arms located just under your engine’s valve covers keeping them from leaking isn’t easy and with most all GA engine installations being "down-draft" cooling, nearly all the oil leaking from this area drenches the lower portion of the engine and eventually finds its way to your belly.  One of the main problems are that leaking valve covers can hide or mask other far more serious oil leaks.  Thus, it is vital you keep your valve covers leak-free.  The good news is technology in gasket material has come a long way since your Mooney engine was originally certified as cork, rubber, neoprene, and various forms of paper and even leather used to be the order of the day and are still used to this day.  Most GA engines use cork or a form of neoprene when it comes to valve covers. 

REAL Push Rod Tubes

Both TCM and Lycoming operate their rocker arms (in the cyl. heads) through push rod tubes extending from the case to the cylinder heads.  While Lycoming's are on the top of the cylinders, Continental's are on the bottom and thus are more prone to leaking oil. Leaking push rod tubes aren't critical but leaks here travel downward and thus can mask other more critical leaks and thus must be addressed promptly.  Also, replacing stock neoprene push rod seals is labor intensive and thus REAL's line of lifetime gaskets make good economical sense and are more economical in the long run.  REAL makes a line of push rod seals for both Lyc and TCM that don't leak and will last the life of the engine.

The REAL Story
Since the latest and greatest high silicone material originally developed for NASA has been approved, nowadays there is no excuse for living with leaky valve cover gaskets or push rod seals on Mooneys or any other GA aircraft engine.  Few aviation families are steeped in rich aviation history more than the Carters based out of Elizabethon, Tennessee.  Nick Carter Aircraft engines has been both  Lycoming and TCM Factory Distributors and now they are known the world-over for their quality engine overhauls.  Who should know more about how to stop engine oil leaks than family patriarch Harold Carter, Nick Carter’s son?    

Harold purchased the REAL Gasket line of products a few years ago and is now producing them “in house” himself and only shipping them out after each and every one passes his own personal inspection.  You probably recognize the show-stopping display they typically set up at airshows around the country which has a Lycoming or Continental valve cover sealed against a piece of Plexiglas holding both pressurized air (as seen via an air pressure gauge-see pic) and engine oil.  While in practice on your engine, the valve cover area isn’t really pressurized, these display units hold significant air pressure without fail not only for the duration of an air show, but for months thereafter, if not longer!  The Carters use this as an amazingly effective method to prove the effectiveness of the REAL gasket technology as there is little doubt cork or stock OEM gaskets could come anything close to this level of sealing ability.  Frankly, we have these REAL Gaskets on our engine and have found them to perform exactly as advertised as they keep the valve cove areas dry-for a change!

Putting A Sharp Point On It
At approx $12.90+/- each they are actually less expensive in the long run than stock OEM gaskets which rarely go the distance even to one overhaul period.  Being made out of aircraft grade AMS 3304 silicone, REAL gaskets are designed to last the life of your engine-even though several overhauls.  In short, they are the last rocker cover gasket you will ever have to buy as all your shop has to do if your engine is ever opened up is wash them in soap and water, and presto, they are as good as new-ready to go another 2,000 hours without fail!   

While technically they should only be installed by a shop or A&P, some owners do this simple task often in less than an hour and while doing an oil change (for example) under their mechanic’s supervision for most Mooneys.  On most Mooneys, all that is necessary is to remove the cowls, the old valve covers, and old gaskets.  Clean the mating areas and install the REAL gaskets using suggested torque of 20-25 inch lbs torque while keeping care not to over-torque the valve cover screws.    

Like we have said, we have been using them for years and we absolutely love them.  They have greatly curtailed the main source of engine leaks which has not only allowed us to keep watch for the serious if not airworthy leaks, but they have also gone a long way to keep the belly clean from that dirty/oily grime that streaks under control which have predominantly stemmed in the past from the valve cover areas. 

On-Line Orders   Contact Us

We think REAL Gaskets work as advertised on your engine as evidenced in their "high pressure demo/tests".   In addition, they are economical and genuinely are a "better mousetrap" when it comes to keeping your engine dry and free of problematic oil leaks.   There is little doubt they have earned their place on Mooneys and all GA aircraft engines out there.  Now to that end, with the help of the folks at Magna Labs, they are now much easier to find…