Valve cover questions

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

Replacing valve cover gaskets as my spark plug wells had quite a bit of oil in them. I was able to remove my driver side valve cover, but I have 2 questions I’m hoping I could give some insight on as I move forward:

1.) As I finish cleaning up the mating surfaces - do I need to use any kind of sealant when I install the new gasket? As much as I’ve been researching this I can’t seem to find any definitive answer. I did end up buying Reinzosil from JHM so if it is advised to use this or something like it can someone point me in the right direction on how/where to apply it?

2.) My passenger side valve cover of course has that rear lower bolt rounded off. I have a wonderful tiny ratchet the will fit in that tight space but since the torx is stripped I’m struggling with options on how to extract. Most other options I would normally use seem to be futile due to the limited amount of access back there. I’m considering using a sharp chisel and hammer to try and snap off the bolt head - how terrible of an idea is this? And does anyone have any suggestions on other things I can try?

#2

I didn’t use any sealer Or gasket maker except on the part I dremeled to make sure

#3

Thanks for the reply. I’m assuming no leaks either. May I ask how long the replacements have been holding up?

#4

I have no idea yet i lost my low profile ratchet and I couldn’t finish I’ll let you know later today or tonight though I am going back to the store to get a new one

#5

FYI - I contacted JHM and they stated these gaskets do not require any type of sealant. While this may be common knowledge I was still unsure as to some of the other information I was seeing on the Internet. So good to hear it from the horse’s mouth so to speak.

Also I did manage to get that passenger bolt out with by wedging a flat head bit in there and got just enough torque on it to break it loose. I had also used a small pick to carve out two corners just a tad. Since the torx pattern was so worn down this did help in getting a flat head in there at least the bit I had. So I would say patience, a little bit of caution, and a whole lot of determination may be required for these particular bolts depending on the condition they are in. Just figured I’d update the thread for posterity’s sake.