M52 rocker breather plate

[billy]

inside the rocker cover of the M52 there is a plate that covers the breather pipe entry into the cover - how is this fastened on because mines fell off and i see no way of clipping it back into place - was it glued and fell off from age/heat?

[russiankid]

IIRC, it is held on by two phillips head screws.

[billy]

hmm, mine just has a seam groove around the edge, no sign of any holes
i believe the design could have changed after nov 98, mines feb 98

[Mr._Graybeard]

I've used a product from Napa called Fast Cure Epoxy 45 on Mercedes diesel valve cover breather baffles (try saying that out loud three times). Very durable stuff, and it sets up hard in about 15 minutes. I used it more to seal up gaps than to provide structural strength in the MBs, but I've used the glue in other applications, and it's quite strong.

[billy]

i wonder how good that would work on oil soaked brittle plastic

the drawback of leaving it off?
seems a silly design, could have fell off and rattled around the rockers quite easily

[Mr._Graybeard]

Rinse all surfaces off with spirits or some other mild solvent and I'm sure you could get decent adhesion. I was going to suggest brake cleaner but that might be hard on plastic surfaces, I dunno. Better to go with the mildest stuff possible.