Black RTV cure time

[firecadet613]

Well tomorrow morning I'm getting up early before work to pull my intake plenum and seal my intake manifold bolts up with some black RTV. How long should I figure on letting it sit to cure?

 

1hr?

 

TIA Joe

[carguru]

It cures fully in 24 hours. Dries within an hour. Hope that helps.

[firecadet613]

Dries within an hour, does that mean I can use my engine after an hour or so? Using it on the intake manifold bolts...

[carguru]

I would definitely wait quite a bit longer than an hour. In an hours, it does start to harden enough to touch. What usually hurts the seal is the change in temperature before a longer cure time. You should be able to use it after 5-6 hours cure time to ensure you don't get leakage. Best to wait 24 hours for the full cure. I've had bad experience from the dealership messing up the intake seal on my 'vette because they let it cure for only a couple of hours. Needless to say, I had to redo it. Waited 24 hours for the cure and the seal has worked great since.

 

Are you doing just the bolts or the manifold also?

[firecadet613]

Just the bolts Carguru, re did it last night, perfectly. So far its had 10 hours to cure and I won't be using my truck for another two.