Valve covers??

livn

Registered User
Has anyone ever replaced their valve covers or know anything about this process. just wondering how much of my engine has to be stripped to get at the damn things cause they seem to be leaking a bit.
also my oil pan is cracked, do i gotta take out my whole engine to fix it, or can it be welded still on the car
 
The cracked pan depends on where it is located. With the mounts unbolted you can raise the engine enough to give you some room. I don't think you'll be able to weld it, but maybe with one of those crack filler products you can get it in there. Depends on how good your wire feed guy is.

It's very likely that your motor mounts have failed, which caused the oil pan to hit the cross member which could cause it to crack.

If so, and you want to do valve cover gaskets, I'd do it the front way. Pull the radiator and I/C. Pull the passenger and drivers side accessory drive brackets. Tie back the A/C compressor. That will give you very good access to the motor mounts and the front of the oil pan and the valve covers on the drivers side. Passenger side will be clearer, but creative use of tools will be necessary.

That's what I did to replace the mounts.. Oil pan hadn't cracked yet.

EngineMinusParts.jpg
 
If its just a matter of oil leaking from the valve covers, you can probably tighten up the bolts some to stop it. They have a tendency to loosen up. For the driver side, you'll need to remove the IC tube to get to a couple of them; If the collar nut is too hard to loosen, you can just unbolt the SC top. On the pass side, I think its easier to unbolt the a/C compressor and tie it back. To do this, move the overflow reservoir out of the way.

:) Mike's picture is a typical shot of how the S/C looks whenever you need to do any work on it :) That is with the I/C removed, the SC tubes removed; the alternator/pwr steering pump/bracket removed; and the A/C compressor bracket removed. All this makes it easy to reach the spark plugs ;)
 
Valve Cover Gaskets

I replaced the driver's side VC gasket only. It's more time-consuming than difficult. I started by degreasing the engine, paying special attention to the area around the Valve Covers. This will make the job cleaner, and keep unwanted grime from entering your engine. I then proceeded to disengage the serpentine belt, remove the coil pack (I left the right side ignition wires on the coil pack and just moved it out of the way), upper I/C tube, Intercooler, alternator and bracket. I also removed the nuts and bolts to slide the power steering pump bracket out of the way, so that I could remove the lower I/C tube. That leaves the V/C wide open. Make sure you clean the V/C gasket mating surfaces really good, and that you use a quality gasket (I used Fel-Pro). When installing the V/C, do not over-tighten them; or you will crush the gasket. If after everything is intalled (and you start your engine), you see the gaskets smoking, don't freak out (like I did). That's just the oil from your hands that got on the gaskets being burned off. The smoking should subside within a minute or two. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the procedure to replace the Passenger's side. Just take your time and you'll be OK. If you still have questions, ask. We're here to help. I can post some pic's if you want. Good luck.
 
Valve Covers

To change the Passenger valve cover i would start by loosen the safety clips (2) on the air filter housing and loosening up the clamp that goes on the TB, and unplug the MAF sensor. Remove the TB (4 nuts). Now i would disconnect the fuel rails and pull them to the side and disconnect the electrical connectors that go to the TPS and the IAC and moved them aways so that you can get the valve cover off. The valve cover only has 5 bolts (2 on top 3 on the bottom)... It is possible to remove the valve cover without removing the Inlet plenum. As far as the driver side valve covers i would recommend removing the SC upper and lower tubes and unbolting the coil pack. You can remove the upper IC tube easily, The lower tube is the PITA, to remove this one, you have to unbolt the PS pump and alternator bracket so that lower tube can come out..... I am not sure if i missed anything else, but pretty sure i did. maybe someone can shed some more light on this... Good Luck....
 
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