valve cover removal.

[notenuftime]

I am thinking of resealing my valve covers while i am waiting on my injector pump rebuild and have lots of stuff out of the way. Is removing the covers easy as unbolting, removing CDR and moving the dip stick out of my way. Heared i should use Permatex rtv to reseal. any advice on this is appreciated.

 

[IDIoit]

yes its a unbolt and bolt up operation, do not pull the dipstick out, it can be a bear getting it back into place.

I RTV the gasket to the cover.
I do not RTV the gasket to the head.
use a rubber gasket and it should be leak free.
also...
check the bolt holes on the cover and make sure they are flat, if not, a flat punch and a hard surface will make them flat again.

 

[notenuftime]

i assume the gaskets are easy to find?.

 

[IDIoit]

Any auto part store

 

[79jasper]

If the hold downs are crowned, put the crown up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[notenuftime]

sounds all good, thanks.

 

[yARIC008]

Might consider nord lock washers if you want the bolts to not ever loosen up.

 

[Knuckledragger]

And don't torque the bolts to a million pounds. Little more than hand tight is about it. If they leak after a week or so, tighten no more than necessary to stop the leak, usually about 1/4 turn.

What has been said about the mount holes is as a result of overactive tightening, resulting usually in premature failure of the gasket seal due to warping of the tin valve cover. Nothing wrong with the gasket, but they were designed to mate two flat surfaces. The hold down spreaders are a great thing, too. Just don't tighten too much. K?

 

[notenuftime]

i have come to learn my lessons with over tightening anything with a gasket, like large induction hardening filters with a couple hundred gallons of water behind them and only one place to go....all over me. Thanks for the reminder tho i think this is the first time the covers have been pulled so i hope the bolts arent over torqued.

 

[snicklas]

If I remember correctly, Travis has said the best tool to tighten the valve covers is a nut driver, or an INCH POUND torque wrench.

Remember the early 6.9's had Phillips Head Screws...... so they don't need to be super tight......

 

[riotwarrior]

In all likelyhood I mys3lf would not use cork for vc gasket. It does shrink and is not good w heat.

Rubber is my preferred vc gasket. And ensuring bolt holes in vc are FLAT and holes in head spotless is key to leak free.

Bolts cleaned and surgically clean..oil free...critical to good seal

Both surfaces surgically clean...light application of elephant snot to vc and head...and a wee bit in bolt holes in head.

Install tighten let set 24 hrs should be leak free for many years so long as not too much crankcase pressure.

High blow by pressures are one reason vc leaks happen...

JM7.3CW Eh!

 

[notenuftime]

sounds like if i glue the gasket to the valve cover add a little to the head and bolts i should be good.

 

[franklin2]

Get ready to struggle with the passenger side valve cover getting it off. Once you do finally pull it out of there, your plans for a nice un-disturbed new gasket glued in place go out the window. Mine is a 89 with no turbo and A/C, maybe yours will be easier. I seem to remember having to spin the valve cover completely around to the rear over top of the engine and getting it off that way.

The more cars and truck I work on, the more I believe the engineers are no different from any professional or amateur mechanic shoehorning a engine swap in place. You always run into fitment issues and maintenance issues with a swapped engine, certain things are in the way, some things will be hard to service.

The trouble getting the valve cover off and servicing the oil cooler on the side and the turbo downfall smashed to fit are proof to me that Ford just dropped this engine into these trucks and let them go out the door.

 

[TahoeTom]

I had to remove the fuel filter bracket on pass side. The filter can stay suspended by the fuel lines. The bracket is sandwiched between the head and the alternator mount, so additional wrenching needed there. I am not a fan of sealant on VC gasket, but I am sure it works. I hate cleaning it off if the cover is ever removed.

 

[laserjock]

This^^^

It's tough but can be done. I just put my VC's on. I found I could get the one ******* bolt behind the filter bracket with a 1/4 drive socket (1/2") universal and extension. It was tough getting the bolt started through the gasket so I recommend putting that bolt in the VC before you put it in place.