Changing a silly valve cover gasket
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Changing a silly valve cover gasket
Gosh durn, this couldn't have been any more difficult for such a simple operation.Dodge clipped a very rigid wiring harness to two of the upper valve cover bolts (like that harness was going anywhere anyway), and made it almost impossible to move out of the way. The harness also curved over the TOP of the front of the valve cover (driver side), making it hard to physically remove. There was also a lot of emissions junk near the BACK of the valve cover, making those bolts very difficult. Oh, and thanks Dodge...for using 11mm "boltstuds", requiring a SECOND trip to the parts store to get a deep 11mm socket. Couldn't settle for the standard 10mm, couldja?
Fortunately, the Felpro gasket is a very nice quality metal gasket with rubber molded on both sides. Dry installation, no chemicals needed (and actually advised against on the box). And fortunately, I only had to do ONE of these suckers to fix my oil drip (hopefully). Took 2 hours to do a job that should have taken 30 minutes.
Plus side: plugs looked good. They can't be the originals, not at 169,000 miles.
Fortunately, the Felpro gasket is a very nice quality metal gasket with rubber molded on both sides. Dry installation, no chemicals needed (and actually advised against on the box). And fortunately, I only had to do ONE of these suckers to fix my oil drip (hopefully). Took 2 hours to do a job that should have taken 30 minutes.
Plus side: plugs looked good. They can't be the originals, not at 169,000 miles.
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RE: Changing a silly valve cover gasket
ORIGINAL: JasonA
Gosh durn, this couldn't have been any more difficult for such a simple operation. Dodge clipped a very rigid wiring harness to two of the upper valve cover bolts (like that harness was going anywhere anyway), and made it almost impossible to move out of the way. The harness also curved over the TOP of the front of the valve cover (driver side), making it hard to physically remove. There was also a lot of emissions junk near the BACK of the valve cover, making those bolts very difficult. Oh, and thanks Dodge...for using 11mm "boltstuds", requiring a SECOND trip to the parts store to get a deep 11mm socket. Couldn't settle for the standard 10mm, couldja?
Fortunately, the Felpro gasket is a very nice quality metal gasket with rubber molded on both sides. Dry installation, no chemicals needed (and actually advised against on the box). And fortunately, I only had to do ONE of these suckers to fix my oil drip (hopefully). Took 2 hours to do a job that should have taken 30 minutes.
Plus side: plugs looked good. They can't be the originals, not at 169,000 miles.
Gosh durn, this couldn't have been any more difficult for such a simple operation. Dodge clipped a very rigid wiring harness to two of the upper valve cover bolts (like that harness was going anywhere anyway), and made it almost impossible to move out of the way. The harness also curved over the TOP of the front of the valve cover (driver side), making it hard to physically remove. There was also a lot of emissions junk near the BACK of the valve cover, making those bolts very difficult. Oh, and thanks Dodge...for using 11mm "boltstuds", requiring a SECOND trip to the parts store to get a deep 11mm socket. Couldn't settle for the standard 10mm, couldja?
Fortunately, the Felpro gasket is a very nice quality metal gasket with rubber molded on both sides. Dry installation, no chemicals needed (and actually advised against on the box). And fortunately, I only had to do ONE of these suckers to fix my oil drip (hopefully). Took 2 hours to do a job that should have taken 30 minutes.
Plus side: plugs looked good. They can't be the originals, not at 169,000 miles.
But atleast you got it done, sometimes it's better to just get a pro to do it.. They know the little tricks because they have done it a 100 times.
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RE: Changing a silly valve cover gasket
I may not have tried this same thing on my '84 Cutlass. It had a V-8, but it was a RAT'S NEST of wires and vacuum lines (back when everything was vacuum-driven). It hada rudimentary computer-controlled 4-bbl carburetor. It ran well, but working on the engine wasa nightmare. It would have been harder than this, I know. I also had an '87 Regal (with the same Oldsmobile engine) that I took the engine out and swapped in an Olds 403. I didn't put any of the computer stuff back on it (ran it with the 403's carb) and it was SO clean under that hood. I wrapped the wire harness up in a large Ziploc bag and tied it over inside the fender. You could hardly tell it was an '87 model if you only looked under the hood.
The engine bay of my '01 Cadillac and the '07 Chrysler van are MUCH cleaner. These trucks are caught half-way between the old days and the new it seems.
The engine bay of my '01 Cadillac and the '07 Chrysler van are MUCH cleaner. These trucks are caught half-way between the old days and the new it seems.
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RE: Changing a silly valve cover gasket
i wish we could go back to when all there was in an engine compartment was the engine...my old charger was so easy to work on and everything was so easy to get to and fix 
...todays engines have too many things to go wrong
one day id love to rip out all the electronics and computer crap and put a REAL engine into it
...todays engines have too many things to go wrongone day id love to rip out all the electronics and computer crap and put a REAL engine into it
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From: Willow Street, PA
RE: Changing a silly valve cover gasket
that stinks hope mine never has to be replaced it looks like a bitch just to get the coil packs off of my truck. i plan on doing my old cherokee's vavle cover sometime soon and it doesn't look to be that hard...i hope.
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RE: Changing a silly valve cover gasket
The engine bay of our 2007 Chrysler minivan is very simple, actually. The problem with our trucks is that they got "stuck" between old and new. So they've still got the "old" engine architecture (distributor, TV cable to the transmission, etc), but lots of "new" controls on it (like vacuum-operated solenoids and externally-mounted sensors). The engine and controls on our minivan are so simple, comparatively. There are almost no vacuum lines running around. Everything is electronic, and sensors are designed in with the system now, rather than screwed into a port as an afterthought. I'm probably one of the few who prefer it that way (all electronic), but it makes the engine bay so much cleaner.
I really don't miss the days of points and vacuum-operated accessories and tacked-on emission controls.
I really don't miss the days of points and vacuum-operated accessories and tacked-on emission controls.
