Was doing an oil change today and noticed that the passenger side valve cover is leaking a bit. Nothing too serious, but leaks of any kind get my dander up, so I want to fix it. Looks like it is a much bigger job than what I'm used to, though. From what I can see it looks like I have to remove the entire TB and intake manifold just to get at the top row of cover bolts. WOW! That's a lot of work to replace a valve cover gasket. I just replaced the spark plugs, too, and getting at the 7 and 9 plugs was a bitch. Anyone done the valve covers on a V10? Any shortcuts or pitfalls to watch out for? TIA.

 

Nobody has done this on a V10?

 

I've only done v8's. Don't see why you would have to remove all that stuff just for the valve cover bolts. The valve cover is a separate piece.

I used felpro valve cover gaskets. There great since their silicone.

 

the V10 is a lot different than the v8s are

 

remove the manifold to get the valve cover off ? surely not.
sorry no experience on it, but here's a service manual if you don't already have it.
http://www.rm-indy.com/wavefiles/2001ramsrvcmanual.zip

 

i have a V10 but i'm hoping that i won't have that problem, however comma, i do have headers that i am going to put on there .....one day.......and a few cases of beer later...lol

 

There's the understatement of the week. For the uninitiated, the V10 has a huge 2-piece intake manifold and the TB is mounted side-draft style, so there's this big overhang that covers the passenger side valve cover enough that the intake must be removed to get at the top row of cover bolts. It is a major pain for such a common and simple leak problem, but at least this design doesn't suffer from the plenum issues you V8 owners have. And then there's all that extra torque we get for our troubles.

Here's a pic of that side:

 

That doesn't look like fun to work on at all...good luck.

 

That is the cleanest ****ing V-10 I have ever seen!
We should nominate you for next month's TOTM!

 

I like my engines clean. That rusty coil bracket makes me gnash my teeth. It will be getting sandblasted and painted while I have it off.