Valve Cover replacement done! Good and Bad

[mdrobnak]

Well, in a few hours, myself and a friend replaced the passenger side valve cover...it really wasn't that bad overall...

Only problem - idiot uncle parked it in an area of the driveway nobody usually uses...and it has a flat tire now


Plugs 1 and 2 looked mostly normal - brownish electrode and ground strap....

Plug 3 was COVERED in oil.

Plug 4 was halfway covered in oil..


Get this...Some IDIOT attempted to fix the problem once before - and RTV'd by the spark plug seals. Now, for the kicker - I think the seals were black..I'm about to go get the box and check...So I'm very confused as to why I still had a problem.

Next problem (aside from the flat tire), none of the coil pack bolts go in all the way, nor do the upper valve cover bolts..I'm wondering if ford changed the length of the bolts between the two versions of the part ? I had to change the whole cover cause a coil pack bolt got stuck, so I just replaced the whole thing.

So questions:

How would you take off a stripped lug nut?

Were the bolt length changed, and where can I get the right length bolts?


Thanks,
-Matt

 

[DLS8K]

Well, in a few hours, myself and a friend replaced the passenger side valve cover...it really wasn't that bad overall...

Only problem - idiot uncle parked it in an area of the driveway nobody usually uses...and it has a flat tire now


Plugs 1 and 2 looked mostly normal - brownish electrode and ground strap....

Plug 3 was COVERED in oil.

Plug 4 was halfway covered in oil..


Get this...Some IDIOT attempted to fix the problem once before - and RTV'd by the spark plug seals. Now, for the kicker - I think the seals were black..I'm about to go get the box and check...So I'm very confused as to why I still had a problem.

Next problem (aside from the flat tire), none of the coil pack bolts go in all the way, nor do the upper valve cover bolts..I'm wondering if ford changed the length of the bolts between the two versions of the part ? I had to change the whole cover cause a coil pack bolt got stuck, so I just replaced the whole thing.

So questions:

How would you take off a stripped lug nut?

Were the bolt length changed, and where can I get the right length bolts?


Thanks,
-Matt

To answer the first part of your post in regards to the old gaskets being black.....it is very possible that they either did not put them in correctly. You have to be VERY careful when placing the valve covers back onto the car with the gasket attached otherwise your gasket may come unseeded and you would have a problem. Your coil packs should go in correctly if you have taken care not to bend any of them when removing them. Am i correct in assuming you replaced the entire valve cover? I would just use the old bolts myself..........then you can be assured they are the right length.

As for your question in regards to the stripped out lug nut........I personally would jam a size smaller on the lug nut (pound it with a hammer and wail on it with an impact). That is the only way I know of to get a stripped lug nut off. If someone else has a better idea, than please inform.

 

[mdrobnak]

Well, regarding the old bolts, thats the problem - I tried, but they leave a gap when put in by hand, which gets smaller with the ratchet, but doesn't go all the way.

The valve cover I have now is a different part # then the old..

The valve cover went in pretty easy...After it was in, I started the car, let it warm up for 5 mins, revved it a few times, let it run for another 5 mins or so, and no leaks...so I think it's ok... In a week or so I'll pull the plugs and take a look.

-Matt

 

[mdrobnak]

It's strange to reply to your own post but....I just compared the part # on the seals in the gasket kit vs the seals on the cover I took out - exactly the same. Anyone else have problems after replacing their seals the first time???

-Matt

 

[lsbit]

It sounds like someone installed the seals wrong. They probably used RTV when installing them the first time, thinking that would fix it permanently. That would be my guess.

I had to replace one of my valve covers also. The old bolts were TIGHT to get in there, but they did go all the way in.

I would say you will be fine with your install. If your valve cover came complete like mine (bolts and all), the seals are installed and ready to go. Not much to mess up. You gotta love the way the bolts have the retainers that hold the gaskets in place.

 

[mdrobnak]

It sounds like someone installed the seals wrong. They probably used RTV when installing them the first time, thinking that would fix it permanently. That would be my guess.

I had to replace one of my valve covers also. The old bolts were TIGHT to get in there, but they did go all the way in.

I would say you will be fine with your install. If your valve cover came complete like mine (bolts and all), the seals are installed and ready to go. Not much to mess up. You gotta love the way the bolts have the retainers that hold the gaskets in place.

Yep. That's how it came, it definately made things pretty easy once you got everything going...

Here's some pics of the old cover... Oh, and inside looked a MESS. AutoRX here I come lol. The valvetrain looked immaculate on the car in the article compared to mine.

-Matt

 

[Ken]

I had a similar problem. I changed out both valve cover gasket about a year ago on my car. I think I tighten down too hard on one of the center bolts and it got loosed. It didn't seem strip, it just seem like it was too short. Because the driver side was a pain to change out, I just left it like that. The new gasket was thick enough to keep a tight seal with the remaining bolts. I haven't had any problems since then. I currently have 95,000 miles on my 2000 LSV8.

 

[lsbit]

The valvetrain looked immaculate on the car in the article compared to mine.
-Matt

Thanks. It seems that the car was very well taken care of. The first ding the car actually got is when my wife took it over. 60k+ miles of no scratches and my wife has the car for a few months and.... well, I won't get into that.

 

[JohnnyBz00LS]

Well, regarding the old bolts, thats the problem - I tried, but they leave a gap when put in by hand, which gets smaller with the ratchet, but doesn't go all the way.

The valve cover I have now is a different part # then the old..

-Matt

It may be possible the new cover uses shorter bolts. Or the bolts are bottoming in the hole due to debris down there. OR, the old bolt threads are damaged part way up making them bind once they get in so far (although it'd be hard to imagine this happening on every bolt).

Simple fix: Stack a couple of washers under the bolt head to retain your clamping force w/ the longer bolts.

 

[mdrobnak]

Well, I drove the car tonight really for the first time since I did the valve cover replacement, and put on some real tires (Toyo Proxies TPT)...Wow, the car feels much stronger then before....It's still got a miss at idle, but the car pulls at WOT, even when warm (seemed to decrease in power once it warmed up)...And the tires help out the braking tremendously. I was running on Blizzaks for way too long. :-/ On that matter, the front tires had almost a wave pattern in the tread, causing crazy vibration. Anyone know what would cause that kind of wear pattern?

Also, I pulled spark plug #3 earlier today, and guess what - no oil I'm thinking that this worked pretty well. Now to find out if I need to do the other side :-/

Thanks again for the help everyone.

-Matt

 

[lsbit]

Sounds good. Good luck with the other side!

 

[SilverLS]

On that matter, the front tires had almost a wave pattern in the tread, causing crazy vibration. Anyone know what would cause that kind of wear pattern?

-Matt

sounds like the same problem I was told that the tire was seperating and I never took that tire and moved it any where else... as long as i had it... so then i had a blow out on the rear tire and damaged the pass rear inner fender...so now i bought four new tires because i bought this car used and didnt know what the dealership did before i got it the pass side had almost new looking tires and the driver side had two bad tires (worn and later started seperating) so sounds like you did the right thing a changed them out..