Valve cover gasket replacement

[jrbarrie83]

Last time I had smoke pouring out from under the hood, I just had to tighten a couple bolts on the valve covers and that mostly took care of the problem. Now, however, I think it is time to get the gaskets replaced. Has anyone done this? I know, in theory, it is an easy job but the extremely large amount of wires and tubes that criss-cross the engine make it a bit daunting. I am certainly not afraid of it being a process and taking some time, but I don't want to get part way into it and discover something that I can't figure out. Any tips, past experiences, etc. would be much appreciated. This is for an '86 442 with A/C, cruise, etc. ... basically every extra item that just adds more junk under the hood.

Thanks all!
Jim

[jrbarrie83]

UPDATE: I completed the job yesterday, but when I ran it I found oil pouring out of the driver's side. Took it apart again today and lo and behold the gasket had caught when trying to get the cover back in place and wasn't seated properly. I fixed it this morning and ran it for a good while. It smoked nicely at first, burning off what was leaked yesterday. But now it's still smoking somewhat from around the heat stove. I'm going to get my dad's torque wrench to make sure I have the bolts tightened properly. It doesn't appear as though oil is still seeping out, but it's very hard to tell. So ..... my actual question is, is there anywhere else oil could be leaking from in this area other than the valve cover gasket? It seems to mostly be coming from the housing around the heat stove.

Thanks!
Jim

[88hurstolds]

As I'm sure you found out there is no easy way, the passengers side sucks the most with the AC box.
Besides the rocker/valve cover an oil leak in that area can be from the dip stick tube or pan gasket.
Make sure that you don't torque down too tightly you can warp the cover, I would suggest some RTV.
I always use that stuff in addition to the gasket, some say not to due to a redundant seal but the tins are easy to warp from over torqueing and sometimes the gasket needs a little help filling gouges etc...

[jrbarrie83]

Thanks. Yeah, I'm sure my pan gasket is probably leaking, along with the trans gasket. Going to have to attempt those at some point soon too. And honestly, the covers weren't too bad to deal with, but one has to actually take their time and remove all of the wiring, tubing, and a couple accessory braces. Once I did that, it was actually very simple - but of course I had to be stubborn and try to force it without doing all of that.