88 Wrangler - 4.2L with leaking valve cover

I have better luck with the blue Permatex silicone, then a new gasket, it's the only thing that works on these cheap warped, plastic valve covers. Clean the suffices with a solvent that will not leave a residue, I use denatured alcohol, not gasoline. Then I lay a bead of silicone about the size of a 1/4" rope in the middle of the gasket area and smear just enough around each of the bolt holes. Remember too much could break loose and clog your oil pump. Then ease it down exactly onto the right position, first time, no sliding, or you've wasted your time. God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O mailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

Standard problem. There is a certain amount of disagreement over the best fix. Here's mine:

Clean the cover and head completely. Toss the cover in a 5 gallon bucket of very hot water and a cup of Tide or other laundry detergent. Scrub well and dry. scrape the head, wipe it down with solvent, spray it with carb cleaner to get the last bits of grease and oil off. Be especially carefull on the very back of the head next to the firewall. (Hard to get at, usual source of leaks)

Don't use a gasket. Use Permatex **BLACK** RTV (oil resistant) Squirt an even 5/16" bead around the whole cover. (use the whole tube) Open time (time it remains sticky on the surface) is only 5 to 10 minutes so work quickly. Set the cover down on the head, insert bolts, tighten lightly. Let it sit 24 hours (!!), torque bolts to spec.

Cheers

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

Yup, we all do them a bit different.

They can't be too clean. Even one fingerprint on the mating surfaces will cause a leak.

I haven't had any issues finding new gaskets. They make the cork ones and a total rip off expensive rubber one that just plain don't work. I think my last cork one was a 'fel pro' or something like that.

Once everything is super clean, I coat the engine head surface lightly with Black RTV and put a light coat in the valve cover ridge, then sandwich the cork in and tighten down to specs.

I then don't even breath on the sucker for 24 hours to let the RTV cure like the directions say.

I never re-torque anything that uses RTV after it cures because in my mind, this will break the nice seal I just spent the day making....

You also need to get the proper 'sensor safe' RTV. Normal RTV or silicone fumes in the air will instantly kill your O2 sensor.

My last gasket replacement was in 2001 I believe and it is still holding strong.

Mike

There are plenty of jeep valve cover gaskets out there, I just can't find one for the 88 jeep wrangler with the 4.2L engine. I think I will go with the permatex rtv route, sounds like people have had luck with it. I suppose I will have to whip out some degreaser before I get started; its lookin' pretty dirty under the hood.

Thanks for the help guys... I'll have to let you know how it goes.

I know zip about Jeep but when I was wrenching for $$$ we used to "stipple" cast iron surfaces that use cork gaskets to keep the gaskets from sqeezing out from between the mateing surfaces. This involves creating alot of little "stiples" - minor crators - in the iron by sharply *tapping* a very sharp center punch with a light hammer. The raised rims of the stipples hold the gasket in place. This shortens the 24 hour wait.

Take it to a self service car wash (late at night when the attendent isn't there), cover the distributor and carb with plastic bags, and use the low pressure suds to clean the big chunks of grease off. They typically leak out the back of the valve cover, the oil drains down the back of the engine and all over the bellhousiing, tranny, and transfer case. I dropped the tranny support on my '87, the grease/dirt layer was

Will wrote:

To my knowledge, ... 'Fel_Pro' doesn't make a simple cork gasket for these things ....... I believe it's a cork/metal combination (i.e. a step closer to a 'life-time' gasket). I used to replace with a Clifford (as the valve cover is now a Clifford Al. replacement ... which actually keeps the engine oil IN the engine :), but I think that now the vendor I get them from is dealing in MOPAR covers / gaskets.