YotaJunky

Parts have arrived:

YotaJunky

Hi all,

Anybody have any pics on the PCV mod? Can I use heater hose? Also, does the newly installed PCV need to be kept upright or is it entirely controlled by vacuum and not gravity?

TIA,

Troy

ChickenLover

Heater hose will be fine. I think the pcv should be kept as upright as possible. Sorry, I don't have any pics because my pcv breather mod is entirely different. You should be able to route the 1/2" hose out of the bottom of the plenum, close to where it plugs in. From there you can probably cut your stock 3/8" hose to attach the new pcv back to the plenum. Doing it this way should keep the pcv fairly upright as well.

YotaJunky

Thanks ChickenLover,

Also, is there any reason why I should ony put 4 beads of RTV sealant on each gasket near the ends of the half-moons, rather than applying it all around the gasket? What happens if excess sealant gets under the covers after it's assembled and the engine is running?

Troy

ChickenLover

You'll actually put 4 beads of sealant on the head surfaces. Email sent.

YotaJunky

Got the email with the attachment.

Many Thanks!

Troy

YotaJunky

I finished it!!! It runs. No oil leaks and no vacuum leaks. It took me 7 hours. I'm tired and very, very happy. I'll have some pics of the project up soon.

Troy

YotaJunky

Here's the project:

The engine before the project:


The left side of the engine before the project:



Right side of the engine before the project:




Using masking tape and marking off hoses and connections. Take some pics, just in case you accidentally rip off any masking tape or it just falls off:



The intake to the throttle body comes off:



EGR valve and bracket come off. I soaked the metal EGR hoses with WD-40 for 2 days before attempting to unscrew the nuts from the hoses to the EGR valve.

YotaJunky

After all hoses, right side spark plugs are disconnected and labeled properly, I tilted the plenum up to the passenger's side and held it in place with a plastic bottle:



This includes disconnecting wires like the TB sensor wire and the cold start wire:



The right side valve cover is exposed and accessible:



The left valve cover is accessible:



Remove the valve cover bolts and gasket. I had to gently pry off the covers with a crow bar . I think using a rubber hammer to knock it loose would be better.



The right side is also removed and cleaned with a plastic scraper and acetone. Wear gloves, as acetone will get under your skin. Careful that you don't get any junk into the engine. The last thing you want is premature engine wear or worse...



Before reinstalling the valve cover with new gaskets, make sure you clean the mating surfaces and lightly coat with clean oil. Then dab RTV sealant ( about peanut size) on the aluminum mating surface near the ends of the half moons. The FSM did not indicate putting any sealant elsewhere. Also, torque to spec (48 inch-lbs). I highly recommend using a torque wrench. Remember, it's inch-lbs NOT ft-lbs!

YotaJunky

Things that I did and thought about in retrospect:

1. Label all hoses, wires, and other fittings with their respective connections using masking tape.

2. Soak the metal pipes leading into the EGR valves with WD-40 or an equivalent for a night before attempting to remove the EGR valve.

3. Remove right side spark plug wires in order to gain accessiblity to the right side valve cover.

4. Have a few extra hose clamps available in the event that you cannot reuse the original clamps.

5. Remove the plenum and valve cover gaskets. A rubber hammer would come in handy if you need to knock the valve cover gaskets loose after removing the bolts.

6. Change the PCV valve and grommet. I did both. No pics though.

7. Change the spark plugs while they are all accessible, unless you did them recently. I was so fatigued that I just left them in place.

8. Drain enough coolant from the system so that the coolant hoses to the heater, and the 2 small ones connected to the throttle body don't squirt out. I didn't drain and left a small mess that could have been avoided had I spent some more time draining off about a quart/liter first.

9. Tighten all bolts and nuts to spec. You don't want to over tighten the valve covers because you could flatten out the rubber gaskets too much and ruin the seal.

10. Dab RTV sealant in the four corners of the half moon before reinstalling the valve cover gaskets. This may help reduce future leaks in said areas.

11. Wear rubber gloves before cleaning with acetone, lacquer thinner, gasket cleaner etc...

12. This was a bigger job than I had anticipated. I spent most of the time labeling, and cleaning off baked on gaskets. Assembly went much faster, but make sure you have labeled everything you have removed.

13. Give yourself at least a day to do this job, especially if you haven't done it before.

14. I tried doing a PCV mod, but wound up lodging a broken bit into the old PCV valve and rendering it useless.

15. I used antiseize compound on the air chamber (plenum) bolts, nuts and also on the EGR bolts and nuts. Check to make sure the antiseize compound can handle high temperatures.

Disclaimer: I'm not a mechanic and have never attempted a project this size before. What worked for me may not work for you. Do your own due dilegence before attempting this project. It was much bigger than I had anticipated!!

Having said all that, I'm happy that it's done, and now my valve covers don't leak.

Troy

dogdenii

VERY nice tech post.
There should be a tech section, like the mods section, to put this.

Nice job

dlbrunner

well done

YotaJunky

Here's a diagram of where the sealant should be applied.

YotaJunky

Here's an exploded view of the plenum and what's underneath:



And here's the torquing pattern for the valve covers:

Stump

Excellent job and thanks for posting the info and pics of the job. I'm getting ready to replace the same gaskets on my 3.0 and this thread is going to come in handy.

YotaJunky

Good on you!

Couple of things to watch out for:

1. use masking tape to label all the stuff you disconnect and if you can, take a few digital pics before you start, just in case the masking tape comes off.

2. change your PCV valve as it's so much easier to remove when you have the plenum off.

3. get yourself a small scotchbrite wheel, or soak the baked-on intake plenum gasket with gasket remover to make it easier for you to remove. Plug up the intake pipes with some clean rags to make sure pieces of the old gasket or scotchbrite don't end up in your engine. And if you use rags, don't forget to remove them before assembly!

4. drain about a liter/quart or 2 of coolant so you don't have to mop up coolant afterward. The small coolant hoses going into your TB may be a little tough to get out and you'll wind up squeezing out coolant as you're trying to remove them.

5. do not overtighten your valve cover gaskets. I highly recommend that you torque them properly to get an even seal. Dab RTV sealant in the corners of the half moon shaped areas, as the diagrams specify. I've checked my FSM and there is no indication that you should run RTV sealant along the entire length of the gaskets, only the corners.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Troy

tomasp

Thank you Troy for the excellent write-up.
Does anyone know if RTV sealant is supposed to be put on the pre-oiled head surface or somhow else? I understand that one needs to pre-oil the gasket, so maybe just put some sealant on the clean head surface?
I went further and sending out my injectors to be cleaned - what a mess, I wish I could clean the entire intake, chambers and valves from that black burnt stuff...but even carb cleaner can't take it and degreaser is just a joke...

YotaJunky

Hi Tomasp,

The RTV is applied to the head surface. A light coat of oil is applied to the rubber gasket on each valve cover before reassembly.

Troy

tomasp

Thanks How did you clean the intake, by the way - that black stuff is very tough to remove

YotaJunky

My intake wasn't that bad. I've heard some people using a towel wrapped tightly around the neck of a drill bit and using the drill to spin it clean. Just make sure that you don't lose bits of material in the intake. As long as you get the big chunks of carbon out, I think you're doing fine. Also, check your EGR valve and its stem for carbon deposits. While you've got the cold start injector out, you may as well clean that also.

Good Luck!

Troy