Diy Valve cover upgrade, plastic to mid 90s metal 2.5L?

[lexluthier72]

Hey folks,

Ive surfed through the search feature trying to find this, to no avail. Ive heard several mention they "upgraded" the plastic valve cover to a 91+ model. I picked up a 94 Wrangler 2.5 cover (aluminum) Is the only thing different the gasket? This cover has little nubs by the bolt holes to alleviate crushing the gasket. Any hints/tips on the conversion would be great. I do know I'll have to re-route the breather lines on the top, and get different bolts. Is that it, or am I missing something.

-Erin

Tired of chasing the leak. :hmm:

[lexluthier72]

OK...Here goes....I found a valve cover from a 1994 Wrangler. Made of aluminum. You need to get the gasket for whatever year valve cover you end up with. The gasket choices are not very abundant. I ended up getting a Felpro "rubber" gasket, which is actually rubber coated cork. (the other choice was cork only) First, remove the plastic cover and clean up the oil on the surface of the head! (using lacquer thinner) Tack the gasket in place in the 4 corners with ultra black RTV. You DO NOT need to lay a bead of rtv on the gasket! Set the gasket on the valve cover, pressing the corners into the rtv. This will hold the gasket on while you get it into position. I then used 1 inch 1/4 20 bolts with 8mm washers (metric washers are smaller OD). Put the valve cover on and into position. Install bolts with washers hand tight using the "head bolt tightening sequence" found in the manual. I did not have an appropriate torque wrench, but the factory spec is 44 INCH LBS. You will then need to re-route the "breather" stuff on the top of the cover. I used 1/2 inch heater hose for the large one, and re-used the hard plastic breather hose, adding on the length I needed. I used 9/32 Vacuum line for the smaller hose, and did away with the small hard plastic hose. You may need to use lubricant on the larger hose to get it to go on.

Removed the old POS plastic valve cover....

 

 

Lay the new gasket on the new valve cover. (fit on this one is not great?!)

 

 

Here is the installed metal valve cover. You can see the breather hose set up pretty good.

 

[pitbull4x4]

I just changed mine. I hope it is done with the leeks.

[lexluthier72]

Hey Pitbull....I did have to re-torque my valve cover bolts. (had slight seepage) I would re-check them in a couple weeks. So far, Ive had no issues with mine since doing this upgrade.

[pitbull4x4]

Just changed the oil and the valve cover is still not leaking. :clapping:

[lexluthier72]

cool. Mine still has some issues, it could be as simple as the crappy gasket I got from Napa (its a cork/rubber combo) but from what I can see, it must not be much of an issue as nothing is coated in oil, and its not smoking. I do however have some leakage from the oil cap now....(waiting till its warmer here to dive in to the issues)

-E.

[cz777]

the hell with plastic valve cover ! i found one at the junk yard for 25 dollars glued the gasket down with old black gorilla snot for head side thin coat of GM engine sealer ...the PVC valve is from a might max 2.4 liter ...it works great ..no more leaks !