xjrev10 Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Pulled my OE valve cover today to upgrade the gasket and the cover to the newer steel cover. I found a mess. Obviously I didnt expect it to be squeeky clean but... What can I use to clean this crap outa from around the rockers? Its not metal, almost like the old gasket melted to nothing and mixed with the oil to create a sticky, chunky oil mess all over the top of the engine. Could I use some sort of cleaner/degreaser? Or should I just scrap what I can out, put the new cover on and call it a day? I will not be able to keep the chunks from falling into the pushrod holes. Oil change right away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Looks like any other 4.0, caused by blow-by. You can try to clean it with gasoline or kerosene along with a scotch brite pad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carnuck Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Yep on the oil change. I would get a can of engine flush and pour it over the top of the engine with the drain plug out. I used to have a partswasher pump and an old valvecover I cut open. I'd run it through several times to wash the crud down, fill the engine with cheap oil and ATF mix and a top quality filter for a few weeks, then change it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Guess my biggest worry would be the chunks falling into the engine... Thanks for the responses guys. I had a valve cover off 2 other 4.0s and a few 2.5s and never seen this much of a mess, thus the concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Be careful loosening that stuff up and it falling into the pan. Try running 1 quart of Marvel Mystery oil with 5 quarts of Rotella and a Wix filter for a bit, at least 1,500 miles. You can always check the progress by shining a light into the oil filler hole of the valve cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Be careful loosening that stuff up and it falling into the pan. Try running 1 quart of Marvel Mystery oil with 5 quarts of Rotella and a Wix filter for a bit, at least 1,500 miles. You can always check the progress by shining a light into the oil filler hole of the valve cover. I ran some engine flush in the system this afternoon. Changed oil with fresh Rotella and a Wix filter. Ill run it for a bit, then Ill try the marvel mystery oil. Thanks for the input!! I have run Rotella oil in this vehicle for about 6-7k. I cannot imagine that running that oil would make this worse being its a diesel rated oil with detergents. BTW, 218k on this engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1987Comanche Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 You may want to consider pulling the oil pan and cleaning the oil pump pickup and timing cover out. I pulled about 3.5 Coke cans worth of carbon like that out of my 4.0. Timing cover was so packed the only free space was where the chain moved. To clean the head I pulled the pushrods, plugged the holes with paper towels, and scraped it with a screwdriver/gasket scraper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Be careful loosening that stuff up and it falling into the pan. Try running 1 quart of Marvel Mystery oil with 5 quarts of Rotella and a Wix filter for a bit, at least 1,500 miles. You can always check the progress by shining a light into the oil filler hole of the valve cover. I ran some engine flush in the system this afternoon. Changed oil with fresh Rotella and a Wix filter. Ill run it for a bit, then Ill try the marvel mystery oil. Thanks for the input!! I have run Rotella oil in this vehicle for about 6-7k. I cannot imagine that running that oil would make this worse being its a diesel rated oil with detergents. BTW, 218k on this engine. Keep monitoring it through the oil filler hole with a flashlight. That Rotella is gonna help, not hurt. Keep in mind that you didn't see the inside of this engine BEFORE Rotella. I'll bet it was worse!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I'd pull the head off and clean it off the motor. of course, if that looks like that, the rest of the motor does, too. a head gasket job... $59 for the upper gasket set includes... valve seals head gasket intake/exhaust gasket injector o-rings throttle body gasket. thermostat gasket you can rent a valve spring compressor, and lap the valves yourself by buying a hand lapping tool and lapping paste. new 97+ head bolts would be a requirement in my book. they don't sell the older ones at parts stores anymore, and they're only $40 for a complete set doing it this way, you can properly clean the head, inspect your cylinder walls, and decide whether or not your rings are really that bad to cause that much blow-by. for tools you will need; 11mm for valve cover bolts (you obviously got that covered) 1/2" drive tools; 16 or 17mm for driver/s side head bolts 12pt short well 1/2" for driver's rear head bolt 12pt deep well for passenger side head bolts 3/8" drive tools; ratchet 1/2" for t-stat bolts 9/16" short well for intake/exhaust manifold bolts a 6" and 4" extension 8mm for fuel rail 13mm for fuel rail and valve rockers as well as a couple of harness tie-downs 10mm for throttle body if H.O. also for fuel line bracket T45/T50 for throttle body if renix 15mm for power steering bracket wrenches; 9/16", preferably ratcheting, for some intake/exhaust bolts, and the a/c bracket to head bolts. 13mm, preferably ratcheting, for power steering brackets specialty; ft-lbs torque wrench, 1/2" drive, that goes at least to 110 ft/lbs but as low as 17 ft/lbs scrapers 90 degree die grinder with a gasket removing atachment (not a MUST but definitely preferable) plenty of rags to shove in the lifter holes when cleaning off the deck vacuum to vacuum out the cylinders after cleaning, rather than trying to blow it all out with an air gun wire wheel for random cleaning here and there. think that about covers everything you'd need. it takes a couple days of a few hours a day for your average at-home mechanic, but you'll have the knowledge that you've seen the inside of the motor and what it looks like, so you'll know what to expect. there's no real worries doing this...you pretty much can't screw it up if you follow the book. Remember to loc-tite the #11 head bolt as it goes directly into the water jacket behind the water pump. if you don't, it WILL leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 You may want to consider pulling the oil pan and cleaning the oil pump pickup and timing cover out. I pulled about 3.5 Coke cans worth of carbon like that out of my 4.0. Timing cover was so packed the only free space was where the chain moved. To clean the head I pulled the pushrods, plugged the holes with paper towels, and scraped it with a screwdriver/gasket scraper. I had the pan off 2 years ago to replace the rear main. The pan was full of sludge. Cleaned it up, (considered just replacing) and installed it back shiny new. I'd pull the head off and clean it off the motor. of course, if that looks like that, the rest of the motor does, too. a head gasket job... $59 for the upper gasket set includes... valve seals head gasket intake/exhaust gasket injector o-rings throttle body gasket. thermostat gasket you can rent a valve spring compressor, and lap the valves yourself by buying a hand lapping tool and lapping paste. new 97+ head bolts would be a requirement in my book. they don't sell the older ones at parts stores anymore, and they're only $40 for a complete set doing it this way, you can properly clean the head, inspect your cylinder walls, and decide whether or not your rings are really that bad to cause that much blow-by. for tools you will need; 11mm for valve cover bolts (you obviously got that covered) 1/2" drive tools; 16 or 17mm for driver/s side head bolts 12pt short well 1/2" for driver's rear head bolt 12pt deep well for passenger side head bolts 3/8" drive tools; ratchet 1/2" for t-stat bolts 9/16" short well for intake/exhaust manifold bolts a 6" and 4" extension 8mm for fuel rail 13mm for fuel rail and valve rockers as well as a couple of harness tie-downs 10mm for throttle body if H.O. also for fuel line bracket T45/T50 for throttle body if renix 15mm for power steering bracket wrenches; 9/16", preferably ratcheting, for some intake/exhaust bolts, and the a/c bracket to head bolts. 13mm, preferably ratcheting, for power steering brackets specialty; ft-lbs torque wrench, 1/2" drive, that goes at least to 110 ft/lbs but as low as 17 ft/lbs scrapers 90 degree die grinder with a gasket removing atachment (not a MUST but definitely preferable) plenty of rags to shove in the lifter holes when cleaning off the deck vacuum to vacuum out the cylinders after cleaning, rather than trying to blow it all out with an air gun wire wheel for random cleaning here and there. think that about covers everything you'd need. it takes a couple days of a few hours a day for your average at-home mechanic, but you'll have the knowledge that you've seen the inside of the motor and what it looks like, so you'll know what to expect. there's no real worries doing this...you pretty much can't screw it up if you follow the book. Remember to loc-tite the #11 head bolt as it goes directly into the water jacket behind the water pump. if you don't, it WILL leak. Huh. This gets me thinking for sure. This would be a great educational project for me for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Guess my biggest worry would be the chunks falling into the engine... Thanks for the responses guys. I had a valve cover off 2 other 4.0s and a few 2.5s and never seen this much of a mess, thus the concern. And well it should be. Try to imagine that chunk your holding dropping down through the push rod hole and landing on top of a lifter. Then working it's way between the lifter and push rod. Unless you're having other problems I don't think it's necessary to pull the head. Stuff rags into the holes so crap can't fall into them. Use solvent, wire brush, brillo pad , elbow grease and a shop vac. Clean it up. I would drop the pan just so it can be cleaned,especially the oil screen, and inspected. And as for the Marvel Mystery Oil. I swear by it. Use it for everything. Just remember, It's good but it's not a cure all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 This engine runs great, and since I've had it zero problems to date, and it gets 20 MPG to boot. I'm seriously considering the head gasket job, due to having to wait 6 weeks for my rear leafs anyway. Also open cooling coversion, upgrade master/booster for the brakes.....so everything is going to tore apart away....jeez decision time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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