Stumpy Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I pulled my valve cover to replace the gasket and was wondering if this looked normal for 175,000 miles? Should all the rods turn freely or just some of them? I'm gonna try to clean the engine up a bit using engine degreaser...will cleaning it this way hurt anything? more pics.. http://sija.org/stumpy/MJ_pics/MJ-eng-before2.jpg http://sija.org/stumpy/MJ_pics/MJ-eng-before3.jpg http://sija.org/stumpy/MJ_pics/MJ-eng-before4.jpg http://sija.org/stumpy/MJ_pics/MJ-eng-before5.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bounty Hunter Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 That's a ton of carbon, but likely normal for high mileage. I had the valvecover off my 2.5L at 95K for a cam and valvespring swap and it had no deposits like that. You may want to consider using some cleaner or flush additives before the deposits clog oil passages, maybe add SeaFoam to the oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87manche Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 plug the oil galleries BEFORE you start cleaning off that sludge. Use some shop towels or something. If that nasty clogs up the oil galleries you'll be worse off than having a dirty valvtrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xacto Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I need to replace the valve cover seal also, getting lots of seepage from it. The manual says it uses a "precured RTV sealer that is attached to the cover". Any advice on what to use to replace it and any tips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I pulled mine @ 120K or so, and they didn't look anywhere near that bad :( I actually pulled all the rockers/pivots/bridges, pushrods, and lifters (2.5L :D ) and soaked them in some type of non-caustic degreaser I got at a local Agri supply store. Let 'em soak for a few hours, then used a toothbrush to clean them back to shiny clean metal. The only thing that's imperative to do is to keep EVERYTHING in order the way it came out so you put it all back together the same way, in the same orientation. I was trying to diagnose an engine "clack" that I thought was a stuck lifter.....turned out it wasn't after all. But it's all clean now under the VC. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Tha "re-usable" gasket sucks. Big time. I scraped it off and went with a regular ol' cork gasket. (one more oil leak licked. On to the oil filter housing O-rings!) Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
square Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I use the cork gasket as well on all my jeeps 4.0/4.2L and it works great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stumpy Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 plug the oil galleries BEFORE you start cleaning off that sludge. Use some shop towels or something. If that nasty clogs up the oil galleries you'll be worse off than having a dirty valvtrain. K..where/what are the oil galleries? how hard is it to pull the pushrods out and put them back in..ie is there valve lash to adjust or do i just torque them to the proper specs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
512tr Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 plug the oil galleries BEFORE you start cleaning off that sludge. Use some shop towels or something. If that nasty clogs up the oil galleries you'll be worse off than having a dirty valvtrain. K..where/what are the oil galleries? how hard is it to pull the pushrods out and put them back in..ie is there valve lash to adjust or do i just torque them to the proper specs? Just remove the rocker-arms and pull out the pushrods, rember to mark the pushrods and rocker-arms in order to install them at the same location, the lifters are hydraulic and non adjustable. It's several cemical engine-wash addetives on the market, I have used the QMI engine-wash on my YJ with good results, but did a proper cleaning when I removed the head and replaced the lifters last summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 The lifters will likely not want to slide right out! They get a bit "dished" at the base. If you do choose to remove and clean, remember to fill/pump with clean oil before putting them back in. You do this by standing them up one at a time in a container of oil. Then depress the top as the push rod would. doing so pumps out old and in new oil. A good easy to obtail cleaner is Diesel fuel or Kerosene and a stiff brush. Good luck!! CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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