Can't get valve cover gasket to stop leaking. help!

Ok so I have a 97 cherokee sport. Bought it about 4 months ago and it started leaking. Tracked it to the valve cover gasket. You can feel oil on the back side of it. I replaced with a felpro gasket. It did not stop the leak. Thought maybe I didn't get it on right so took it off and checked it again. The gasket does not fit perfectly on the cover at the corners. It over laps and the lip on the valve cover appears to push down on it. On the rear corner there is even a spot where the rubber tore a little from it. I tried moving it and made sure it was facing the correct way. I need help! Is that normal? I believe the engine may be out of a 96 (it has 96 jeep wrote on the bottom as if from a junk yard) would the gaskets be the same or a small bit different?

The stock valve cover gasket has metal inserts in the o-ring gaskets. Aftermarket does not include these.
So, more than likely your problem.
If you have the matching gasket to the valve cover then they work on any of our 4.0L's
Guessing you have the black, stamped steel cover?

Yes I believe it's the stamped valve ccover. The new gasket came with the little rubber o rings for the bolts but it did not have any in the holes when I took it off and these would not fit in there.

http://dgzmd7u6z2by7.cloudfront.net/partimage/EVC/1AEVC00033/large.JPG
Steel cover

Yes that is what mine looks like. It didn't have the rubber gormmets in it when I changed the gasket and I didn't put them back bc the holes were more oval than round like the gormmets

The valve cover bolt torque seems to be pretty critical too... 85 inch pounds is what the manual says. That's not very tight. If you do over tighten, you will deform the grommets and possibly the gasket.

bshack said:

The valve cover bolt torque seems to be pretty critical too... 85 inch pounds is what the manual says. That's not very tight. If you do over tighten, you will deform the grommets and possibly the gasket.

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Thats the deal mainly, the grommets and spacers (inserts) keep you from over tightening the valve cover, deforming the bolt holes and crushing the gasket. When the gasket crushes, it tends to split the gasket at the bolt holes as the bolt holes tend to deform in a cone shape (wedge). The gaskets tend to crush at the bolt holes (the reason for the grommets) because the valve cover lip tends to deform at the bolt holes. The inserts (spacers) also help prevent crushing (over torquing). The old aluminum type valve covers were thicker and less prone to bend.

I always use a mild lock tight on the valve cover bolts. The gasket often shrinks a little over the years, the bolts loosen up. The shrinkage can cause seeps or leaks, the bolts loosen up and may back out even more, major leak.

I almost always use a small paint brush and put a lite coat of automotive high temp, silicon on both sides of the gasket. As the gasket shrinks the silicon helps keep a bond. I had one gasket where I failed to use Loctite on the bolts, a few bolts loosened a lot, most loosened noticeably, it never did leak due to the silicon coating on the gasket. If you decide to coat the gasket with silicon, a lite coat is sufficient.

The newer FelPro gaskets have a tacky kind of silicon already, I didn't coat the last one I put in with silicon. But I did do a really good job of cleaning the sealing surfaces.

8Mud said:

The newer FelPro gaskets have a tacky kind of silicon already, I didn't coat the last one I put in with silicon. But I did do a really good job of cleaning the sealing surfaces.

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Stick with FEL-PRO Part PermaDry gaskets. Other than OEM, they are the best available.
I tried a Crown valve cover gasket recently and it was unusable, along with an oil pan gasket, which was too big. Total junk.
Make sure you have the spacers that fit inside the grommets, without them, you will over tighten the gasket.
I have not found a retail source of the spacers, resorting to picking up spares at the pick-a-part.

Is it possible to put the gasket on upside down or backwards. I know there is a tab on the front right of the gasket (looking at the engine from the front) that says "top".

ParadiseXJ said:

Is it possible to put the gasket on upside down or backwards. I know there is a tab on the front right of the gasket (looking at the engine from the front) that says "top".

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I was thinking the same thing. Last time, initially, mine was a poor fit, then the light bulb went off inside my skull and I flipped it.

When taking mine off it doesn't have the spacers or rubber gormmets on it. I thought maybe the gasket was on wrong but flipped it and that didn't fix the issue. So the only place to find the spacers is a junk yard?

The Fel Pro kit I bought came with a set of Grommets, but not spacers or inserts whatever you want to call them.

I didn't use the Fel Pro grommets and reused the OEM grommets, they looked sturdier.

I'm pretty sure this is the kit number with the grommets, VS50458R, double check the number at the parts house.

If you decide to go the pay-n-pull route, a rocker cover with the grommets + bushings could solve your repair. I'd take the bolts to, whilst taking the cover.