Stuck valve cover???

[Mopar500]

I think I have got all the bolts out but it wont budge.
Any tips?

[Blkxjkrawler]

if the cover was sealed with silicone it could be very hard to remove, if you have a putty knife, (like for drywall) you can sometimes carefully tap it under the cover and move it around to brake the seal, just be careful not to damage the cover or the sealing surface on the head

[Mopar500]

Thanks, that's kind of what I was thinking I'd have to do.

I am putting on an aftermarket valve cover with the rubber covered steel gasket. Since there is likely to be some sort of sealant on the old cover, would you think it's a good idea to use extra sealant? I have a friend who thinks the gasket alone should be fine.

[Menzenski]

Did you get the bolt at the very back, between the valve cover and the firewall? Look from the driver's side to see it. I had trouble getting the valve cover off a junkyard engine; that bolt turned out to be the reason why.

[XJAnthony]

BFH!!!:confused1

[5-90]

Make sure you've got ALL the bolts - they sometimes hide on you...

After you've got them out, I find fetching it a nice whack on the side with my 2# rubber hammer usually works well. If I think it's the original seal, I'll whack it three times on top good and hard (one at the front, one at the middle, one at the back) to break the seal and then fetch it a nice whack on the front/side - that usually does it.

I'm a little leery about prying on the mating surfaces - it's usually a "weapon of last resort" for me...

5-90

[53guy]

Make sure you've got ALL the bolts - they sometimes hide on you...

After you've got them out, I find fetching it a nice whack on the side with my 2# rubber hammer usually works well. If I think it's the original seal, I'll whack it three times on top good and hard (one at the front, one at the middle, one at the back) to break the seal and then fetch it a nice whack on the front/side - that usually does it.

I'm a little leery about prying on the mating surfaces - it's usually a "weapon of last resort" for me...

5-90


x2 don't pry it if you can avoid it. You'll have a hard time fixing the mating surfases if you mess them up.

[RichP]

If you do pry it off and it twists at all find a nice good quality table saw or big wood jointer, they have nice flat steel surfaces and you can then use the scraper to probe under the edges to find the high points and tweak them back down...

And yes, the single gasket will seal nicely, have a shop vac handy to suck up the old silicone pieces before they get down into the oil return passages. Make sure you get the surfaces good and clean..