Stupid Valve cover.

So I finally got my aluminum valve cover in the mail yesterday. I get the old cover off, get everything cleaned up and go to install the new one. I get the gasket put in place, drop the cover on and get all the bolts started. I do an initial torque of 50 in/lbs(spec is 85) on them and I get to the 4th bolt and I hear a pop. Damn thing cracked.






I could understand if I was torquing the crap out of it, but this just pisses me off a little. Oh well, rant off. I guess I need to go put my stock cover back on and wait to talk to the company I ordered it from on monday.

That sucks. Was it one of those fancy ones from Quad/4wd with 4.0L stamped on it?

How sludgy was it under the cover?

TellicoReadyXJ said:

That sucks. Was it one of those fancy ones from Quad/4wd with 4.0L stamped on it?

How sludgy was it under the cover?

Click to expand...

Yeah it's one of those fancy Quadretec with the 4.0 stamped on it.

The old valve cover and everything on the head was very clean. No sludge to speak of really, a little bit of glazing, but no gunk or sludge.

I've decided to go ahead and run it for now, I sealed the crack on the inside with a little 2 part metalset epoxy, I shimmed under that bolt hole to keep it from flexing and used a large washer to spread out the torque on the topside. A little clear silicone went on crack on the outside, it may still leak and I'm hoping the company takes care of me on it.

It's just not my day. I got everything buttoned back up, let her run for a while to check for leaks and shut it down. Went to check the oil and the handle for the dipstick broke off.

Valve cover doesn't seem to be leaking at all, we'll see how it holds up.

o4petesake said:

...did you follow the torque sequence?

Click to expand...

Sure did.

On a plus note, I did replace the heater hoses, t-stat housing and t-stat while I was at it. My temps are considerably cooler and I'm getting much better mileage now. On the highway my temps are now about 197(down from 207-212) and I never saw it get above 202, and in traffic the highest temps I saw were 209(down from 215-225). This is with the AC on. Mileage is improved as well, my commute to work this morning I got 18.6(I normally average about 14) now and on a 45 mile highway round trip I make occasionally I got 26.2 and 27.8 up from about 21.

The temps never really bothered before because everywhere I read on here people are saying that 210 is normal, but I guess my t-stat was sticking a little as it's running much cooler and better now.

10 Months later I'm still running the cracked valve cover and it hasn't leaked a drop... I wish I could say the same about my lower end.