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Valve Cover and Oil Filter Adapter

C

Cherokeekid88

NAXJA Forum User
Location
North Carolina
Ok well, I thought i had escaped my oil leakage problem when i sold my old Xj and up'd to a 97...but NOOOO....... Im a little bit weird about oil leaks...I hate em. Well I got a buddy of mine who is very mechanically inclined and has a nice little garage with lots of tools. Well I know for sure that my oil filter adapter is leaking and im thinking its the culprit of the mess under my jeep. Its not terrible, but I know its there, so thats bad enough. I know that the newer model XJ's have the T60 bolt to get the adapter off the block, but does heat generally work on these? just to make it a little easier? Also how dependable are the o ring kits from say O' Reilly's? the only jeep dealership is a good bit ways from my house and would have to make 2 trips, since they make you pay for the part before they will order it, or any place online where i can get it delivered? And also figured i would do the Valve cover gasket at the same time, leaving only the RMS to be left and will end up doing it this summer, but I have heard that you can just use RTV with no gasket on the valve cover... I just dont trust the cork gaskets too much and am not shelling out 60 bucks for a rubber gasket.
 
Cork gaskets are fine. Just go to AZ and get a tube of brown gasket sealant and you will be golden. I'd worry about leaks more with the RTV than the cork gasket. Personally I like cork gaskets. As long as you seal it properly you shouldn't have any problems. If it still leaks I'd check the head gaskets.
 
I kind of like the cork gaskets too. The way I was taught is to use gasket sealant like 99 says, but only glue it to the valve cover. That keeps it in place good and it's not too hard to clean off next time. It's harder to clean of the head so I prefer not to use sealant that side. Just a light coat of grease on that side to help it seat and seal better. If you pull it again, you can probably even reuse the gasket.
 
The O'Reilly o-ring kit off the Help aisle I used 4 years ago to convert the metric filter works fine for me. No leaks at all.

Cork vs. rubber is a continuing debate. I did the valve cover in cork in 2002, it's still tight. I do have to cinch up the bolts every two years as it collapses and starts leaking again. I have a Permaseal waiting to go on when it eventually fails.

The rubber or silicone gaskets are far superior and recommended for synthetic users - which is why the factory moved to them. Cork gaskets are going to be "old car rare" in the long run. I used a rubber oil pan gasket last time in 2005, it's still sealed up, hasn't leaked yet, and won't take a set. They come with metal grommets in them and once tightened down, never collapse and are completely reusable. You can even glue a torn one back together with silicone gasket cement.

For long term users or frequent mods, the rubber gaskets are a near permanent solution.
 
I guess cork is old school. Just like I prefer to use a paper gasket for differential covers. More old school. But when you figure out something you like, they quit making them. (Just like an XJ.)
 
TiRod said:
The O'Reilly o-ring kit off the Help aisle I used 4 years ago to convert the metric filter works fine for me. No leaks at all.

Cork vs. rubber is a continuing debate. I did the valve cover in cork in 2002, it's still tight. I do have to cinch up the bolts every two years as it collapses and starts leaking again. I have a Permaseal waiting to go on when it eventually fails.

The rubber or silicone gaskets are far superior and recommended for synthetic users - which is why the factory moved to them. Cork gaskets are going to be "old car rare" in the long run. I used a rubber oil pan gasket last time in 2005, it's still sealed up, hasn't leaked yet, and won't take a set. They come with metal grommets in them and once tightened down, never collapse and are completely reusable. You can even glue a torn one back together with silicone gasket cement.

For long term users or frequent mods, the rubber gaskets are a near permanent solution.
Click to expand...

you wouldn't happen to know a part number for the o ring kit would you? I tried to locate it online but no luck. I wanna try to go ahead and pick it up and have it ready for next week.
 
winterbeater said:
I guess cork is old school. Just like I prefer to use a paper gasket for differential covers. More old school. But when you figure out something you like, they quit making them. (Just like an XJ.)
Click to expand...

Roll of gasket material, small ballpeen hammer, scissors, and a cheap hole punch set=all the paper gaskets your heart desires.
 
Just wanted to give a little tidbit of some interesting info i just found out. I called the good guys down at Morris4x4center.com and asked if they had a Oil Filter adapter O ring kit for 97 jeep cherokee. He came back and said "yes, we sure do" I told him that i wanted to make sure that it was the right thing. And i explained to him and he said that this was the for HO put 4.0L with the Horizontal oil filter adapter instead of the vertical Renix adapters. I told him yes, and he said "Ok, Your total comes up to $2.95"

Very nice guy named Tom, and awesome price.

Just thought I'd share.
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
Im guessing its the stamped one. I got a 97
Click to expand...

Since it is steel I don't think the cork applies to you. All the gaskets I have seen or mentioned for the stamped steel cover have been one piece, and no RTV used.

The part number for the oil filter adapter o-rings is 04720363
 
The oil filter adapter o-ring set (3 o-rings) was like $4.00 from the Jeep dealership.

However I have yet to remove my oil filter adapter! We tried making some tools using wrenches, a T60 torx bit, and a piece of metal stock as a breaker bar. All failed and the bolt hasn't budged yet.

Good luck and I'd like to hear what luck you had. I have a 95 with 208,000 miles, maybe you'll be more fortunate.

Also are the rubber gaskets really $60.00?

I picked up a set of rubber FelPro valve cover graskets for an 80 Oldsmobile Delta 1988 with a 5.0 and it was less than $15.00.
 
Last edited:
Blaine B. said:
However I have yet to remove my oil filter adapter! We tried making some tools using wrenches, a T60 torx bit, and a piece of metal stock as a breaker bar. All failed and the bolt hasn't budged yet.
Click to expand...

Are you able to get a breaker bar on it? IIRC on mine there really wasn't enough room and I had to grind some flats in the T60 torx to get a wrench on the out side of it.
 
Well I had two different T60 bits. One had a neck-down to 10mm...I used a 10mm wrench on it with a breaker bar and snapped the 10mm wrench in half like butter.

Tool4.jpg


So after that I got out my other torx bit which was able to engage a 10mm wrench. We welded the torx bit to the 10mm wrench and then welded the wrench to a piece of metal which would provide to be a breaker bar itself.

Tool5.jpg


But that wrench broke too at the weak point which extended up past the metal piece.

Tool7.jpg


So finally we said "fuggit" and welded the stub with the torx bit on it to the other end of the wrench. There were holes in the wrench so the backside of the torx bit recessed into the hole.

The first time the welds apparently did not have any penetration so it popped right off when I applied a small amount of torque to the torx bolt.

So we rewelded it AGAIN.....so much weld this time.....110v mig.....

Tool6.jpg


The last time I tried to get the torx bolt out, the torx bit started to SPIN inside of the weld and the wrench itself! Instead of loosening the bolt the bit was spinning inside that massive glob of weld and the wrench itself.....at that point I quit.

I later popped the torx bit out of the homemade tool and then saw that no welds actually stuck to the bit itself. I guess it couldn't be welded to.

I went to Sears to see what kind of one piece torx bits they had but only offered T60 in 1/2" drive whichw was long by itself and there is still no way to fit a 1/2" ratchet with the 1/2" drive T60 up there between the unibody rail and the torx bolt for the oil filter adapter.

Back to square one.
 
Yea I was thinking about heating it up but then whatever orings are left woud surely be toast. And if I still couldn't budge the bolt then I'd be more screwed, heh.

After the last breakage I did spray the adapter down with PB. Not sure what good it will do as you mentioned, but it made me feel a small bit better lol!

I didn't get the motor up to temperature every time I tried either. The one time I did the welds broke so that was pretty much a waste!
 
I feel like your welds are just insufficient. A 110v mig on hardened alloy wrenchs isn't going to do much. After looking at that pile of bird crap, it's no suprise the wrench broke. With that much heat you're grossly changing the wrenchs properties. When I did mine it was extra stuck as well. I bought the torx 1/2" socket set from harbor freight. A 1/2" breaker bar was no where near fitting. Luckily, at the base of the torx head, it's just a hex of the same size. I think it was a 17 maybe? with a 6-sided box wrench, and a big breaker bar you should have more than enough leverage and material to take care of things. Here's a link to the sokcets...

95506.gif


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95506
 
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