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Valve Cover Gasket Replacement

LOUD02Special

NAXJA Forum User
Basics: 96 Country AW4 4.0 HO, 231, 140k

Probably gonna try and tackle my VCG tomorrow night, but have never done this before. I know I'll get Fel-Pro, but don't know anything about what kind or brand of sealant to use. Also, is there an order in which the bolts need to be torqued, and what's the amount of torque required. I did some searching through a lot of old threads, but couldn't find exactly what to do. Thanks for any help.
 
Just buy a Felpro valve cover gasket. Comes with everything you need. I did mine last fall. Very straightforward job. I didn't tighten my bolts in any particular order, nor do I recall having to torque any of the bolts. Some of them towards the back of the engine are hard enough to get to with just a hand wrench, so I can't imagine trying to torque all of them.

Just make them nice and snug like they were before you removed them, and you'll be fine. I haven't had any leaks since I did mine.
 
i got the fel-pro gasket today. the blue rubber coated metal one. do i need any kind of sealant or anything to go on with it or do i just clean everything real good and torq the bolts down to specs?
 
no with that one you do not. Atleast I have a rubber coated metal one (happens to be black) with no sealant and no leaks.

you CAN tighten the bolts to much. I just tightened then down evenly with a small ratchet.


I have some new cork gaskets to go in my V8 wagoneer. should I put RTV, copper spray a gasket, or just oil them?
 
biggest thing to remember with this (or any gasket change) is to tighten the cover EVENLY, and a little at a time. Alternate snugging up sides (front/back/left/right), then go back and tighten a bit more. Repeat until tightened to specs. Then a week later tighten everything again since it will have loosened up a bit as things settle into place.
 
Fel-Pro all the way... Just did mine. Takes a min to move things but overall, it is pretty easy.
 
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