Cleaning the valve train...should I bother?

fix your valve cover gasket first....then, change your oil and replace one quart of oil with a quart of ATF. Someone else will chime in with which one is the highest detergent....then run it for anywhere from 10 minutes to 20 or so miles....drain, refill with just oil. the detergents in the ATF should clean up any sludge/stuck lifters/etc....

Thanks dude. Sounds better than cleaning all of that crap off by hand. Now I just have to clean up the valve cover.

JNickel101 said:

fix your valve cover gasket first....then, change your oil and replace one quart of oil with a quart of ATF. Someone else will chime in with which one is the highest detergent....then run it for anywhere from 10 minutes to 20 or so miles....drain, refill with just oil. the detergents in the ATF should clean up any sludge/stuck lifters/etc....

Click to expand...

Type F (old Fords) is what I used to use for ersatz hand cleaner - seemed to work better than Dexron...

I knew it had something to do with Fords

thats why 5-90 is the man....

Right on. I'll try the Type F after I am done with the seals. This is the first time I have been inside this engine and am more familiar with overhead cam engines from previous vehicles. It appears that oil is returned to the sump by draining down the pushrod tunnels. I can't see any other place for it to go. Where exactly is the oil brought up to the valvetrain? Is it perhaps where the rocker arms attach? I'm looking forward to getting to know the internals of this thing. Thanks for your information all...as always!

Dont bother to change the oil first, go pick up a couple of cheapy fram filters, drop the filter thats on there now, put the fram on, add a quart of ATF and run that for the time specified. THEN change the oil with cheap stuff, another fram filter, run for a few hours and then do it again with your normal oil and a good filter. Might want to replace 2 quarts of oil with a synthetic oil, it will continue the work the ATF started only more slowly.
As for the red brown gunk, thats from short hops and not allowing the engine to cook off moisture, normally that moisture is pulled thru the CCV system and out the tailpipe but if it never reaches operating oil temp that won't happen. If you do decide to start scraping it off have a plastic scraper in one hand and a shop vac in the other, work them together so none of the crap gets away from you and down into the oil pan.
Next time you drive it for less than 20 minutes pop the hood and pull the dipstick, the oil will still be somewhat cold to the touch, maybe warm but not hot enough to cook off moisture.

Well, I already dropped the oil in preparation for the rear main seal. I wanted to drain it early so I didn't have to replace the seal in a rain of oil off of the engine. I will try your methods when I get the seals done. Thank you for the detail in your post.

By the way, I found the small diameter port of the rear CCV completely clogged. I cleaned it up, so hopefully that will help keep the brownish crust in check. When I run the Jeep I normally run it for about 60 miles per trip on my way to work. I rarely do short runs with it. Either the previous owner did this a lot and it has been this way for the 9 years I have owned the Jeep, or that clogged CCV contributed to the problem. I don't think I am going to scrape it off, for a couple of reasons, but may look in to ways to get rid of it. The film appears to contain a degree of rust, which makes sense.

I'll just run a few quarts of CLR through it and see what happens...just kidding:looser:

In the back of my mind there is something about the dealer has a replacement kit of those hoses and ccv stuff for like $15 ??? or so. I've always run Mobil-1 in all our jeeps so the inside of the valve covers look like new and are pretty much immaculate.

I have been considering the switch to synthetic. It's so expensive but it seems everyone swears by it. I run Mobil 1 in my Expedition but have been running much cheaper stuff (Valvoline, Castrol on sale, NAPA, etc.) in the XJ. After seeing the inside of the valve cover and head I am not sure whether the oil is the culprit or whether the CCV hasn't been working properly and failing to evacuate moisture. My Jeep also tends to run very cool after my cooling system upgrade, which is also not helping. Regardless I think I just need to bite the bullet and use better oil...and see what happens. I figure I will rebuild this motor in the next 100,000 miles but it is still going great so far.

As for the CCV replacement, I don't see a need with mine. It all cleaned up very well but the boot on the rear port was rotted and broke off when I TOUCHED it. I am going to use fuel line and a plastic fitting to reduce the large tube to the small tube. I already have this stuff so I will save money not doing the replacement. By the way, the valve cover is back on but what a stubborn pain in the a$$! After some coaxing it fits well but that water hose in the front really tries to interfere! Hopefully that cork gasket will seal properly!

Off to continue the rear main seal!!! Later!