Valve Cover Leak Due to Head?

drew_man_chu · Oct 29, 2008

I spent the last two nights replacing my valve cover gasket (a few times), and it continues to leak. One thinig I noticed that seemed very odd to me is that the lip where the gasket is suposed to seal on the head has not been machined smooth and you can see a lot of pits from casting. Has anyone else had this problem and how do you fix it?

RichP · Oct 29, 2008

First off pull the valve cover off and lay it down on the flattest surface you can find, like a big table saw with a steel top or a large piece of glass, take a feeler gauge and run it round the edges of the cover. Many people fight them when they take them off due to being on there for so long and the cover gets warped or bent.
Depending on the gasket I tend to use indian head gasket cement, made by permatex, that stuff seals every thing though I guess you could use RTV and put a small bead around the head, let it setup for an hour or two then put the cover and gasket back on.
I prefer the rubber gaskets, more expensive but you only buy them once as they are reusable.

drew_man_chu · Oct 29, 2008

It had a rubber gasket in it, covered with RTV, before I tried to fix the leak I had then. So I bought a Felpro rubber gasket, and it appeared to be about an 1/8 inch too long, and nothing would line up right. So I decided to put back the org. gasket, I noticed the pitting in the head (I've been doing this around 9:00pm every night, and last night was the first time I had a decent light to see what I was doing). Well, we used some RTV on the head to try to fill the pitting and give me a smooth surface. After driving it around today, everything is sealed, except for one little part. Thanks for the info on the feeler guage test Rich, I'll have to try that again this weekend. Do they make a steel valve cover for the 2.5L? I really don't like the fact that the stock one is plastic.

drew_man_chu · Oct 29, 2008

Will an Aluminum Wrangler Valve Cover fit my Cherokee 2.5L?

wolfpackjeeper · Oct 29, 2008

yes, it is probably just the fact that you have the plastic valvecover that is causing the leak. Switch it out.

RichP · Oct 29, 2008

drew_man_chu said:
It had a rubber gasket in it, covered with RTV, before I tried to fix the leak I had then. So I bought a Felpro rubber gasket, and it appeared to be about an 1/8 inch too long, and nothing would line up right. So I decided to put back the org. gasket, I noticed the pitting in the head (I've been doing this around 9:00pm every night, and last night was the first time I had a decent light to see what I was doing). Well, we used some RTV on the head to try to fill the pitting and give me a smooth surface. After driving it around today, everything is sealed, except for one little part. Thanks for the info on the feeler guage test Rich, I'll have to try that again this weekend. Do they make a steel valve cover for the 2.5L? I really don't like the fact that the stock one is plastic.

I think they do, both valve covers on both my 97 TJ's are steel.

drew_man_chu · Nov 12, 2008

Well, just a little update. I gave up searching for aluminum valve cover's for my '88. Seems that the designed changed in '91, and everything before then seems to be plastic. Wranglers, Cherokees, and Comanchee's alike. But I do have my new valve cover on and it has fixed my leaks. I'm now comtemplating on trading my 88 off for a 90 Wrangler (2.5L 4x4 manual trans), or 96 Cherokee (4.0L 4x4 auto). Still hoping that the dealership will come up a a slightly newer Wrangler 4x4 with 4.0L.

Valve Cover Leak Due to Head?

drew_man_chu

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drew_man_chu

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