Ok on my 98 2.5L not only was the oil sending unit leaking but the valve cover gasket is leaking as well. I know the throttle body has to come off and the intake side wires disconnected from the coil pack, but what else will I have trouble with? Any surprises? The Fel-Pro kit comes with the throttle body gasket, by-pass valve gasket, both intake gaskets, and a silicone valve cover gasket. I can't see why the intake has to come off. Anyone have any idea the inside diameter of the throttle body cooling system hose from the tee to the throttle body? I want to have a replacement ready because once I take it off I won't have another vehicle to go get the hose. Does this valve cover gasket change require any silicone sealer? I guess when the oil pan starts leaking it's time to rebuild since you've got to remove the engine.

 

the valve cover gasket is really easy to change. mine started leaking on my '97 2.3 which is just like yours. i bought a new gasket and then started to take off the valve cover just to find that the bolts were loose. the gasket was in great condition, i changed it anyway since i had bought a new one. there will be no suprises, just clean around the vavle cover with compressed air or what ever is easyier for you.

 

It was on the old carbed 2.3's, the newer efi engines may be a little more complex, but shouldn't be too hard.

 

dont know if it will have these or not, but when i did a gasket replacement on my 4.0 there were anti-crush rings around the bolt holes. simply put, when you look at the gasket, there were metal rings where the bolts pass through the gasket, you could actually torque the gasket down right and not damage the gasket! i think it was a fel-pro brand. i havent had issues since then, its been over 2 years since that job was done.

 

I changed the valve cover gasket today. It was harder than I pictured it. The engine wiring harness really interfered with the removal of the cover and the intake side back cover screw was hard to get to because of the bullk of the wiring harness was right over it. I had to disconnect a lot of connectors I wasn't expecting to. I had to fight to get the cover out because of the harness hanging up on it and the EGR tube was making it a little difficult. I started at 3:30PM and I just got done, it's 7:30PM. That includes cleaning the cover. I was surprised there wasn't any reinforcement to keep the valve cover gasket in place ontop of the head like on the 4.0L Jeeps which pretty much lock in place when you lay the gasket down. I was afraid I was going to get the gasket out of alignment fighting the cover back in the back corners. But it was just a pain getting the cover under the harness, there wasn't much movement when the cover went down. I torqued all the screws to factory specs starting from the center. I let it get up to operating temperature and I didn't see it leaking from the top or the sides. I'll have to clean under the engine tomorrow when there's light so I can make sure it doesn't leak. The Fel-Pro gasket is thick soft silicone, it looks like it should stay sealed for a long time. I guess it's expected for the valve cover to leak by 226,000 miles. I'm still hoping my water pump and thermostat keep going for awhile longer. They have never been touched.