I have an oil leak on my 88 5.0l 302 EFI manual. Quite a number of drops over night. It seems to be the passenger's side valve cover gasket. I've read that valve cover gaskets are a problem in Ford engines? Any other gaskets that are known to be weak? I'll try to clean the engine and tighten all bolts to make sure I'm not missing anything. I thought about getting the Summit rubber gaskets. Any opinions on those? Has anyone of you guys replaced these gaskets before? Any traps I should be aware of? It seems to me like it's just taking off the upper intake manifold, replace the gasket and put everything back together. Or am I missing something? How about the fuel injection, do I have to take it off, too? Should I change both sides while I'm at it? On the driver's side it seems I have to remove the ignition coil? I have a torque wrench, so once I'm done taking apart, I'll torque the bolts really nice and fine. :-) I'll also try my best to tighten them all by hand before I start torquing them. I have never done this before. What do you think, how long will I need? Any advice from you experienced guys is highly welcome!

 

>I have an oil leak on
>my 88 5.0l 302 EFI
>manual. Quite a number of
>drops over night. It seems
>to be the passenger's side
>valve cover gasket. I've read
>that valve cover gaskets are
>a problem in Ford engines?

My valve cover gasket hasn't leaked since I bought it new 16 years ago.. I guess I'm just lucky or it's built Ford Tough ! :=)


>Any other gaskets that are
>known to be weak? I'll
>try to clean the engine
>and tighten all bolts to
>make sure I'm not missing
>anything. I thought about getting
>the Summit rubber gaskets. Any
>opinions on those?

I like the Felpro cork gaskets. The gaskets will come with instructions. I usually put gasket adhesive on it and glue them to the covers so they don't fall out of place during the installation.


Has anyone
>of you guys replaced these
>gaskets before? Any traps I
>should be aware of? It
>seems to me like it's
>just taking off the upper
>intake manifold, replace the gasket
>and put everything back together.
>Or am I missing something?

What you are missing is a Chilton's manual. The reason I say this is because you have fuel injection, something I've never had before, and I'm not sure how to go about taking off all the stuff to get it out of the way of your valve cover. The Chilton's manual will give you a step by step directions in removing the valve cover.


>How about the fuel injection,
>do I have to take
>it off, too? Should I
>change both sides while I'm
>at it? On the driver's
>side it seems I have
>to remove the ignition coil?
>I have a torque wrench,
>so once I'm done taking
>apart, I'll torque the bolts
>really nice and fine. :-)

The big mistake made by most people is over tightening valve covers and bending them.


>I'll also try my best
>to tighten them all by
>hand before I start torquing
>them. I have never done
>this before. What do you
>think, how long will I
>need? Any advice from you
>experienced guys is highly welcome!
>

If it's your first time on a job like this, it might take all day. But if you take your time, you will save yourself a pile of money. The gaskets probably cost 10 bucks, but the labor is the big item !!!

Hope I've been some help to you.



LeRoy Wolff, original owner of
1984 Ford F150
300 six 3 speed with overdrive
optional dual rusted out fenders
truck's nick name "Old Red"

 

In most cases you will not have to disasemble the the fuel injection. They should be held in place bye a bracket the will be loosened when you take off the valve cover bolts(in most cases) then you may be able to have enough clearence to remove the cover. I would sugjest doing both cover gaskets at once. Also you need to use the cork gasket and not the rubber, they last alot longer. Hope this helped out
And if you have a manuel, you might want to read it complete.
L8TR
rudedog

 

Felpro gaskets are what I use and I will waite if they are out of stock. I seal them to the valve cover BUT NOT to the engine. Just easier to remove later on.
One more thing! CLEAN everything TWICE and don`t cheat.. Even your hands!!
Yu will through good money down the drain if you put it back toghether dirty!!

__JOHN__Õ¿ö
Member-
"Crusin North" Car Club
Santa Rosa, Calif.
72 F-250
ICQ#6030753

 

You will need a special Torx bit to gain access to the bolt on the underside of the intake plenum!

I ran into this, the second bolt on the drivers side of the upper intake is no problem. It's the one opposite to it on the passengers side that is the problem. I will look tomorrow and see what size is needed. I know you have to use a long 1/4 inch extension to get in there. It is a very tight space, and unless you have very thin arms and little fingers you can't get to it.

Trust me. Been there done that Twice! Once when I replaced the valve cover gaskets. And the second time when I replaced every gasket in the engine!

"You can always tell a Chevy owner, You just can't tell them very much."

 

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>You will need a special Torx
>bit to gain access to
>the bolt on the underside
>of the intake plenum!

Yes I heard so. I've got some torx bits, but not a hole lot...

>I will look tomorrow
>and see what size is
>needed.

That's great! Truely appreciated!

>I know you have to use a long 1/4
>inch extension to get in there.

I got a somewhat long and a short extension. It's all in metric for me, so sorry, I don't know how many inches long - maybe a foot long both together. Will that be enough? I'll have to have a look at that bolt and try it out before I actually start taking the baby apart. Thanks a lot for warning me! What a PITA to discover that halfway into the process!

>It is a very tight space, and unless you
>have very thin arms and little fingers you can't get
>to it.

I'm pretty thin, so it should work. Otherwise, I'm going to do this in my buddy's garage and his kids are probably around anyway :-)

>Trust me. Been there done that Twice! Once when I replaced
>the valve cover gaskets. And the second time when I
>replaced every gasket in the engine!

WOW! You replaced all the gaskets in the engine? Was it that bad? I hope I don't have to do that.
Hotrodford, I had a look at your website - nice truck! What did you pay for the paint-job? Mine needs one really bad, too: http://brembs.net/cars/FordPU.html
Gotta take care of all the rest before that, though. Once it's running the way I want, I can start thinking about how it looks.

 

Unfortunatley I went to MAACO! I got roped in with one of their $250 specials, that ended up costing me almost $1,000!

And I still have problems with their Paint & bodywork!

1) the bodywork they did on the hood has since bubbled, & in one spot come out!

2) they were supposed to strip the outer surface of the hood to bare metal. They didn't, I can still see the cracked paint beneath the new paint!

3) generally crappy service! No customer service support! I had problems with the place I took my truck to, and they kept sending me back to him.

I finally had to end up going to the Better Busines Bureau & after filing a complaint against them, we ended up going into arbitration. And when we got in there I brought out the pictures (good quality closeups) he started saying "well I don't know if we did that bodywork or not"

Basically, unless you have a reputable establishment in your area, I wouldn't go!

I'll probably have to have mine painted again in two or three years now, because what is there refuses to shine up. I can compund & hand glaze all day long, and still can't get that truck to shine worth a flip.

"You can always tell a Chevy owner, You just can't tell them very much."

 

A thousand bucks! After they advertised 250? Those *******s! I had also heard about these deals and was planning on going there if I wasn't doing it myself. Now I know better! I really hope you'll get your money back in the arbitration.
Thanks for all your advice! Sunday's the day to have a look at my valve covers.

 

Nope never did get my money back. I foought with them for over a year before we went into the arbitration. Once we got in there he started denying this & that, saying that well this was done over old bodywork and we can't warranty that...........

Basically it was just one string of (*&$^#%@ after another!

And I even had the truck there as proof! Plus when they fixed the doors (after the paint cracked on both of them) they messed up the door gaps, and the drivers door started to rub. Well it also bent the front of the door out a little, and bent the back of the fender in a little where they were rubbing and popping against each other. Reason he said " bad door hinges"
Actual reason. They took the doors off of the truck, and didn't retighten the bolts completely!

I don't even want to get started on the rest of it!


"You can always tell a Chevy owner, You just can't tell them very much."

 

Last sunday I got it all done. Boy what a huge amount of black sludge in the throttle body and intake manifold! There was even oil dripping out of the intake manifold as I took it off! Cleaned it all really well with carb cleaner (took the entire can) and a roll of paper towels. Then replaced the TB, intake and valve cover gaskets - piece a cake thanks to you guys!
Incredible, what a difference in driveability that throttle body/intake manifold cleaning made! The truck now drives with hardly pressing the accelerator at all! Just touch it a little and you're ready to shift into the next gear. Amazing!
Thanks for all the help and info! This board rocks big time!