Im not the most mechanically inclined, and was in at auto zone when the guy working there told me I had a "nasty oil leak". he said it was probably the valve cover, and that i should clean it, scrape out the old caked on oil and re-seal it with silicone. this looks/sounds kind of daunting if i do it myself. If i take it to a shop whats a fair price? If i do decide to do it, whats the best plan of attack? I see new valve covers on ebay for $100... thanks for the help

 

You don't need a new valve cover. Just the gasket. It's a simple job only pain is one of the bolts is in a tricky place. If you wanted to you could use silicone to seal it if you wanna cheapo it but I would get a new gasket

 

You need to look at your oil filter adapter too. If a o ring is cracked, it will leak as well. Just sayin it may not be just the valve cover. The valve cover is not hard, just a few bolts and youll have to disconnect or move a few things around to get to the bolts. Get a 5 gallon bucket and about 1 gallon of diesel and a good brush to clean the cover. Purple Stuff cleaner or Greased Litening cleaner works too but its real rough on the hands and does not work as well as diesel. It is definately a DIY project. 1 hour tops.

 

Felpro Valve Cover Gasket, don't waste your time with anything else.

took me 40 mins from start to finish and I CLEANED everything... I'm a little OCD

 

If you don't have a set of hand tools now is a good time to get some!

Do it yourself because its only about a $10 job. maybe $50 if you have to buy some tools. A shop is going to probably charge at least $200 prolly $300.

Its really simple.

Remove bolts for the throttle linkage
Remove hose off valve cover or the whole pcv tube.
Remove bolts from valve cover
Take a wire brush or wheel to the mating surface, being not to let too much junk in the engine (I stuff paper towels all around it.)
Clean mating surfaces until shiny.
Reinstall valve cover using a new (FelPro) gasket NOT silicone.
Reinstall other parts.
Done.

You can also use brake cleaner to clean off the valve cover but don't use it on the engine block because it'll get in your oil. And that's no good.

 

I skipped that part, I just had to slide the cover under the cables. (I'm lazy)

 

I hate things being in my way...lol

 

understood. haha!

 

I appreciate the step by step, anyone know of any good how to diagrams?

 

Hi Rob - in the picture about half way down you have 3 cables crossing across the engine. Do you know what they are, I don't have the middle one on my jeep.

 

They are throttle cable, and TV cable for the trans, and the middle I believe the one you don't have is for cruise control.

 

Oh and you need pics?

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/v...-pics-1121533/

I understand sometimes seeing something does more than just reading it.

 

 

Check out what a neglected valve cover gasket leak did to my engine, and how I fixed it and the mess it caused:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/pro...w-pics-147674/

 

I don't think valve cover is needed. I started engine w/o it and oil was not going anywhere. Cover can't leak, if it is removed.
this is 4.7 engine, it needs cover: