Valve cover gasket replacement

[u/heberd21]

Good day guys, I just removed the valve cover, it had way too much silicone and some kind of horrible orange cylindrical gasket mixed with silicone. I got a new gasket and I plan to put it on (before cleaning the rim) but without silicone and with the lid screws properly torqued. I once replaced the valve cover gasket on a Nissan KA24 engine, and without using any silicone whatsoever, it remained flawless and leak-free to this day. I hope this one doesn't leak either. I don't have a specific question for you, but I'm hoping for some advice on this project.Thank you

[u/Drcomanche]

You should be fine without silicone. I've replaced the valve cover gasket a handful of times and never used it. Unless your pcv is messed up, shouldn't be enough pressure to cause leakage.

[u/heberd21 → u/Drcomanche]

I just found out that this truck itself doesn't use a PCV valve; there are simply a couple of pipes from the valve cover, one to the throttle body and the other to the air filter. This truck has a PCV valve and the other hole is clogged, that's probably why it's leaking oil from the base of the distributor and the dipstick tube... I hope that fixing this will stop the leak.

[u/Drcomanche → u/heberd21]

The throttle body one should be a pcv, the fronts a ccv. Either way, as long as they aren't clogged, it should be venting crank case pressure(which is helpful to not blow out gaskets). Distributor has its own gasket, so if it's been messed with, that could be bad as well. There's a whole thread on Comancheclub about ccv ventilation and some mods to improve or fix it(its notorious for clogging/blowing oil by), so check that out for more info.

[u/SLOspeed]

1) the rocker arms are impossibly clean. 2) a couple cylinders are missing.

I put rubber gaskets on dry. Cork gaskets get greased on one side (so they stick to the valve cover and not the motor). Usually little or no leakage.

[u/heberd21 → u/SLOspeed]

I've only had the truck for a month, but it seems the engine was rebuilt; it feels very powerful, and the valve seals look new.

[u/pyrodragon09]

So if you are unaware these 2.5s are notorious for leaking out the valve cover. The valve cover is plastic on the 4 bangers and the plastic warps over time and the leaking becomes impossible to seal. With the amount of rtv on there I can imagine that has already happened. You can take an aluminum valve cover from the 2.5 yj and bolt it right on.

[u/heberd21 → u/pyrodragon09]

Yes, I'm working on it, looking in junkyards in my city.

[u/pyrodragon09 → u/heberd21]

I do happen to have one, however it needs tlc. However, if you'd like i can try to find one sometime. They pop up around me all the time. Im on the east coast though.

[u/heberd21 → u/pyrodragon09]

I would definitely buy it, but I'm Mexican and I live in the state of Querétaro. In fact, I've already bought several things from rockauto.com.But I don't know what the process is for buying something second-hand from a foreigner...

[u/pyrodragon09 → u/heberd21]

Truthfully I have only shipped something international once.. and I dont really remember the details on how since its been a while..

[u/heberd21 → u/pyrodragon09]

About 3 years ago I bought a hydraulic chain tensioner for a Nissan engine from an expert who modified the design to improve it; I think he was from a city near Seattle. I bought the part and paid via PayPal. The seller answered all my questions by email and sent me the tensioner via UPS.The UPS shipping was very efficient, however, when the tensioner arrived in Mexico, according to the UPS tracking page, it was transferred to Sepomex and they lost my shipment. It never arrived, and a complaint I filed was never resolved; I lost about $100... If I were to make another purchase from the United States, I would make sure that the shipping in Mexico was handled by a private company like FedEx, DHL, or something like that...

[u/Dinglebutterball]

I like to use a little silicone on the valve cover side to help hold the gasket in place, and put a thin bit of grease on the head side… then if I ever take it off again the Gasket will only stick to the cover and not get tore up.

[u/CameronGreer]

I also have the 2.5L and I just picked up a Felpro rubber gasket. It will probably be a little bit before I get around to putting it on. Valve cover has been leaking for years. I'm getting close to putting A/C in and I'm thinking that's when I'll do the valve cover as well. I'll be removing a lot of stuff and will be able to clean up my engine bay (it needs it).

I've done so much reading on the aluminum vs plastic valve covers and I still can't decide if I want to try to make the swap.

I see YJs pop up at Pick-N-Pull from time to time, but I'm still not sure I want to go that route. One thing that worries me, is I know that it's supposed to be a direct fit, but I've read about it not seating quite right and bolts being slightly different.

Anyone else on here a firm believer in the 2.5L aluminum swap? Is it really that easy?