My mechanic told me I definetly have a valve cover leak. I told him about the bolts loosening up and I asked him to crank them to 10lbs. for me while I was there. I've got oil everywhere on my motor especially underneath. Besides checking the oil to see if its still leaking is there another way to tell. My issue is what if there is a leak somewhere else and the oil level is still going down. I'll obviously assume I need a new gasket even though I don't.

My idea is to wash the hell out of the engine bay on top, sides and underneath. Surely if this is the "best 4x4 by far" it can handle it right? Is there a method to what I'm planning on doing, anything I should cover or stay away from? I appreciate the input. My plan is to tighten the bolts, get an oil change and immediately wash the motor so I can see if the leak persists. Other than just looking at the drops in my drive way.

 

Tighten the valve cover bolts.
And then buy a bottle of Simple Green, Krud Cutter or some other cleaner type of stuff.
You dont say what year your truck is, if it is pre-'96 you will need to cover the distribitor with a plastic bag.
No matter the year make sure you do not get the electronics wet, they are on the fenders.
If you bring ramps this will be easier, take the truck to the DIY carwash.
Run the front up on ramps, open the hood.
Spray your cleaner and let it soak for 10-15 min.
Now using the spray (NOT HIGH PRESSURE) rinse the engine.
Once all of your cleaner is off you can use theirs too.
But make sure you get it all off.
Let it dry for 15 min and then start it up, back off of the ramps and drive it home, make sure the drive is long enough to get the engine hot enough to evaporate all of the water that has pooled on the engine.
If you use the high pressure rinse you will get water places it was not meant to go.
If you do this in your driveway you will have a huge oil slick and a Super Fund Site in your yard.
Doing it at a DIY carwash the grease and oil will get recycled.
Do not be surprised if after doing this it leaks like the Titanic, sometimes the thick layer of crud is all that is holding things together.

 

Roger that, what about break cleaner as a crud remover?

 

That will get real expensive real quick.
A can of brake cleaner is what, $3 a can?
A bottle of Simple Green is like $4 but twice as big and you will use less of it and you will not be using ozone depleting propellants.

 

I checked the bolts holding my valve covers down and both were already tight. I did notice the gaskets had this crystalized look to them like they'd be brittle and split if I cranked down on the. So it looks like valve cover gaskets are gonna get it. Should I replace with factory spec or is there something that will hold up longer?

 

The factory gaskets are rubber, you're not going to get much better than that in my opinion.

 

The valve cover bolts, if you hasn't figured this out. Are an annoying 5/16 12pt deep socket of I recall. Super inconvenient.

 

They are 8mm 12 point, a 1/4 inch drive is easier to get in the tight spaces, but a 3/8 will do for 7 of the 8.

You said two there are four bolts on each valve cover, two outboard, two inboard on each valve cover for a total of 8.

You can spray it with simple green and get underneath it with rags and get a lot of it off.

 

Guy's I'm still looking for a guide on how to do this. There are alot of intimidating parts to get out of the way just to get to these covers. The local Euro Technician quoted me 300+ to do this job. I'd like to do it myself obviously but I lack several things including knowledge, experience, tools a garage with a light because I know this will take me all day and into the night.

 

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