Was in the process of fixing a valley pan gasket leak when I found this mess. I don't think a prior owner was big on oil changes or intake cleanings. No wonder the PCV was so plugged up. Looks like the gaskets have been secured with an extra layer of black RTV, but that didn't stop the leak.

Any recommendations for cleaning / reassembly? It ran okay before - it a ticking noise that I thought was a slipped sleeve. Now I am wondering if it is a bad lifter. Cam looks to have some wear on the front edge of the heels and lobes, but cam bearings look okay.

 

The baffle inside the valve cover is easily removed to clean inside it.

 

Yep yep. And OP, don't lose the teeny tiny little screws. And don't over torque them putting them back in either. But also not too loose. lol.

 

Thanks for the advice - they do see to be quite stuck, so I'll probably let them soak.

Do y'all think I should pull the rockers to inspect and clean all the pushrods, lifters, etc? or just clean without pulling it all apart.

 

Remember they're Pozidrive. Almost anything that looks like a Phillips on these are Pozi and it really makes a difference to have a pozi bit or driver.

 

So long as you're not having oil pressure issues I wouldn't clean them at all. Remember, if it's stuck in place it's not causing an issue. If you break a bunch loose it can go somewhere to cause a problem. Down in the lifter body and seize it up, clog up the oil pickup, go through your oil pump creating wear in the pump, etc.

This is one place the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" really applies. I'd clean the inside of the valve cover and leave the rest be.

 

wow - those are the dirtiest valve covers I have ever seen - need a good sonic clean - I would also replace the lifters the rocker arms and the push rods - pull the oil pan it will look like that too and clean the pickup screen

 

I have read that running a few cycles of Royal Purple oil can help clean things up in an engine, but not sure if I would even risk it on an engine that looks like oil was just added when it got low vs regular oil changes.

 

I have never seen any good come from crankcase cleaners, but I have seen harm come from them. The only time I recommend cleaning internals is if they are going to be rebuilt.

 

I am contemplating both opinions on this. The engine had a hot idle tick that came and went. I thought it was a liner, but after seeing this, I'm wondering if it might be a stuck lifter. It also had a cold start oil pressure issue where it would sometimes take 10-20 seconds for the oil pressure light to go out. I found that the prior owner had used a Fram filter. I replaced that with a Mobil1 filter and the oil pressure issue has largely gone away. However, if the truck sits for a few days, it make take a while after start (like 3 seconds) before the light goes out. It generally seems a little slower to go out than I remember with the other Rover V8s. Other than the tick and the oil light, it has run pretty good.

New lifters and pushrods are about $200. Seems like it could be a good option given the gunk, but I don't want to spend on this engine unnecessarily. I am hesitant to use a crankcase cleaner given how much junk is in here. I feel like it might clog something up given how thick it is.

This makes wonder about how the bottom end looks.