Decided to finally get my valve cover gaskets done. Think I have been sitting on the new gaskets for over six months. I have been chasing lean code issues for some time and I believe I may have caused the issue when I was putting in new O2 sensors. I was above the engine and put my left arm on the passenger valve cover with most of my weight. I think this compressed the old hard gasket into the valve cover and when my weight was removed a gap was formed. I could hear hissing from the rear valve cover area but not locate the source, even after blocking off EVAP - the purge valve sits right back there.

This is not a how-to, just a general walk-through with a couple tips. You dont need much to do this:

My tools were the smaller 1/4" drive with a smaller ratchet wrench.
8mm deep
10mm deep
Various swivels, extensions, etc.
Gaskets - valve covers, VVT seals, spark plug tower seals.
Some brake parts cleaner spray
High temp sealant needed at four locations for the valve cover gaskets.
Shop vac

I HIGHLY recommend you have new coils to install when doing this. Sometimes when removing the coils, especially the factory ones, the boots can rip. So keep this in mind....

This was my primary tool setup. I could get most bolts free with just this. There are fourteen bolts to free up, two in the middle and twelve on the outside.



I started on the passenger side first as this was the suspected one that could be leaking. You just need to remove the metal support bracket for the beauty cover which is two 8mm nuts ontop of bolt studs. Then remove the PCV held down by a couple Torx. Remove the intake tube/plenum. Disconnect the MAF sensor and remove the air box by pulling straight up. Disconnect VVT solenoid at the front top of the valve cover. You also want to unclip the two coolant hoses that feed the heater cores. Odds are these will break, cables ties will help later. Remove the coil cover, just pulls off. Remove the heat shield that is behind the coolant hoses. Disconnect each coil. On the back of the valve cover is a spot that harness is secured too. Gently pull straight up to disconnect it and pull the coil harness back and put it behind the intake You will then have four coil bolts, all 8mm. They should not be too tight remove them then remove the coils. The coils may be very, very stuck. Mine where and they were brand new but came out undamaged. Remove the VVT solenoid seal, just pry up and over the solenoid. Doing so will make removing the cover a lot easier as it will not bind up on the VVT.

At this point you may want to do some house cleaning with a vacuum. I had a lot of sand and dirt from the trials. I did my best to give it all a clean and prevent that stuff form ending up in the valve train. Start to loosen all the bolts in no particular order. Don't forget there are TWO in the middle. They are sorta active, they may or may not come out. You do not have to remove them fully, you can tell when they are free and no longer unthreading. I recommend a quick pass with the vacuum again, when I undid mine more dirt was freed up. Continues loosening all 14 of the bolts. You may fine that the rear most inside bolt comes out fully. Not sure why, but both my banks had that happen and both has red locktite on them. They were not captive like the rest.

With all bolts loosened, gently pry on the cover to pop it free. It should not take much at all. Lift the front and rear to make sure all bolts are free, then work it out and onto the bench.





Above you can see the passenger side valve cover with one spark tower gasket/o-ring removed. Clean and install new gaskets, make sure they are all firmly pressed into the cover. No sealant is need yet. Also, below, I have the VVT solenoid pictured after polishing it up a little. The seals tend to leak for these even when replaced. I think this is because of surface corrosion. So polishing should help. I believe it was an 8mm bolt that held them in place. The bolt is tight, but the solenoid will come out very easily. You can spray it down with cleaner.




Below is a comparison between new and old spark tower seals. You can see just how much the old ones have been compressed and with age have hardened. If you have oil on the coils you removed, this is a sure sign these are bad! The oil leak can get so bad that the coil boots can get flooded causing misfires.





You now want to clean the matting surface on the heads. I used several micro-fiber towels and WD40 for the first pass. An abrasive pad can help, but be careful not to get any bits into the valve train. The good news is most of the junk that ends up in the valve train will get washed down into the oil pan and not make its way to the bearings. Once the surfaces are clean and followed with brake parts cleaner, dab high heat sealant onto the two points shown below. I also applied a small amount to the gasket at those locations as well. Make sure you reinstalled the VVT solenoids if you have not yet.






Now seat the valve cover into place. They seem to fall into position quite well. Finger tighten the two middle bolts then follow the torque order below to 4ft lb or 6 Nm:


Once everything is tighten down, install the VVT seal. I coated mine lightly in silicone grease to help install and maybe help with corrosion. Connect eh VVT solenoid plug and put everything back together. Do not tighten the coil bolts too much, there is not need to overdue them! Folks have had then snap off upon removal after all.


Driver side:

Really it is the same procedure as the passenger side, with a few annoying differences. I will only point those out...

First is the oil dip tube. You need to remove an 8mm nut first. Then I used a pry bar hook to pull up the brakes welded to the tube as shown below. This let me get the tub out of the way. No matter how I tried, I could not pull the tube from the block for removal. Install was the opposite, I put the braket back over the stud and just bent it back down and put the 8mm nut back in place. This was a bit of a pain to figure out, but it worked.




Second is a wire harness that is attached to the valve cover at the front outside corner. It is REALLY well hidden and I was glad I found it before pulling the cover out. Also the harness was pretty tight, so it took some work to pull it up and out of the way.




One of the smaller coolant hoses to the EGR, either disconnect or cable tie it to the larger coolant hose to keep it out of the way.

Use a bungie cord or such to keep the oil dip tube as far from the cover as possible.

You will need a pry bar to get the AC lines to get out of the way. A second set of hands can help. With the AC lines moved you should be able to lift the cover at the front and work it out of the engine bay. You CAN disconnect the fuel supply line if you think that can help. I almost did but opted not to. Surprisingly install was easier than removing the driver side cover.


Well spelling errors aside, that is pretty much it. Good luck!

 

Nice work! Great tips and pics.

 

Been a week. I have not checked actual live fuel trim values, but no codes at all. The truck is a lot more peppy and the shift behavior has changed. I did not realize how badly it was holding onto gear even with my foot down pretty hard (not WOT). So if you have some lean codes you can not shake, consider valve cover gaskets.

 

Ours have been done maybe 3 times in 5 years.
They can't seem to do this job in a way that solves this leak problem.
Your step by step description is incredible.
I've been thinking maybe the covers are wrapped ?
What are the four corners you mention that leak that sealant should be used.
I believe they used sealant as well : (

 

Yes, warpage I think can be an issue. They could be removed and checked easily. I actually think my driver one is warped, I can see it with how it sits against the head. Each end has a visible gap between the surfaces yet in the middle there is none. Luckily the 4.4 valve covers are pretty cheap at under $100 each compared to other Rover valve covers. The LR4 5.0 is like $400 a side I think.

 

One detail on torque values needs to be noted.Valve cover bolts should be torqued to 12 Nm or 9 ft-lb. Ignition coil plugs get 6 Nm torque spec.

 

Lr3 valve covers have gone up in price tremendously. Back in 2015 when I bough driver side there were 76 dollars each. Now, if you want a genuine product, each one is 417 plus tax and shipping at landroveronlineparts.

 

Nope. $65.21

 

Unfortunately this is not correct.
Their online pricing has not been updated on this website and among other vendors as well.When you put one in your cart, they will call you or email you back stating that this part number has been superseded by Part # LR007655 and old one is no longer available. Hence the updated price.

 

Oh man that's bad news.That is a ridiculous increase.
Since this is a Ford Engine there are no Ford Covers that work ?