YACT: PSA - Valve Covers are a GOOD thing

[nakedfrog]

Yeah... so in trying to figure out WTF is wrong with my car, I went over all the valves and reset the clearances to where they were supposed to be. This was about two weeks ago. Well, last night I finally got the thing to start up and stay running again, so I figured I'd drop off a friend who was helping me.
We get to his house, and I start pulling away and he says "It looks like you're leaking an awful lot of oil there."
I know the car has a small leak, like half a quart per month, but I humor him and look at it... it's after midnight, dark and hard to tell, so we check it out. Oil is POURING out of my left valve cover. I hastily shut the engine off, and then we notice that the cover isn't quite sealed. Yeah. That don't work too well.
So we pull it off and clean it up, refit the gasket, and slap it back on. The engine is plenty warm by this time, and we also noticed the nut for one of the valves on cylinder #3 worked itself off, and I can't reset it now.
So I just drove the car home, keeping it about about 1200-1500 RPMs the whole time.
Guess who's gonna be a hell of a lot more careful next time he puts the valve covers back on?

 

[psiu]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Guess who's gonna be a hell of a lot more careful next time he puts the valve covers back on?

Ooooooh who?!?!!? Tell me!!!!

Kinda funny though. You probably felt rather........unsmart when you found that out.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: psiu

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Guess who's gonna be a hell of a lot more careful next time he puts the valve covers back on?

Ooooooh who?!?!!? Tell me!!!!

Kinda funny though. You probably felt rather........unsmart when you found that out.

Yes, that would be an understatement. It's not like it's the first time I've adjusted the valves either.

 

[V00DOO]

I'll be replacing my valve cover gaskets this weekend. I hope I don't run into the trouble you have.

 

[Encryptic]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Yeah... so in trying to figure out WTF is wrong with my car, I went over all the valves and reset the clearances to where they were supposed to be. This was about two weeks ago. Well, last night I finally got the thing to start up and stay running again, so I figured I'd drop off a friend who was helping me.
We get to his house, and I start pulling away and he says "It looks like you're leaking an awful lot of oil there."
I know the car has a small leak, like half a quart per month, but I humor him and look at it... it's after midnight, dark and hard to tell, so we check it out. Oil is POURING out of my left valve cover. I hastily shut the engine off, and then we notice that the cover isn't quite sealed. Yeah. That don't work too well.
So we pull it off and clean it up, refit the gasket, and slap it back on. The engine is plenty warm by this time, and we also noticed the nut for one of the valves on cylinder #3 worked itself off, and I can't reset it now.
So I just drove the car home, keeping it about about 1200-1500 RPMs the whole time.
Guess who's gonna be a hell of a lot more careful next time he puts the valve covers back on?

Hmmm....in light of this story, perhaps you should change your name to "NakedValve"?

*ba-dum-ching*

😛

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Torque wrenches are also a Good Thing.

 

[cavemanmoron]

hmm, how many valve/rocker covers your engine have?

All my current vehicle's engine's,have 2 being V8's.

Sometimes when this happens the engine oil goes onto the exhaust...... 🙁

Bad smell/fire... Bummer.

Ouch thats gonna leave a Mark.😱 been there

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: cavemanmoron
hmm, how many valve/rocker covers your engine have?

All my current vehicle's engine's,have 2 being V8's.

Sometimes when this happens the engine oil goes onto the exhaust...... 🙁

Bad smell/fire... Bummer.

Ouch thats gonna leave a Mark.😱 been there

Just the 2, one on each side (horizontally opposed 4 cylinder). Yeah, one side of the exhaust pipe was pretty well drenched. The valves have now been readjusted quite thoroughly (checked, double checked, and triple checked), and the engine seems to be humming along pretty well, except for a stumbling problem that right now I'm attributing to either old/bad wiring and/or possibly the fuel pump.