I did my front rotors and pads today and repacked the wheel bearings. I had a friend help me and after we decided to take off the valve cover to check my timing chain guides. Well, we got all the hoses and bolts off, but that thing wouldn't budge. After doing some reading tonight after giving up on it, I realized we should've taken the grommets out (which we didn't) Other than taking the rubber grommets out and tapping on it with a rubber mallet, does anyone have any suggestions? It's a 90 and I doubt it's ever been off before. I'm going to take a crack at it tomorrow after taking the rubber grommets off and using a mallet all the way around I guess.

I could've sworn on my old 86 the valve cover popped right off, but that was years ago.

Cheers!

 

With a new gasket, mine pops right off. Your grommets have turned solid- one option is to burn them out- seriously. Spray some brake cleaner on them and light them up for ~20 sec, and they'll soften up a bit. Once those are off, there should be nothing left holding the valve cover on.

Good luck!

 

I should buy some new grommets then? I just opted for the fel-pro gasket with no grommets for $9, when I could've bought the one with grommets and the half-moon gaskets for $16.... Oh well, live and learn. Do you think the fel-pro gasket will be ok? It looks fine, just a bunch of rubber.

 

My old grommets were mashed into the threads and hard, but they screwed out. Just unscrew them like a nut. I thought they were supposed to be that way until I got new ones.

 

Yes, you should buy a valve cover kit - grommets, valve cover gasket, half moons, and the nuts on top of the grommets.

 

Cool, I'll just return the gasket tomorrow and get the kit then. My buddy who is a mechanic was sticking a screwdriver in there and trying to pry it open, and I was all yeah I think we just leave it.....We never thought to take the grommets out, it was a long day dealing with rotors and having to buy a new caliper as well. Just let me say that the cone washers come out easy when you just give the hub a solid tap with a mallet, way better than the brass punch and hitting the bolt method.

 

2x on that

I just did mine, same thing. I bought a gasket set from NAPA that had the grommets, half moons, valve gasket and plenum gaskets.

 

PRUNEY...

x whatever on the grommets....mine basically unscrewed off, but even after that it was an SOB to get off....BLACK FIPG is very good and did a great job holding it down.


yes, get the new grommets / gasket and half-moons.

 

thanks 92, I'm going to take a ride over to Advance here in a minute. Did you just tap around it with a rubber mallet to get it budge? I ask this because I don't to try to wedge anything else in there after yesterday, I admit I chipped my head a little bit.

 

I did pry a little........OOOOPS

 

Alright, well I don't feel as bad now...ha

 

here's what I really did after I pryed....... I used a plastic spackle knife to "cut" into it....once I felt I had enough bite, I was able to peel (yes, pretty much peel) it off.

 

I think on mine I had to turn the garment because it was hard as a rock . Just try to loosening it like a nut .Worked for me.

 

Well, I wasn't able to get to the valve cover today because, after taking my truck in to get an alignment after doing the front pads and rotors yesterday, I came to find out that my passenger side caliper is sticking which is why it was pulling to the right. Also, my rear passenger tire is stuck too. I already bought a new caliper for the front but what do you guys think could be wrong in the rear? I'm hoping it might just need new hardware, I'm gonna tear into the rear but I'm not sure what to look for.

 

+1 here
and get the whole kit, with half moons and all.

 

FelPro is fine, never had FelPro fail on me. Buy all new rubber bits and might as well check the hoses in the engine bay as they might be toast as well- if they feel soft when you squeeze them, they need to be replaced.

Yeah, a rubber mallet would work, but if those gromits are solid, then you might not get too far as they may be holding the valve cover to the valve cover studs.

With that chipped head, you will have only chipped the surface that mates to the valve cover- this is not a critical surface, but it may leak oil. You might get away with using a bit of JB-weld if the chip is big enough to cause an oil leak. Otherwise, you could put a dab of RTV gasket maker on the chip. Remember to use RTV on the half-moons otherwise they will leak.

 

Yeah don't try to get away with just the valve gasket. When I pulled mine oil was leaking badly out the rear half moon and it wasn't noticeable because it was running down the back of the engine. There was oil in the cap nuts as well because the grommets had hardened.

 

half moon huh

I have herd them called cookies ,biskets and donuts

 

It's actually just a tiny chip on the very edge of it. It doesn't appear to be leaking yet. I'm just a perfectionist when it comes to my truck so it bugs me. The valve cover gasket and grommets etc. have been put on hold. I had to replace my passenger side brake caliper today and adjust the rear shoes in because the tire was seized, Tomorrow I need to go get a wheel cylinder and find a friend to help me bleed it cuz right now my pedal is mush. Then, I'll get to the valve cover. After that I hope to be done for a while as in the past few weeks I've replaced clutch and brake master, front pads, rotors and both calipers and now the rear brakes are giving me issues, almost done though.

Tomorrow I'll snap some pics of the chip in the head just so you guys can see what I'm talking about.

 

The grommets are used in junction with the washers to put pressure and hold the valve cover down. With dried up grommets, you may overtorque the valve cover down. I always replace all at once, just a thought