Thanks everyone for the great write ups, it made the job a lot easier. Everything went pretty well except for one of the tabs from a fuel injector fell down into the valve port as I was removing the lower intake. Luck for me it didn't make it down into the cylinder!



I decided to change the spark plugs while I was in there and discover the spark plug in the 4th cylinder was completely covered in oil and about 2 inches of the COP was covered as well. I haven't been getting any ignition codes so it must have a good seal but I want to get the gasket replaced ASAP. So my next questions is can the rear valve cover be removed with the engine still in the car and there are any tips or cautions I should be aware of before starting? Thank you in advance!

 

Has anyone swapped out the valve cover gaskets on a 3.0L before?

 

Good job on taking care of the work. I haven't done the valve cover gaskets either but with both manifolds off like that it was kind of tempting. Looks like it would be pretty easy to do if you get back to that point.

 

Thanks bro, it was pretty straight forward for everything but it just seemed to me like everything was very over engineered. I just know on some cars the valve covers cant be removed from the rear without the engine being tilted. It looks like there is enought room but it is better to know before hand of the issues I might run into, ya know?

 

Thanks man. If you decide to go ahead and change the gaskets, take some pics and share. We love to see that stuff, those are my favorite threads.

 

Will do, I think I am going to go ahead and order the set and go for it.

 

Oil on the plug is a leaking inner seal. Make sure you change them when you do the valve cover gaskets. A simple try at fixing the leak is to clean the plug hole with mineral spirits and apply high temp silicone to the joint area. Let it dry well and don't build it up too much. If you're on the deffered maintenance program, this should work at least for a while.

 

Thanks for the info Tony, I dont mind doing maintenance so I plan on changing out the gasket now...I just want it fixed as soon as possible so I dont have to worry about it again.