[WhiteBeard]

Started the job, made it half way through yesterday - took off valve cover. No wonder it was leaking, OEM rubber gasket was very rigid and crumbly like a dry bread. New OEM one is soft like it should be.

My n51 has a secondary air valve gasket that i have to replace, so I'm waiting for the part. However, I have a question - when I took valve cover off - 1 of 2 plastic pieces that sits between plugs felt off. Is it ok if I glue it back with crazy glue? I'm not sure what that piece even does?
Thanks

P.S. Another question - how do you guys torqued back rear bolts - it is a pain to even get to them, let alone torque properly?

[hugyourewoks]

Originally Posted by WhiteBeard

when I took valve cover off - 1 of 2 plastic pieces that sits between plugs felt off.

P.S. Another question - how do you guys torqued back rear bolts - it is a pain to even get to them, let alone torque properly?

Do the pieces look like the red circled gasket? Did you remove the engine cowling that the cabin air filter is mounted to? That makes access to the back of the valve cover easier. I still had to use two extensions and a u-joint to torque them.

[W37V]

Originally Posted by WhiteBeard

Started the job, made it half way through yesterday - took off valve cover. No wonder it was leaking, OEM rubber gasket was very rigid and crumbly like a dry bread. New OEM one is soft like it should be.

My n51 has a secondary air valve gasket that i have to replace, so I'm waiting for the part. However, I have a question - when I took valve cover off - 1 of 2 plastic pieces that sits between plugs felt off. Is it ok if I glue it back with crazy glue? I'm not sure what that piece even does?
Thanks

P.S. Another question - how do you guys torqued back rear bolts - it is a pain to even get to them, let alone torque properly?

I had the same issue where one fell off (broke off). Apparently, it's normal for them to come off. Pelican parts mentioned it in their write up as well. Just glue them back on.

[WhiteBeard]

Originally Posted by hugyourewoks

Do the pieces look like the red circled gasket? Did you remove the engine cowling that the cabin air filter is mounted to? That makes access to the back of the valve cover easier. I still had to use two extensions and a u-joint to torque them.

Red circle gasket is for plugs, but there are 2 breathers in between those gaskets and 1 of them fell off. I'll try to glue it back and hopefully I won't get rough idle or codes thrown

[W37V]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1392808

[WhiteBeard]

Originally Posted by W37V

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1392808

Thanks man! So you used a JB weld? No issues after that?

Do you think I can use some RTV gasket sealant just to hold valve cover gasket in place while I'm putting it back on?

[W37V]

Originally Posted by WhiteBeard

Thanks man! So you used a JB weld? No issues after that?

Do you think I can use some RTV gasket sealant just to hold valve cover gasket in place while I'm putting it back on?

No issues with JB weld. You could use RTV, but it's really not needed. Once gasket is in place it's not going to move much. The only place where it might pop out is by the firewall. But you can easily place it back into its slot just by feel. It really wasn't that difficult.

When it comes to torquing screws, I torqued all of them including the ones in the back. After torquing down about 7-8 of them you can feel how much of tq is 8-9nm. I did few by hand and later checked. They were almost spot on.

For the back ones, I used elbow attachment. It gave me enough clearance to attach torque wrench.

GL!

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by WhiteBeard

Red circle gasket is for plugs, but there are 2 breathers in between those gaskets and 1 of them fell off. I'll try to glue it back and hopefully I won't get rough idle or codes thrown

My breather fell off too. Just used some plastic super glue and have had zero issues. At 100k mi now, I replaced my valve cover at 81k.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1297846

[WhiteBeard]

Thanks y'all! I tried to replace oil filter housing gasket too - and failed miserably. I took 2 bolts out, but 3rd one down near the hose - I stripped the head. My fault was using a 8mm socket instead of proper E10 torx. Now I don't know what to do - car is in the garage disassembled. I have new bolt ready, but how to deal with striped head of this bolt, how to remove it?

[WhiteBeard]

What if I put a 3/8 socket filled with JB weld on to that stripped head bolt and let it cure for 24h - and then just use a 3/8 wrench to unscrew that bolt - will it work?

[rjahl]

Originally Posted by WhiteBeard

What if I put a 3/8 socket filled with JB weld on to that stripped head bolt and let it cure for 24h - and then just use a 3/8 wrench to unscrew that bolt - will it work?

In the end, it might be easier to pull the intake manifold and get good access to that bolt.

Certainly wiser to start with the right tools. I needed a universal joint to get to that third bold.

[WhiteBeard]

Originally Posted by rjahl

In the end, it might be easier to pull the intake manifold and get good access to that bolt.

Certainly wiser to start with the right tools. I needed a universal joint to get to that third bold.

Sorry for confusion, it's another bolt, lower one that is near coolant hose. I took that hose off, coolant leaked out, I bought E10 torx, but it's too late - head is stripped off completely, I can't get any grip now no matter what I try. I'm hoping for JB weld - not sure if it will work

[WhiteBeard]

So I bought strongest JB weld there is to try to weld a nut or socket on top of stripped bolt head and then take it out that way. It says to let it cure for 24h - so we'll see soon

[bsmoov]

Be aware that once you removed that lower coolant hose, the O-ring rubber gasket was probably compromised as well.

You'd need another gasket before installing that hose back.


When I did mine, it looked good so I tried to let it be and just reinstalled and everything looked fine, but once I bled the system there was a leak right there. Just a heads up. Most people don't take the hose off and work around it with the universal joint/flexible tools...

[WhiteBeard]

Originally Posted by bsmoov

Be aware that once you removed that lower coolant hose, the O-ring rubber gasket was probably compromised as well.

You'd need another gasket before installing that hose back.


When I did mine, it looked good so I tried to let it be and just reinstalled and everything looked fine, but once I bled the system there was a leak right there. Just a heads up. Most people don't take the hose off and work around it with the universal joint/flexible tools...

Thanks man! I will order that o-ring. Never thought about it, hopefully I can find part number

[WhiteBeard]

Haha an update: JB Weld did a good job for attaching a breather plastic piece on the inside surface of valve cover, BUT it failed at welding a socket to a rounded head bolt (a fastener on the OFH) that I was trying to remove lol - took a little force to try to turn a wrench and SNAP - JB weld broke apart. Lesson learned is that JB Weld is a good superglue, but nothing more, it's not a real weld and not even comes close to it

I have 2 options left now: drill the sucker out or assemble the valve cover back and take it to a machine shop that has special tools

[El Cheapo Loco]

I struggled with that bolt even with a E10 because I didn't remove the coolant hose. IIRC you will have a hard time drill it out because of limited space and the odd angle. Maybe try grinding it down and then use a box wrench? Or you can weld a socket onto the bolt directly.

[WhiteBeard]

Ok, so valve cover is back and I started the car. I performed actuator relearning procedure (press start button without starting the engine and wait 10 sec and repeat this several times), but I still got rough idle. Turns out coil #3 was not inserted all the way, so I reinstalled it and finally smooth idle! Service engine soon is still showing - probably some code. I'm charging my old phone where I have a Carly Pro App installed - will check the code, but drove the car and it's riding well and no leaks!

Still have to remove the old rounded bolt and replace OFHG tomorrow. Added distilled water and performed bleeding procedure (heat on highest setting + fan on lowest setting and push the gas pedal for 10 seconds without starting the car)

I can say that a huge relief came when I finally got smooth engine run! To anyone who is considering valve cover replacement - as was advised in this thread earlier - remove wipers cover completely - this will make it much easier!

Now that I've done it - I can do it again in 2-3 hours probably

[PhaseP]

Originally Posted by WhiteBeard

I have 2 options left now: drill the sucker out or assemble the valve cover back and take it to a machine shop that has special tools

You can try a bolt extractor like one of this, just to give idea googled one. Haven't used myself. I think you need to first hammer it as far as it would go on the rounded bolt head to get as much grip as possible, then turn. Space may be a problem:
http://www.tooltopia.com/irwin-hanso...FZONswodOwQHRQ

[WhiteBeard]

Ok, it's done! Had to resort to machine shop that welded a nut to rounded bolt and I was able to remove it then using a wrench

Now since my battery was off for a long time and I got a rough idle at first - that caused a "Service Engine Soon" light that is not going away. And I need to do safety to sell the car. My Carly App isn't working with my new phone and I'm unable to clear SES light

Do you think a misfire (that I already fixed by reinstalling coils) could have caused SES light or it would have went away? I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not sure if DME/ECU monitors faults and clears them if they go away or not? At this point car is running perfect, but I'm trying to gauge if SES light is something inspection station will charge me a lot of money to clear/fix?

[W37V]

Originally Posted by WhiteBeard

Ok, it's done! Had to resort to machine shop that welded a nut to rounded bolt and I was able to remove it then using a wrench

Now since my battery was off for a long time and I got a rough idle at first - that caused a "Service Engine Soon" light that is not going away. And I need to do safety to sell the car. My Carly App isn't working with my new phone and I'm unable to clear SES light

Do you think a misfire (that I already fixed by reinstalling coils) could have caused SES light or it would have went away? I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not sure if DME/ECU monitors faults and clears them if they go away or not? At this point car is running perfect, but I'm trying to gauge if SES light is something inspection station will charge me a lot of money to clear/fix?

Yes, stored code would still be present and cause SES.

You can try disconnecting battery for extended period (maybe overnight) and see if you can clear it that way. Otherwise, you can "borrow" (buy and return) a code reader from some parts store, as they will not clear codes for you. Even the most basic code reader should be able to wipe SES.

[PhaseP]

Try driving the car for a while and see if it clears the code by itself.
If you clear the code by a tool, to get inspection you will have to drive the car for a while anyway, because when the code is cleared by code reader all emission monitors are set to "Not Ready" status. Meaning the car didn't have enough time and data to collect to determine if they function right or not. Emission monitors with "Not ready" status will fail inspection just like a code existing. There are some rules depending on which state you are that allows one or two maximum not ready status but that is just detail.