2004 Rubicon Air Intake / Exhaust - Valve Cover Gaskets

[Ickis]

Hi All,

I began to take the Air Intake Manifold off in preparation for an Intake/Exhaust Gasket and Exhaust Manifold Replacement. In doing that, I noticed a large amount of grime and residue, which look to be mostly likely a result of a valve cover leak. It looks bad enough that it cant be ignored. Roughly 90K on the engine. What do you yall think? Pull it? What about all the crap inside the air intake manifold, how am I going to clean that?

Nick

https://imgur.com/PhlHBfT

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[Chris]

Pull it, clean it all up, then if it were me I would take that manifold to a DIY carwash with the pressure washers. Run some of the engine cleaner spray through it (an option at those car washes) until it's all cleaned out. That should do the trick.

 

[TJ Jim]

Cover all the holes and use an air gun to blow all that garbage off. Then continue with the intake/exhaust gasket replacement.

 

[Ickis]

Getting in over my head here. Should I take the fuel rail off and soak the injectors? Then degrease the shit out of the air intake? Is the grease creeping into my cylinder intakes normal? It seems like left un checked this would have choked my injectors out. Do the injectors just pop out easily? does it matter which position they are in?

https://imgur.com/ihIyNJc

https://imgur.com/leyEaox

 

[Ickis]

Do yall use anti-sieze when reinstalling the intake/exhaust bolts?

 

[KennethS]

Is the grease creeping into my cylinder intakes normal?

I doubt that is external grease intruding; if so there would be a significant intake manifold gasket leak. It’s more likely fuel residue buildup. Clean it all out with carburetor cleaner or similar.

 

[TJ Jim]

Leave the injectors alone. I use antisieze on most fasteners like those. Won’t hurt and next time it’ll be easy to work on. Blow out the loose crud and put her back together. Clean the mating surfaces good.

Use caution on the install and ensure the mating surfaces meet easily. There’s a dowel pin in the back that can mess you up if it’s not seated properly. Don’t force it, should fit together easily and flat.

 

[JKP]

Oil vapors from the crankcase are sucked into the intake to be burned. That's why your intake is oily inside.

The injectors are just pressed into the intake with O rings on them. You're gonna need new O rings. Lube the new O rings with motor oil before installing.

If you think the injectors are dirty inside, you can have them cleaned. Or just replace with some Bosch rebuilds for 100 bucks a set or so.

The oil on the outside of the engine is from the valve cover gasket.

 

[macleanflood]

Pull it, clean it all up, then if it were me I would take that manifold to a DIY carwash with the pressure washers. Run some of the engine cleaner spray through it (an option at those car washes) until it's all cleaned out. That should do the trick.

I've found the engine degreaser lacking at my local car wash.

I might find a machine shop that can run it through their hot tank.

-Mac

 

[JKP]

Spray it with intake cleaner before car wash.

 

[Ickis]

Hearing a couple differing perspectives which is great! If I do go with a car wash or machine shop hot tank, I am assuming that means I will have to pull the injectors and fuel rail first? @JKP when you say pressed in, do you mean with a tool or your hands?

 

[macleanflood]

Injectors will yank out by hand. Be prepared to replace the o-rings. They're cheap and readily available at just about any auto parts store.

-Mac

 

[JKP]

Hearing a couple differing perspectives which is great! If I do go with a car wash or machine shop hot tank, I am assuming that means I will have to pull the injectors and fuel rail first? @JKP when you say pressed in, do you mean with a tool or your hands?

They just slide in and out by hand. Yours will be somewhat stuck coming out.

Oil the new O ring on the injectors, slide in, bolt fuel rail down after the intake is clean.

If you have a multimeter you can measure the resistance of your injectors' coils to see if they are still good. All of them should be withing an ohm or two of each other.

 

[macleanflood]

Good time for a DEI fuel rail head shield kit. Includes half the o-rings.

-Mac

 

[Ickis]

Good time for a DEI fuel rail head shield kit. Includes half the o-rings.

-Mac

Already shipped! My old heat shield was tanked. Didn't know they came with injector orings though.

 

[Ickis]

I am about to pull the exhaust manifolds and valve cover. Let's see what other fun stuff I can find.

 

[JKP]

Be sure to save the metal tq limiters for the valve cover gasket.

 

[TJ Jim]

Like @JKP says! Don’t loose those spacers. I couldn’t find replacements anywhere.

 

[Ickis]

Update, got the Exhaust Manifold off. Popped off the valve cover, cleaned, swapped the TQ rubber, installed the new gasket. My OEM Exhaust manifold looks fairly okay - no cracks. Its also a bit lighter than this 1A auto replacement. So far, not impressed with the Fel pro valve cover TQ rubber replacement.

https://imgur.com/yJYYhF2

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https://imgur.com/fBJRRBJ

 

[Ickis]

Any advice for the manifold re-install? I think the exhaust manifold can be mounted with 3 bolts. Then, I can install the lower air intake manifold bolts and hopefully slide the air intake on to them.