Nope, just a rubber mallet and the screw driver. They pop right out. Btw stir fry, were you successful at removing all those shards of plastic out of your engine? I taped the brittle plastic covering the wires but somehow a piece came off and I couldn't get it out. I'm deciding to just leave it there. It's prolly as big as a kid's fingernail

 

Pretty close though. Same initial idea. After hammering a little toward the inside of the hole from the outside, the rest of the spark plug tube seal still didn't come out and I didn't want to scratch the metal on the valve cover, so I used a pair of vise grips and stood on the valve cover and pulled. They came right out. My spark plug tube seals looked exactly like those in your picture when I was done. They do have a spring in them expanding the gasket.

Try some compressed air if you think that the piece of plastic is not going to go down some kind of oil drain hole. I would try my hardest not to leave it in. If you leave it in, it might melt.

 

tried my best to get it out but its now lodged somewhere. i could not even see it. oh well lets see what happens

 

Great thread. I replaced my valve cover gaskets in May 2010 and somehow have managed to put another 4K miles on since then. I've noticed that I have a small re-leak on the front drivers side gasket. Also, I noticed that all of the bolts have become loose (not finger tight, but they needed 1/2 turn to get back to 53 inch/pounds). How do you retorque the drivers side without taking off the plenum again ?? Unfortunately I'm thinking I'll have to redu the drivers side gasket , but I was hoping that retorquing the bolts might buy me a few more thousand miles.

 

Are you talking about the intake manifold? They are tricky to get to the bolts to retorque them. You have to remove the manifold to get to the upper ones. At that those back bolts were tough to get to. You could use some blue locktite on them if they keep coming loose. I know mine have not come loose. Are you using an inch-pound wrench?

 

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, the manifold. I can't squeez anything in there to tighten the bolts under it, so I guess it makes sense to remove the manifold to retorque. The 6 bolts I could reach all needed retorquing, so I'm guessing the ones under the manifold are also loose....

 

Check the bottom ones before you go through all that trouble to remove the intake manifold. At least that is what I would do. I would also use blue locktite on those bolts to make sure they don't come loose.

 

Sorry to bump an old thread but i am going to try to tighten down the bolts on my valve cover before I have it replaced. Does anyone know what the torque settings are for the bolts? Thanks

 

53 in lbs

 

Great thread. I too am needing to do this as well. Do you have any pics of you taking off the manifold. I want to do this but it will be my 1st time.

 

Pretty good video showing step by step:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IThNiZcs4bI

 

Hate to bump an old thread, but is it a big deal if I seal my half moons with RTV instead of FIPG?

 

Black RTV will work. Just be sure to remove all the old FIPG and oil....I give the half-moons and where they sit a quick wipe with carb/brake cleaner and then let the cleaner totally dry before reapplying RTV/FIPG.

 

I will do just that. Thanks!

 

Great thread.. I will be needing to change out everything in the very near future on my 3.0 b4 I make her my DD.

I need to clean it b4 I get started so my question is, will there be any harm in warming her up and soaking it w/ an engine cleaner, i.e. gunk, and power washing the compartment out. Or should i just hose it out and wipe clean as I go? (( There is so much under there that it would make Jed Clampit jealous.. ))

I like the tip about the injec'rs and will be sending them out while I am in to it that far. I looked up the site and they are 22$ per, plus shipping.

There is nothing "sexy" about this job but I will post pic's as I work my way through everything along w/ and issuses I may come across.