Slackdaddy

Fresh engine build,
The valve cover gasket is the Felpro Blue PermaDry gasket.
I even cleaned and reused the factory washer "buttons", new felpro grommets, and torqued to spec.
I have a decent leak along the back edge of the valve cover, and the engine slopes to the back.

With the factory bolts and buttons, the button "shoulder" bottoms against the head, limiting how much "shash" the gasket gets.

Any words of wisdom before I pull this new engine apart??

BlueRidgeMark

Hmm. That's a new one. I'd want to know if there is some gunk in the bolt holes that is preventing them from going in all the way. If you pull the cover and clean out those holes with some brake cleaner (stick the straw all the way to the bottom), then I'd either use a bench grinder to take a bit off the bottom of the bolts, or get some washers to use as shims under the bolt head. Being completely reversible, that would probably be a better choice than grinding.

Slackdaddy

Fresh engine,
Head was hot tanked, I cleaned and checked every bolt and threaded hole on the block, head and accessories.
I believe the factory "button washers" bottom on the head preventing to much "over torquing".. As far as under torquing, once again, if the button is bottoming on the head, it will not squish any more no matter how much I torque it.

I did torque to 84 INCH pounds as per spec. But I have no idea if the gasket is squished to little, or to much ??

Slackdaddy

So I dug a little deeper.
My threaded holes are plenty deep, remove the rubber grommet and button washer and threaded the bolt in,, goes plenty deep, no ploblem.

The neck of the metal button is definitely bottoming against the head long before 84 in/lb is achieved. , that contact is what I am registering when I torque the bolts.
I loosened all the bolts, Then I pulled 1 bolt, then threaded it back in until it just contacted the button washer. It was then 1.5 turns with the socket wrench till the button bottomed on the head and could not be tightened any more.
I set the 1/4 drive torque wrench to it's min: 25 in/lb, to see what the torque was achieved before the button bottomed,, it never even registered 25 in/lbs.

So the stock button washers bottom out and stop the bolt from tightening them anymore long before achieving the spec'd 84 in/lbs.

What to do ?? Ditch the factory button washers and use regular flat washers??
Grind a heavy 1/8" off the neck of the button washers,, so I get more compression before they bottom out.
Ditch the Felpro gasket, and get something else?

Corky

Technically your 84 in/lb would be achieved by the torque against those sleeves..Not from the gasket before..That's why there called a torque limiting washer.
In your case the next step would be to do just what you've stated...Take a little off the washer to get the gasket a touch more compression.. I'm stumped as to why it's not sealing... You've already checked the valve cover for straightness along the sealing lip and everything checks out ? When I changed mine I got hung up on the grounding stud at the back corner of the head and couldn't figure out why is wasn't setting correctly..It was a tight fit between the front and that stud..

Slackdaddy

I did check my valve cover when I assembled the engine, it was good.
The valve cover gasket is getting almost no compression,, the 1.5 turns of the bolt is only .075 inches. and not even measuring 25 in/pounds before the limiting washer bottoms on the head. And grommets are pretty soft, they absorbed all of the 1.5 turns of the bolt.
The depth of the torque limiting washer may have worked with the OEM grommets and OEM gasket,,
but not the aftermarket.
I just checked the ground strap/nut/washer,, it's not interfering.

Yeah, tomorrow I will grind about 1/8" off the shoulder of the washers.

Chick-N-Picker

I have one of those felpro blue gaskets that are supposed to be guaranteed not to leak. Had in on for at least 4 years. Paid $40 for it. It still leaks and always near the back drivers side. I have tightened the bolts here and there and took the cover off a few times doing various other projects. Still leaks. I'd love if it didn't. Not sure what "washers" y'all are even talking about. Or either my mind just can't remember.

I've just been pouring a half a quart of fresh oil in about once a month or so. Never let it go below the add line. Is it my favlrite solution....no....but hey I always am keeping fresher oil in my Jeep. That's the best way I look at it. But I seriously am about to try to fix it, along with some other projects.

bluejeep2001

What year engine/head? the valve covers differ between years because the heads are a little different and obviously so do the valve cover gaskets. My old 92 had a thick valve cover with a lip and my 96 was flat and thin stamped metal and thus not interchangeable without modification

Randy Bobani

All 4.0L 242 valve cover bolt patterns are the exact same and the gaskets/covers are all 100% interchangeable. Unless a valve cover spacer is required, experienced Jeep engine builders will recommend the FEL-PRO VS50522T valve cover gasket, as it contains eyelets for each fastener. There is also a common misconception about the "Grommets". They do not seal anything, the gasket does all of the sealing. The "grommets" are part of a 2 piece torque limiting washer that Jeep engineers decided was necessary because monkeys were constantly over torqueing the valve cover bolts and causing leaks. Get a FEL-PRO VS50522T, use flat washers and it'll never leak again.