Cover gasket??? need help please!

haha, yeah my girl got a FREE isuzu rodeo from her aunt.. thank god! we were wondering how we were going to afford to get her a car and her aunt thankfully found it in her heart to give it to her. The only problem it has is something called "cover gaskets" from what i understand her aunt said she was quoted at 800.00 and im checking on here to see if anyone knows anything about iszuzu engines/parts that can give me some advice. Im hoping this is something i can change out myself . :3_winkthu

What engine does it have?

My Rodeo has the 3.2 liter V6.

If it's valve cover gaskets you need it will be leaking oil badly and more than likely, there will be oil in the spark plug tubes.

I'm finishing mine up tomorrow and if you don't have a lot of time and patience, take it to the dealer.

Dale

Free, holy schmokes!

I too have the 3.2L V6 SOHC (95.5 - 97 yrs), and I also had both leaking valve cover gaskets. Replaced about 30K miles ago, roughly $800-1000 if I remember right; definitely have someone else do them if you do not have the patience and a bit of time. This particular engine has the reputation of being a PITA to work on - however, VERY VERY reliable!

yeah its the v6. i have a friend that works on cars for me alot and he can take apart an engine and put it back together so im not that worried. i doubt this engine is more of a PITA then my hyundais crampt bay. i think i found the part and its listed at only 9 bucks?

This is where I bought the gaskets and seals:

Valve cover gaskets- $25.15 FelPro:

http://www.pickproparts.com/PartsList.aspx?PartNumber=VS50469R

Spark plug tube seals- $19.51 FelPro:

http://www.pickproparts.com/PartsList.aspx?AAIASubCategoryID=7220

Thinking about the $800 - $1000 I'm saving keeps me going on this project. ;)

Dale

This is my next project. How many days? Just getting through hurricane cleanup...

LOL.

I was afraid someone would ask me this question.

I started on it last Tuesday and have been working a little at a time although there have been some long hours in there. I've also taken a few days off of the project to do other things. I lost count of the hours I've worked on it. Many.

I do work slowly (duh) and have been going the extra mile on cleaning the valve covers, common chamber, spark plug tubes, throttle body and gasket surfaces throughly. I also cleaned out the EGR valve and its port which was about 50% clogged. Hmm, what else? Replaced some vacuum lines and checked the MAP & IAT sensors. I did get stuck trying to find several "hidden" bolts. There was one on the common chamber that took a while to locate. I was getting a little punchy at the time, it was hot in the garage.

The hardest part was getting the covers back in place without letting the gasket touch anything. It was a PITA and took quite a few tries on the passenger side. OK, at least 12. The drivers side was made easier by removing the engine lifting harness but it still took about 6 tries. I couldn't use any kind of cement on the gaskets to hold them in place because the FelPro box stated "not to use any kind of chemical adhesives on the gasket". I did use high temperature silicone on the base of the camshaft saddles per the service manual instructions.

I'm pretty excited to hear it run again. The plugs that had the most oil around them were darker on the tip than the ones that had just a little oil. I'm thinking misfire on the darker ones. When removed, many of the plug wires were just dripping in oil. It should run better than ever.

Hat tip to those who do this for a living, I couldn't do it, they would fire me.


BTW, hope all is well where you are, that storm made a hell of a mess down there.


Dale

This is where I bought the gaskets and seals:

Valve cover gaskets- $25.15 FelPro:

http://www.pickproparts.com/PartsList.aspx?PartNumber=VS50469R

Spark plug tube seals- $19.51 FelPro:

http://www.pickproparts.com/PartsList.aspx?AAIASubCategoryID=7220

Thinking about the $800 - $1000 I'm saving keeps me going on this project. ;)

Dale


Yeah, it would've been nice to save that money. But, at the time, it was the only vehicle, dead of cold winter with no personal garage to work on it and our house parted between 2 states. Meaning all of our tools were still in Nevada while we were in Colorado; and the shop/guy that did the job my parents have known since high school and he did a fantastic job followed by a 1yr warranty.

If he hadn't been to our avail, I would've had my Grandad help do the work. This was a job that couldn't wait, as the truck was going through a lot of oil and needed to be counted on for 800 mile trips at the drop of a hat.

If you, those of you that is, that live in Colorado and ever come across something that puzzles you, Vern at Parker Imports is fantastic. His shop only works on foreign and in all of our 20-something years, he has never done us wrong. If we can't figure something out, or don't have the time, he is the only person who ever works on our trucks, I will never again take my "Isuzu" to any Isuzu dealership.

I appreciate you sharing your experience, 95.5. It sounds like I'll be carrying on at your pace, if not slower.

To You brave souls that have tried this, do you have to remove the two fuel lines on the top of the passengers side valve cover to remove it? mine is a 97 3.2 also.

Yes, the steel part of the fuel line has to be moved out of the way to remove the passenger's side valve cover. There is not enough slack to remove the valve cover any other way. I could not get the rubber to break loose from the steel line and I tore the outer sheathing in trying to do so. I ended up cutting the fuel lines off. This turned out to be a big deal since the dealer did not have the correct replacement. They gave me some fuel line for free and sent me to NAPA. The man at NAPA told me not to use what they provided at the dealer, because it was low pressure hose. I bought the correct fuel line but the outside diameter was smaller than what I removed. The original clamps would not fit, they were too loose. I didn't want to use hose clamps (they cut the lines after time and can loosen), so I tried to find smaller quick clamps. Well, I did find better fitting ones at the Yamaha dealer, but they wanted $3.00 each. I told them I wasn't paying that much money for a .25 cent part and left. I ended up going to "The House of Hose", a local dealer specializing in all things hose and bought one time use clamps. I already had the crimping tool I bought for sprinkler repair. It ended up working well, no fuel leaks.

Dale

I finally finished up last night and I am very tired today. I hope that I never have to do this again, ever. Yesterday, I installed the common chamber and everything associated with it. Getting the bolts which hold the heater hose to the bracket on the common chamber lined up and started turned out to be pretty difficult chore since there is no freaking room to get your hands in there. The newly designed spark plug wires were a PITA to install as well. They fit way too tightly in the tubes. I ended up rocking them back and forth over and over and over and over again to get them to slide down. I even used a screwdriver handle and tried beating them down with a hammer, it didn't help much. Today, I hope I didn't hurt the plug wires, but at that point, I didn't care anymore. Of course, there is no freaking room to get your hands in there properly and #6 plug wire hits the power brake booster while installing it. %$^&$$!##!!! . I couldn't hear the reassuring click of the wire connecting to the plug so who knows if they are installed right. I'd like to wring the neck of whoever designed them.

I started it up and took the car for a spin and it does run differently although not dramatically better. I need to drive it some more to tell for sure. I still have the problem where the engine will not hold 2000 rpm constantly. It drops to 1800, then goes back up again, then down & up. So, I have another problem to deal with. I was hoping this would go away with the new parts installed.

That's all for now, I'm tired. Oh, I already said that. I must be tired.

Dale

thanks for the reply,

The Rodeo is running better than it ever has, now that I reset the computer.

When I began this project, the first thing I did was disconnect the battery. Later on, I wanted to check the new fuel line for leaks so I reconnected the battery and hit the key. Usually, the fuel pump would run for about 2 seconds then stop. I figured that would charge up the fuel line then I could look for leaks. The fuel pump did not run and I think that was because I had all of the engine sensors and the ignition module disconnected. Leaving the battery connected, I finished the job and started the car. I think the computer was running in "safe mode" because it didn't run that well and there was black sooty carbon building up in the tailpipe again. I remembered that I didn't reset the computer after reconnecting the battery and went ahead and pulled the ECM fuse and let it sit for 15 minutes. I drove the Rodeo home and what a difference it made. The engine is smooth and it just wants to go. The throttle is very responsive and it has more power than it ever did. I forgot to check the "surging RPM" problem, I'll bet its fine now.

All in all, I am happy that I replaced the valve cover gaskets and everything else even though it was a lot of work.

BTW, a friend of mine told me if I had put silicone grease on the outside of the spark plug boots, they would have slid down the tube easily. My bad. The instructions said to put the grease on the inside of the boot to keep them from sticking to the spark plug. I don't think I hurt the wires, since it is running so well now.

Dale

95.5Rodeo, When you mentioned House Of Hose I figured it could be a common name. Checked your profile and, sure enough, we both live in Spokane! :grinyes:

Sometimes it's a small world. ;)