ummm okay?

 

Yeah, I didn't want to be critical, but...

I appreciate the OP's effort in creating a How-To. However, there are no socket sizes, wrench sizes, or cleaning products listed. Showing a bunch of pictures of your progress without showing any tools is pretty much just a slideshow, not an instructional. I posted pics of when I dropped my transmission and did a differential swap. I definitely wouldn't expect anyone to figure out how I did it since I never listed tools or parts. Just my two cents; no offense intended.

 

Sure man, It does :thumbup:

 

Do those grommets for the bolts come with the stock gasket also or are they seperate?

 

2 sets of grommets came with the gasket (Felpro kit) and got it from the local auto parts store because Ford wants a pretty coin for the kit!

 

The gasket kit came with the gasket and 2 sets of grommets (20 total).

^^^^

 

I said the "STOCK" gasket. Not the felpro gasket kit that he is referring to.

So the Ford stock kit comes with them, how much of a price difference is it?

 

Come to think of it I really didn't use many tools. A quarter inch rachet for the valve cover bolts and the timing chain cover and 1 bolt that held the antifreeze reservoir. Then a half inch rachet for the passenger side motor mount. Before you take the mount out you want to support the engine with a jack. I placed it under the oil pan (sorry no pics) to support the engine in order to take the mount out. the only other part that could be tricky would be taking out the bolts (the ones that hold the passenger side motor mount to the engine) that are in the way of taking the timing cover off. I used an aircompressor and rags to clean everything.

 

Errrrmmm...are you using SAE socket sizes? You do know that everything on the Focus is metric, right? Or do you mean the ratchet head size, not the socket size attached to it?

 

I was just saying do we seriously need a write up on replacing a valve cover gasket???

Spark cover and valve cover bolts are 8mm

Motor mounts are 15mm and 18 mm.... I cannot remember the others off the top of my head. And you can also do this with just taking the two bolts out of the top of the cam cover and just pull it back enough to slide the valve cover out.

 

Probably don't but I'm sure someone will find this helpful!

Looks like you got the socket sizes right!

 

I dont mean to be critical, but you do not need to remove the VCT solenoid nor do you need to remove the motor mount for this job.

There should be a small dab of RTV on the gasket where there are sharp bends.

Did you remove all the gasket material from around the VCT housing?

 

I fully agree, I could of left the motor mount on and pulled back the timing cover, but I took it off. I took the solenoid out of the valve cover to clean the valve cover, I didn't want to damage it or cause any harm. Also, skipped the RTV because I'm going to have to replace the timing belt soon and will need to take all this stuff off again. I wanted to replace the timing belt during this process but ran out of time and decided that I will change the belt at a later date.

 

Thanks man, I'll buy the kit you did.

 

The Felpro Kits come with a specialized gasket that requires no sealant.

 

Sorry, but this write up is the super long and the hard way to do a task. Cam cover, coolant tank, VCT and motor mount don't need to be touched. And a simple degreaser would have gotten those oil stains off without a problem. You might still end up with a leaky gasket after awhile. All you have to do is pull the wire cover, remove plugs, and remove the 10 bolts from the VC. The cam cover can easily be moved over by hand. That thing is a pain to remove and re install. Also please add that when putting the VC bolts back to not fully tighten the bolts one by one but counter to each other. These bolts are old and snap easy.

Future referance. Not SVT specific, but still good and same steps.
http://www.focushacks.com/index.php?modid=83&ht=Zetec Valve Cover Gasket Replacement

 

My theory is if you cant figure out how to do it, pay someone to do it, but on the flip side of that I have been working on cars since I was 13.

 

Or buy a Chilton's manual

 

I second the you=no, me=yes comment.

I would never have done half of the work I've done on my car if there were no pictures on this forum. Lots of folks are visual people and seeing images of familiar things can be reassuring to say the least.

But.....

Seems like the torque specs for the valve cover bolts would be a key factor to this being a success. Any vehicle specific data in the Felpro kit?

And you would recommend using a sealant, you just didn't this time? Only in the bends? What kind?

 

I forget the torque specs 7-10 lbs I do believe, but I dont have a torque wrench so I went ahead and just tighten them down.

The felpro kit doen't come with any information on installation.

As far a sealant goes, I wanted to try this time without to see if it would seal. Also, because I have to tear back into it here shortly to change out the timing belt. I think it would hep to use a sealant because the bolts are so spaced out it's eventually going to leak over time (IMHO). The red rtv silicone is what I bought to use but just haven't had to use it so far. The gasket I put in hasn't leaked yet and it has been about a minth or so now.

 

Completed this today. The felpro kit I picked up had two set's of grommets for the bolts, the ones pictured above with the bevel (which I used) and a set of 10 flatter ones as well.

Not sure what they are used for so I am just going to hold on to them. By the way I saw that felpro states not to use RTV sealent, so Im going to test this and see if it leaks.

 

It would appear that quite few have re-used the old bolts, but does anyone know if the manual lists these as one-time use?

My shop manual is buried in storage.

 

idk but ive used mine over