jaredfrompcola Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Took my pathy in to Walmart for quick oil change and I was told I had major oil leak. So I checked under my truck and did notice small drop but no major like they said. Well I did notice that my passenger valve cover has some oil around it so I wanted to change the gasket. I read on here how easy that one is so I will try it. My question is: (1) are the bolts known to break easy. I get nervous about bolts breaking on other pathy's I read about. (2) is there anything I need to know before I start. And what would you recommend on how to find oil leaks. I am going to clean all oil off as much as I can with rags but did not know if anyone has any tricks I can use. And I am going to pray its not the Rear Main Seal. I just got the tranny done and I would hope they would tell me if that seal was leaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Why are you changing the oil at Wal-mart? 1. No 2. Check with the FSM in the HowTo section Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I wouldn't worry about breaking a valve cover bolts. It's probably already loose if the cover is leaking that badly. Not much to know really... Don't drop things in the top of the motor when you open the case! Even little bits of gasket or anything make sure to keep it clean. Put in new gasket.. Torque the bolts to the proper torque spec an in the right tightening sequence. No big deal. The other side is a little more difficult but really it's not that bad of a job to pull the upper plenum. The lines in the back are the only real pain. To spot oil leaks just get some engine cleaner or degreaser and clean off the engine of oil/dirt/mud/sludge mixture and then keep an eye on it an see where the oil is coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaredfrompcola Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 (edited) When I changed my oil the first time I got really pissed trying to get filter off. So I let someone else deal with all the pain and aggravation. I did a search on here but forgot about the FSM. Edited December 21, 2011 by jaredfrompcola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I would pick up a strap wrench and do my own oil changes... Strap wrench makes all the difference in getting those filters off. P.S. Just hand tighten it, and don't crank on it. The oil filter does not need to be torqued on it will not go anywhere. Then you can get it off again too. Just a tip lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Mine leaked a lot of oil from the oil pressure sending unit (below where the oil filter is located). As it turned out, it was loose. I used a 1 1/16" IIRC deep socket to tighten it back up. Sorted. No leak since! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaredfrompcola Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 I would pick up a strap wrench and do my own oil changes... Strap wrench makes all the difference in getting those filters off. P.S. Just hand tighten it, and don't crank on it. The oil filter does not need to be torqued on it will not go anywhere. Then you can get it off again too. Just a tip lol. I think I will, since I been reading these forums I have done alot of work on my pathy. I always get worried since this is my main vehicle. Next project is find leak,change valve cover gasket, and I just watched a video on how to change PCV valve. So I am doing that next to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 (edited) And I am going to pray its not the Rear Main Seal. I just got the tranny done and I would hope they would tell me if that seal was leaking. I would hope that ANYONE who changes a Tranny would replace or recommend to the customer while they are in there. The cost of the RMS, even if its not leaking YET, is so small compared to the incontinence of getting in there again WHEN it DOES. P.S. try tightening your covers before you go doing gasket changes, sometimes they are JUST loose. Edited December 21, 2011 by MY1PATH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismothunder Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 (edited) I would hope that ANYONE who changes a Tranny would replace or recommend to the customer while they are in there. The cost of the RMS, even if its not leaking YET, is so small compared to the incontinence of getting in there again WHEN it DOES. P.S. try tightening your covers before you go doing gasket changes, sometimes they are JUST loose. Same with cam seals, you might as well replace them when your doing a timing belt even if there not leaking. Tighten the cover and see if it stops. But most likly its just a bad gasket, the newest wd21 is 17 years old now, stuff just wears out. But was the oil that you found on the passager side valve cover clean or dirty, since theres no such thing as a funnel at wal-mart. Brake cleaner works good at clean built up oil, but it will remove paint just as good. Edited December 21, 2011 by nismothunder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I would hope that ANYONE who changes a Tranny would replace or recommend to the customer while they are in there. The cost of the RMS, even if its not leaking YET, is so small compared to the incontinence of getting in there again WHEN it DOES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejin4499 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I would hope that ANYONE who changes a Tranny would replace or recommend to the customer while they are in there. The cost of the RMS, even if its not leaking YET, is so small compared to the incontinence of getting in there again WHEN it DOES. P.S. try tightening your covers before you go doing gasket changes, sometimes they are JUST loose. wasn't aware they made depends for our vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaredfrompcola Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 can someone tell me where in the FSM to find valve cover replacement. All I see is stuff about the valves. It looks like you just take stuff of the valve cover and then unscrew philip screws. Do I need to take off the spark plug wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 can someone tell me where in the FSM to find valve cover replacement. All I see is stuff about the valves. It looks like you just take stuff of the valve cover and then unscrew philip screws. Do I need to take off the spark plug wires. I don't think there's anything really in the FSM. For the passenger side it's pretty easy... you just need to unplug the PCV hoses and the electrical connection stuff at the front then undo the screws. I don't think you need to remove the plug wires. For the driver's side it is obviously more involved. You need to drain the coolant and then disconnect everything on the upper intake to get to the valve cover... throttle cables, TPS, plug wires, coolant hoses, EGR, AAC, air regulator, grounds, etc etc. It's not really so bad once you get used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 ... ... it was an inconvenience that my spell check auto corrected to the wrong word... Thanks for the laugh guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 LOL yes... very funny.... I would say that checking the torque would be a first, as mine seems to keep getting loose... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 P.S. try tightening your covers before you go doing gasket changes, sometimes they are JUST loose. I would say that checking the torque would be a first, as mine seems to keep getting loose... This. Grab a long, large Philips head screw driver and simply hand tighten the valve cover screws. I bet you get 1/2-1 turn a piece. I have worked on 5 Pathys so far (3 WD21 and 2 R50) and every one of them needed the valve cover screws tightened, and none of them have leaked since. Don't waste your time and $ on changing the gasket yet... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackattack07 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 started replacing mine they were pouring on to the manifolds. i tried tightening them all but they still poured. when i took them off the gaskets were cracked in half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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