2004 GTP Comp G with Valvecover Gasket Leak

[p coico]

So about a month or 2 ago I went thru the fun of changing the coolant elbows and the waterpump... All is fine there now.
Car has 99K on it..... Recently started to smell oil burning aroma from under the hood. Looked today and looks like slight amount
of oil is seeping out onto the front exhaust manifold and smoking off. I had the same problem on my '97 GTP a few years ago.
So I will tackle that fix tomorrow. Question is, I have a limitted amount of time tomorrow and wanted to know if there is anything to
save some time on the front one. I know the back one is a royal PITA, so any tips on changing that one too ?? I may just leave the back one for now
since I don't see any smoke from back there... but it's only a matter of time .....
Thanks !!!! And I will post any tips I come up with as I do it ....

[FordMan77]

It's just a valve cover, not much to it. Maybe use an air ratchet to disassemble to save some time? Be sure to install new bolt grommets along w/ that new gasket and clean out the channel that the new gasket sits in the cover or it will leak again.

[p coico]

It's just a valve cover, not much to it. Maybe use an air ratchet to disassemble to save some time? Be sure to install new bolt grommets along w/ that new gasket and clean out the channel that the new gasket sits in the cover or it will leak again.

Yeah, I know ... mainly looking for valvecover mounting bolt torque ...... Thanks...

[FordMan77]

The Chiltons manual for my 2000 GT states the torque should be 89 in./lbs or 10 Nm.

[p coico]

The Chiltons manual for my 2000 GT states the torque should be 89 in./lbs or 10 Nm.

Thanks found that ... I am working on it now,,, only thing in the way is the harness that goes to the coilpak.. Anyone know if that just pulls off the front-bottom of the coilpak to get it out of the way ??

[dsmuts]

you don't have to remove it just lay it to the side.

[p coico]

No,,,,
looks like the dogbone bracket on the front of the engine has to come off.. since this is a supercharged engine looks like the tensioner pulley for the supercharger belt also has to come off..... getting deeper and deeper ... someone told me to check with GM... there was a recall for this front valvecover gasket ... I am going to check into that.... if I can get them to do it, heck saves me the time and $$ ?
Does anyone know if there is a recall on the 2004 year... I did see they recalled 1997 to 2003 for this problem...

[Russosaur]

I don't think the recall was for 04+ even if it was iirc it was just for the rear gasket.

I found this in a post, someone said it was from BillBoost it sounds about right, assuming you needed directions on what to remove:

1. Disconnect negative battery terminal
1a. Remove passenger side dog bone 15mm from rad support to engine bracket.
2. Unhook 7mm icm connector.
2a. Disconnect all plug wires at coil packs
3. Remove both belts
4. Remove 13/15mm nut holding ground to ICM stud (above and right of the water pump)
5. Remove ribbed idler pulley (15mm)
6. Remove SC tensioner (13mm nut in middle of tensioner pivot), and set assembly aside.
7. Loosen 15mm nut on front ICM stud
8. Remove 13mm/15mm nut holding ground wire to stud. Then 15mm to remove stud
9. Using E torx bit, loosen and remove the two studs from the head while supporting coil pack bracket.
10. Valvecover is now fully accessable. Change gasket/grommets and clean surfaces.
11. Reassemble.

Rear:
1. Remove alternator 13mm/15mm and SC to alt support bracket with Evap etc.
2. Loosen all bolts 13mm/15mmon the alternator bracket. (Key is you are going to wiggle this instead of draining coolant)
3. Remove map bracket and EGR shield 10mm
4. Wiggle alt bracket to clear the valvecover and do the gasket.

[dsmuts]

That bracket dies have to come off. 3 bolts on the side the coils can stay on it.

[p coico]

That bracket dies have to come off. 3 bolts on the side the coils can stay on it.

Well, here's what I did to change the front valvecover seal....
1. Disconnected negative battery terminal.
2. Removed supercharger belt.
3. Removed sc belt tensioner and idler pully.
4. Pulled electrical connector that is up high in front of supercharger off its mount, to provide slack on this harness that ties
into the coilpak harness.
5. Pulled all 6 sparkplug wires off the coils. If yours are not numbered,, NUMBER them before pulling.
6. Pulled the plastic sparkplug wire routing cover off the side of the valvecover, it kind of just snaps off. Do it carefully so as not to crack off anything.
Mine came off easy.
7. Remove the 2 bolts the mount the engine dogbone on the left side (when looking at the engine). These are the 2 that slide into the rubber mounts.
Remove the dogbone.
8. Remove the 1 nut and 1 stud that hold the coilpak bracket onto the side of the engine. These are in the area where the sc belt tensioner was.
You will need a 15mm DEEP socket for this.
9. Now here's one trick..... Slowly slide the bracket off the 2 studs that are there and while doing this gently push the harness that wraps around its lower
section down and around the bottom of the bracket. There was just enough length to the harness to allow you to do that and it goes back around pretty
easy when you need to put it back on. If you have trouble you may have the disconnect the harness from the coilpaks... I did NOT have to.
10. Just slide the bracket about to the ends of the studs and you will have enough clearance to get the valvecover off.
11. Remove 6 bolts that attach the valvecover and pull it off.
12. Clean the gasket groove and seal surface on the head thoroughly.. Clean mounting bolta and put new grommets on them.
I bought the Felpro gaskets from Autozone, came with the grommets.
13. Re-mount valvecover and torque bolts to 89 inch pounds.
14. Reverse procedure for steps 1 thru 10.....

Wasn't bad to do ..... GOOD LUCK !!!