Rocker Cover Seal Set Replacement

DavAmb

Forum Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2014
Messages
33
Location
Corinella
Car Year
2008
Car Model
Forester
Transmission
Manual 5 speed
Hey all,

been plagued by oil leaking into the plug holes and causing miss-firing. If I pull the plug leads and give them a good clean-up she runs just fine for a couple of days and then starts to miss under load.

So... resigned to doing a rocker cover seal set replacement I ordered what I thought were the right (generic) parts, but having got them and dismantling the RHS I find I've come a gutsa and got the wrong bits.

Now I thought this (2008) car had the EJ25 engine and that a gasket set for "1998~2010 Subaru Forester 2.5L, EJ251/EJ253 SOHC 16V" would be the right stuff, but it appears not. So can someone please please please point me in the right direction to what is the right engine code for this car.

Have noticed though that it sure looks like the engine has to be raised a cm or two so the rocker cover clears the chassis rail, but you can remove the plughole seals with the cover just hanging in place. Inspection shows these to be well on their way to becoming Bakelite, so no wonder there's a bit of oil weep.

Thinking it would be possible to pack the plug seals slightly - on the inside where they sit on the top of the plug tube - and thus put a bit more pressure on the seal surface that bears against the cover. As only a temporary measure until I can locate the right bits it might be worth a punt. Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Dave.
 
You can use grey three bond silicone to seal them up. I personally prefer subaru parts where it is a little more time consuming job, dont want to do it too often. Cheers.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, will follow up GreenTreeFrog and see if she/he can help out.

I did end up machining a couple of fibre washers down so they fitted on the inside of the plug seal (over the top of the plug tube). They were just under a mm thick and thus put a bit more force on the rocker cover face and seem to have stopped the leakage. Only done this on the easy (RH) side so far, will see how it pans out over the next day's commute before I bother doing same on LHS. And this is, of course, just an interim measure until I can get the right parts.

Have left a query with the dudes who sold me the parts, see what they have to say. Sure thought "1998~2010 Subaru Forester 2.5L, EJ251/EJ253 SOHC 16V" covered my '08 car! The kit obviously fits some Subaru, the question is which one. Whatever it is, it has 5 studs per side and it's the earlier type that uses grommet seals on each stud. Mine has 6 and the gasket seal is designed so that the studs are outside the gasket line and need no separate seals. Parts soon to appear in the "For Sale" section!

Cheers,
Dave.
 
I'd assume its for the EJ251, I know they use the grommet seals. I don't know much about the earlier 2L, but I doubt it would be off one of them, especially since it said 2.5L. So it will fit 2003-2005 SG5 non-turbos.
 
New seals due to arrive probably tomorrow from GTF but BessieF chucked a wobbly on the way home tonight; engine management light and traction control lights are both on, cruise control dropped out and cruise lamp just flashes now. Couldn't wait one more friggin day...
 
Much thanks Scooby2, I needed that. Have had vague thoughts of setting fire to the damn thing.

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to reset the fault codes or do you need an ODBII scanner? Left the battery disconnected last night, but error still there when reconnected this morning. Car runs fine, so I don't think any damage done. Think it was just open-loop for too long.
 
DavAmb, I found this:

"quote: Originally Posted by Dutch Eagle
When you install a new battery, or have it disconnected, the ECU get's all kinds of fault codes and will do all kind of 'funny' things to safe the engine.
You will be surprised how many you have when you hook up the OBD-II.


Just have the ECU fully reset, and the list is clean again.

Normally the ECU needs about a day then to come back to it's normal ignition-timing. You can bypass this by the following trick:

Drive in second or third gear, and try to hold 3000rpm while breaking constantly for about 20 seconds.
Well, if the battery was out of the car for more than about 10 minutes during the swap, your ECU is fully reset anyway."

Don't know if it's helpful or not, but I do know sometimes just leaving things a full day between "incidents" will change the ECU response.

Best regards,
 
Found out that fault codes are logged in non-volatile memory. Only way to reset is ODBII. Stopped by the local speed garage on the way in to work and had it reset for $50. Not great value when you can buy a reader for $200 from SuperCheap or even better on-line, but I just don't have the extra readies at the moment. Santa might take notice to bring me one though. Anyway, all lights are out and now I have the right top-end seal kit on my desk courtesy of the esteemed GreenTreeFrog.

Tomorrow I get to find out if you have to raise the motor to get the rocker covers off. I did my spacer trick last week with them unscrewed and just floating around on the heads - just enough room to maneuver the plug seals off and on, but not to replace the cover seal.

Thanks to all for the help. Much appreciated.

Cheers,
Dave.
 
Good to hear you're back on track again! But a shame mechanics are so overpriced:sadbanana:

Let me know if you can do yours with out raising the engine, I should do mine soonish, maybe (the seals arrived almost a month ago and I still haven't got round to it yet, my excuse is that its been raining alot) but it would be nice to know if I can get away without raising the engine.
 
You can reset codes yourself
Subaru Engine Codes - troublecodes.net


"Codes will only clear when the faulty system or circuit has been repaired. After making the repairs, codes can be cleared by connecting 2 pairs of connectors, the "Self-diagnostic" connectors and the "Read Memory" connectors that are usually to the right of the diagnostic connectors.​

  • Start with a warmed up engine
  • Turn off the engine
  • Connect both pairs of connectors
  • Fianlly start the engine
  • This should clear the codes."
This works, I've done it myself & its free!
 
Ahh ... I knew I had seen something somewhere Luva of the Nacha! Legend. I had only done it on my 95 liberty which is done differently to newer ones.
 
Ok Matt, just for you...

Bad news was she had the briefest of spack attacks on the way home on Friday and my $50 was spat out the 'zorst. No matter, I was determined to get it sorted Saturday and so it was. 'Fraid I have no pics, wasn't going to get the 60D grubby and no-one else around to take the shots.

So if you're going to do this, get some degreaser and a pressure washer and make sure that at least the top end areas of each cylinder bank are spotless. This just makes you life easier and minimises the chance of crap getting in your luverly mota. You don't need much in the way of tools, just a 10mm (for M6 screws) socket and ratchet spanner and a 12mm (for M8 screws) socket and extension. Other miscellaneous tools such as mirror-on-a-stick, screwdrivers, hammers, OBDII scanners, cyclotrons and gas axe as required.

Unless you've lowered the beast you won't need ramps, but I really advise taking the engine undercover off. This is by 3 M6 screws, two at front, one at rear and 2 delicate plastic snap clips on each side. With the cover off you can check that the rocker cover gasket is properly seated and get better access to the bottom rear screw that holds the covers on. There was enough room for me to get under the car to remove the cover so I didn't bother with ramps. Would have made the rest of the work a pain anyway.

So let's get rocking. Please forgive some of the technical terms. I'm not exactly sure of the correct parlance for some of the items.

Disconnect and remove the battery. Disconnect the MAF connector and move its lead out of the way. Loosen the two Jubilee clips that connect the trunk from still air box intake manifold box. Remove the still-air box "feeder" gizmo and then the box itself. Take real care with the plastic clips that hold the feeder. Half turn with the screwdriver until the centre section is as high as goes then lever the outside up gently with a small screwdriver. Remove the trunk that holds the MAF. Remove all 4 sparkplug caps from the plug holes. Unclip the leads at the lower 2 points each side and put the leads out of the way up on top of the engine.

Have a good look at each of the plug caps. Clean them thoroughly inside and out to remove all traces of oil. A rag moistened with petrol will assist here. Be very careful with leads and caps. They are expensive to replace. Disconnect the PCV hoses on each side from the center of each rocker cover. Push the hoses out of the way.

Remove the injector protector brackets. There are 4 M8 screws for these. Remove the cable ties around the injector loom. A small screwdriver between the release pin and the tie 'rack' will allow you to undo these and re-use them later. Have a darn good look around the injectors and observe how it all goes together. Make sure it's also spotless. This is your last chance! There are another 2 M8 screws each side that hold the fuel rails to the heads. Remove these. We'll come back to this in a bit.

I did this one side at a time, but you could elect to it all in one go - whatever you feel comfortable with:
Remove all 6 M6 screws that retain the rocker covers on each side. The rocker covers should now come away from the cylinder with little force. I did have to use a large screwdriver to get mine started, but made sure I levered off a bit of the head that wouldn't compromise the seal and likewise the cover. Once the rocker covers are free of the heads, just leave them hanging. Go back to the fuel rails and lift them up to clear the injectors. There's enough movement provided by the rubber pipe that feeds the rail to do this. While holding the rail up, manoeuvre the rocker cover up and clear of the valve gear. It's tricky. Be patient. It is possible. If you feel more comfortable removing the injectors as well then do so. Just make sure you've got all the seals involved. Lose one or fail to seal the rail properly and the results will be at the least messy, at the worst ... well, open-ended really.

Remove the cover gaskets and discard, likewise the sparkplug tube seals. Clean the sparkplug tubes WHILE THE PLUGS ARE STILL IN THERE. I had so much baked-on crap in cylinder #3 tube, I had to pour 10ccs of petrol in and let it sit for 10 mins. Then used a bit of co-tanger wire with a bit of rag on the end to clean. The mirror-on-a-stick really helps here. You want it perfecto before the plugs come out. I also used the compressor to give it a blow job, but it took a fair bit of effort until I was satisfied.

Now replace the sparkplugs. You bought Iridiums didn't you.

Clean the rocker covers thoroughly. I put some light fresh grease on both the new cover seals and the tube seals - wipe off any excess though. Make sure you get the cover seal in the right way around - you'll work it out and the little bit of remaining grease will help hold it in place.

Put the new plug tube seals on the ends of the tubes. Carefully drop the rocker covers with seals back over the valve gear, holding the fuel rail out of the way in the process. Tricky this bit, you don't want to damage the cover seal. Take your time.

Bravo! Here's the traditional cop-out; reverse the dismantling process to put it all back together. No really, that's exactly how it goes. Make 100% sure you've got the injectors and fuel rail right. Don't guess or I will come around to your place and call you names. And don't overtighten the rocker cover screws either. Use your brain, that's what it's for.

It was too late for me to get to SuperCheap Wonthaggi to buy an OBDII reader, but I did that first thing Sunday morning. BessieF was running very nicely thank me very much. If anyone needs to use the reader, you're most welcome - home's a pleasant hour's drive out of town.

Think that's all. Hope I haven't forgotten anything.

Cheers,
Dave.
 
Great write up! and good to hear that BessieF is running well again.

The bolts for the rocker covers should be done to 5Nm/3.7ftlbs of torque, so not very tight at all!
 
DavAmb... I concur with Red XS .. brilliant write up.... very glad to hear that BessieF is back to her (forgive me... but BessieF sounds like a girl) normal reliable self. Hopefully you will have hours of trouble free motoring before she needs open heart surgery again!

Best regards,
 
Well...
things haven't gone as planned, BessieF started missing again during the week, but I've had to work long hours so no time to look into it. After 11 days straight at work, I took today off for a long weekend and decided to get to the bottom of this before doing anything else.

No fault codes reported, so decided to follow William of Occam's advice and pulled the spark plug leads. Sure enough, #4 pot had a bit of oil - looks like the seal didn't seat properly. All others fine, so decided to pull the LHS rocker cover and investigate. Bit of gunk on the underside of the seal, cleaned it all up and reseated. Problem solved thinks I.

With the undertray off already I thought I'd treat her to an oil change as I had a new filter kicking around as well as fresh oil. My my, that oil filter is a right ba****rd. Had to spike it with a screwdriver in the end. Hate doing that. Put it all back together and then thought that was that. Decided to run into Wonthaggi to replenish stores as Daisy the Housekeeper (muggins in maintenance mode) has let the place run down while I've been pulling the long hours. Nope, that miss is still there. What's the friggin story???

Even being very light on the throttle, she still chucked a wobbly on the Anderson roundabout but at least now I had an error code to work with. Back at home with the OBDII reader I find 2 instances of #3 missfires. But that's odd, the other 3 pots were spotless.

But then I found this:

IMG_1834_01_zps56452d94.jpg


Tracking! Straight down the mould line of the plug cap. Ahhhhh!

Will try and clean it up, but I think replacement is in order. Anyone know if you can buy individual caps or do you have to buy a complete lead set. If the latter, I'm guessing there won't be much change out of $10,000...

(Oh and BTW, think I forgot to mention in my earlier process to remove the oil filler snorkel. Also, if you cut the top 3 inches off a 2l Pura milk container, it engages very nicely with the thread in the filler snorkel and makes for drip-free oil filling.)
 
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