2001 Ford Zetec, 140k Valvetrain Pics

[Ifixyawata]

Had to replace the VC gasket along with this OCI on my Focus.

Found that someone had used some sealant in addition to the gasket on the last installation:


I used some brake cleaner on a blue shop towel. Any time the towel got near cam lobes the sharp edges pulled lint off. I noticed this only after cleaning most of the mating surface... that was fun to clean off.




And a close-up of a cam lobe; before I cleaned all the lint off and flushed clean oil down over them.



I think the cams and head look pretty good for 15 years of 5w-20 synthetic blend.

 

[440Magnum]

Looks very clean, but being post-1990s and with syn blend that's expected. Compare it to the 30-year-old Chrysler 2.2 / 270k mile conventional oil valvetrain pics posted day before yesterday, and you can see the slight additional varnish that 15 more years and conventional oil adds, but a valvecover packed with goo is a thing of the past if maintenance is good and the basic design is not defective (poor PCV, for example).

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3941626/1

 

[Hokiefyd]

Looks great! Some RTV in the corners of the gasket, to either tack it in place or to better seal the intersection of some metal parts, is fairly common.

(Frankly, that Chrysler in the other thread looks pretty good, too!)

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Looks good to me!

 

[bullwinkle]

Looks new, other than some minor pitting (could be my 50+ yr. old eyes)? With roller followers, can't think it would be a big deal.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Looks new, other than some minor pitting (could be my 50+ yr. old eyes)? With roller followers, can't think it would be a big deal.
I thought that it was pitting too, until I clicked on the photo and it took me to Photobucket where I could enlarge it. It is lint from the cleaning (check it out and see if you agree).

PS...OP, it looks great for the time and mileage.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Looks new, other than some minor pitting (could be my 50+ yr. old eyes)? With roller followers, can't think it would be a big deal.


Doesn't look like the Zetec has roller followers to me, I meant to ask the OP in the original post. I don't know how you'd implement a roller in a direct-acting cam without a rocker arm or finger follower. The '86 Chrysler in the other thread has finger followers and hydraulic lash adjusters on the fixed end of the finger (same as they use for things like the 4.7 v8), but in the case of the old 2.2 they're non-roller. It was a pre-1980 design, after all.

 

[ARB1977]

Looks great. Keep doing what your doing.

 

[cptbarkey]

The Zetec is a great engine, as long as it can breathe well. did the valve covers on a 2001 focus about 6 months ago and it looked similar to yours.

 

[Skid]

Be careful with brake cleaner on heads. If it has acetone or some other ketone, and your valve stem seals are Viton, you'll be changing the seals soon.

 

[Ifixyawata]

I think the rtv was there to maybe prevent or repair a leak at that 90 degree junction. I installed the new gasket mostly dry with a sparse rub down of clean oil. The gasket is held captive in the valve cover when being installed, its a vertical design instead of a flat one. It's more of a rubber seal really. I'm still smelling some burning oil at stop lights but I think it's slowly going away.. No sign of leaks. Torqued the cover to 8 ft lbs them found that the spec is 6.... Eating at me a little.

I think it's what you'd call a direct acting cam... (Buckets?) Indeed it's lint pictured there.

I only used the brake cleaner on a rag and applied it directly to the mating surface. I did soak the cover itself though.

I'm glad that it's as clean as I felt it was going to be. Little things like the car still having factory rubber floor mats with the focus logo on them made me feel like this car had been well taken care of. Aside from little things like the PO having used a cheap, now failed motor mount it seems to have been babied.

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Skid
Be careful with brake cleaner on heads. If it has acetone or some other ketone, and your valve stem seals are Viton, you'll be changing the seals soon.


This is why you should never use the "chlorine free" brake cleaners- they have all sorts of aggressive solvents in them. Good old chlorinated Brakleen (red can) is pure dry-cleaning fluid (tetrachloroethylene) and is safe for a wide range of plastic and rubber compounds. There are a very few that it will attack so you still have to be careful, but the non-chlorinated kind actually goes after *most* polymers IME. :-/

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
I'm still smelling some burning oil at stop lights but I think it's slowly going away.. No sign of leaks. Torqued the cover to 8 ft lbs them found that the spec is 6.... Eating at me a little.


My 1996 Zetec Contour also has a smell of burning oil for around the first 500-700 miles after an oil change. The valve cover shows signs of oil weeping but not dripping or leaking. I do use a funnel to add the oil so I don't spill it onto the exhaust manifold. I'm at a loss as to why I smell burning oil for only a short time while still being careful when adding the new oil.

Whimsey

 

[cptbarkey]

Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
I think the rtv was there to maybe prevent or repair a leak at that 90 degree junction. I installed the new gasket mostly dry with a sparse rub down of clean oil. The gasket is held captive in the valve cover when being installed, its a vertical design instead of a flat one. It's more of a rubber seal really. I'm still smelling some burning oil at stop lights but I think it's slowly going away.. No sign of leaks. Torqued the cover to 8 ft lbs them found that the spec is 6.... Eating at me a little.

I think it's what you'd call a direct acting cam... (Buckets?) Indeed it's lint pictured there.

I only used the brake cleaner on a rag and applied it directly to the mating surface. I did soak the cover itself though.

I'm glad that it's as clean as I felt it was going to be. Little things like the car still having factory rubber floor mats with the focus logo on them made me feel like this car had been well taken care of. Aside from little things like the PO having used a cheap, now failed motor mount it seems to have been babied.

Thanks for all the feedback.


some honda's and hyundai/kias actually call for using RTV at specific points near the cam ends when doing the valve cover gasket. whoever was there last may have made an assumption. the FSM would say for sure.

 

[Ifixyawata]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
I'm still smelling some burning oil at stop lights but I think it's slowly going away.. No sign of leaks. Torqued the cover to 8 ft lbs them found that the spec is 6.... Eating at me a little.


My 1996 Zetec Contour also has a smell of burning oil for around the first 500-700 miles after an oil change. The valve cover shows signs of oil weeping but not dripping or leaking. I do use a funnel to add the oil so I don't spill it onto the exhaust manifold. I'm at a loss as to why I smell burning oil for only a short time while still being careful when adding the new oil.

Whimsey


I'm starting now to think that there must be oil reaching the exhaust manifold by some other means. I still, after 4 days and no sigh of a leaking gasket, have oil burning smell when I'm stopped at a light, etc. I'm guessing I don't smell it while moving due to the fact that the air is blowing over it and blowing the smell out from under the car. The burning oil smell was the main reason I changed the gasket. The leak wasn't severe enough to cause me to need to top up the oil but the smell through the vents is quite annoying.

 

[RobertStevens]

Good luck with any zetec valve cover gasket, it will leak again within the year.

 

[Ifixyawata]

I've just been researching around about this some more. The oil smell is about to put me over the edge. Every time I've looked there's no sign of oil leakage anywhere yet the oil burning smell is as strong as ever.

I've heard that Zetecs are very 'hard' on valve cover gaskets but I think this is something else, at least right now.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
I've just been researching around about this some more. The oil smell is about to put me over the edge. Every time I've looked there's no sign of oil leakage anywhere yet the oil burning smell is as strong as ever.

I've heard that Zetecs are very 'hard' on valve cover gaskets but I think this is something else, at least right now.


Like you I'm at a loss as to where the oil burning smell is coming from. When I first changed my plugs at ~50,000 miles I saw that #1 spark plug tube was wet with oil. When I recently changed the plugs at ~105,000 miles the #1 spark tube was dry. Previously I used Schaeffer's synblend then various full synthetic oils. The last oil change I used Shell Formula conventional oil and still got the oil burning smell for the same 500-1000 miles after the oil change. I barely use any oil between OCI's, even with a 8800 mile OCI with PP 5W-30. I'm at a loss and deciding whether it's worth it to replace my barely weeping valve cover gasket. It looks like a pain to replace and if it doesn't stop the early on only oil burning smell is it worth it. The strength of the oil burning smell indicates that it is dripping onto a very hot surface then stops. I'm at s loss, why does the burning oil burning smell stop?

Whimsey

 

[Ifixyawata]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
I've just been researching around about this some more. The oil smell is about to put me over the edge. Every time I've looked there's no sign of oil leakage anywhere yet the oil burning smell is as strong as ever.

I've heard that Zetecs are very 'hard' on valve cover gaskets but I think this is something else, at least right now.


Like you I'm at a loss as to where the oil burning smell is coming from. When I first changed my plugs at ~50,000 miles I saw that #1 spark plug tube was wet with oil. When I recently changed the plugs at ~105,000 miles the #1 spark tube was dry. Previously I used Schaeffer's synblend then various full synthetic oils. The last oil change I used Shell Formula conventional oil and still got the oil burning smell for the same 500-1000 miles after the oil change. I barely use any oil between OCI's, even with a 8800 mile OCI with PP 5W-30. I'm at a loss and deciding whether it's worth it to replace my barely weeping valve cover gasket. It looks like a pain to replace and if it doesn't stop the early on only oil burning smell is it worth it. The strength of the oil burning smell indicates that it is dripping onto a very hot surface then stops. I'm at s loss, why does the burning oil burning smell stop?

Whimsey


I'm not sure that you and I are having the exact same issue. It's only been a few hundred miles since my oil change but it doesn't seem like the oil smell is going to go away. I'm going to take a closer look at the PCV valve and hoses. I saw that the PO replaced the rear PCV hose that's prone to collapsing with the revised part with heat shield on it so I just assumed the valve and the rest was good.