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Nasty surprise on the 960 valve cover. (PHOTOS) 900

posted by  someone claiming to be tjts1 on  Sun Jul 18 16:32 CST 2004 [RELATED]

I decided I wanted to ditch the Bosch Platium 2s I had in my 960 and swap Bosch supers. I didn't notice any difference with the Supers except the idle was less stable. Went back to the parts store the next day and bought a set of NGK V-power plugs (copper core). When I took off the plastic cover, I found this (see photo). Half of the little crevaces on the valve cover were filled with oil. Oil that had not been there the previous day. I had no idea where it was coming from. I cleaned it up, swapped plugs and hoped for the best. About 200 miles later I took the plastic cover off again only to find more oil on the valve cover to my dismay. The spark plug wells were absolutely spotless. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the area around the 2 rear passenger side plastic cover screw holes was oily. I installed the screws without the cover. Even when almost competely torqued down, the screws were lose in the holes. I could jiggle with my finger from side to side. So the holes for those 2 screws are drilled too deep, going all the way through the valve cover, into the engine. When I take a hard turns to the left and accelerating up a hill (driving in Malibu hills) oil pools in that area in the head and seeps up the the loose screw thread. It sounds unlikely but its the only explanation.
After a second clean up, I wrapped the screw threads with gas pipe thread sealant tape. This made for a very snug fit on the valve cover. After some more spirited driving in the hills, I am happy to report that the valve cover is now spotless. No more oil leaks. The valve cover was always a little oily so it might have been seeping slwly for years. The area is covered with years of burnt oil I will let you know if there are any new leaks.
The rest of the photos:
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v321/tjts1/engine%20stuff/?

By the way I am happy to report that the NGK copper plugs are excelent. I managed 25 MPG on my last tank of mostly highway and some city driving. I highly recomend these over any platinum plug including the 3 prong Volvo plugs. Oh and in my personal opinion BOSCH plugs are garbage. Just check the resistance on any 6 plugs and decide for your self. You won't find 3 plugs within 10% of each other. All 6 NGKs I installed are within 5%.







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