TayZ776

My F150 has leaking valve covers and i cant afford to replace them right now, so im wondering what the best stop leak engine oil additive is so i can use it on my next oil change this month. Does anyone have any favorite brands of theirs or any suggestions?

wde3477

Have you tried tightening the valve covers yet? Not sure what year you have, but many times, at least on older vehicles, the gasket will shrink or compress a bit, or the bolts may back off for whatever reason. A little snugging up of the bolts can work wonders in these cases, but don't overtighten.

Aside from that - not a fan of stop leak additives unless looking to dump the vehicle shortly.

kickinit

There are alot of engine oatmeals to stop lubricating your engine. Doesnt matter much but if leaking valve covers are the concern what wrong with saving a little and then replacing them? Depending on the year you have this is easy even for a novice and the seals are CHEAP as hell, maybe $40. for the set. That was the quick price check for a 01 F-150 5.4l.

TayZ776

I have a 90 5.0L v8 with that ****ty EFI intake that hangs over the passenger side valve cover and i really dont feel like doing the job myself so im saving up to pay to have the job done which ive been quoted at 500 bucks. So i was wondering in the mean time what the good stop leak additives there were on the market, not about how much seals cost or that i should replace them because i know this already.

wde3477

Suggest to find another quote - sounds awful high.

The intake plenum is not that difficult - just need to get the right-sized Torx stub (not socket) wrench that will fit down in between to catch the center bolt on the passenger side where the plenum connects to the manifold. IIRC, 1/4" drive fitting with extension works well, 3/8" drive is too wide to fit in the gap.

If it were me, I would put up with the leak rather than risk clogging an oil passage or the like with stop-leak. As far as products - Barr's is a reputable name that comes to mind.

TayZ776

alright thanks alot, i guess ill do a bit more research into seeing how to go about doing the job myself.

NGM

Its not that hard. Just take your time.. keep everything clean.

TayZ776

gotcha, but i do have to take off the intake to get to the passenger side right? so id need to buy a new intake gasket and two valve cover gaskets, and hell why'll im at ill add in some shiny new valve covers :/

wde3477

Yeah, the intake plenum needs to come off. Be sure to get the right gasket - you will need the plenum-to-manifold gasket, not the traditional intake manifold gasket that most interpret to be the one between the manifold and the block.

And yes, two valve cover gaskets - can't remember if they're mirror images of each other, or if there's a specific one for driver-side and passenger-side.

Shiny new covers won't do a thing for your leak - but it'll make things look spiffier :-)

TayZ776

good stuff, ill have a look around in my lmc catalog