stuff under valve cover

[gettinthere]

Had valve clearances checked. They were OK. Mechanic put valve cover back on with new gasket. Now it leaks like crazy. I pulled it off and found lots of old crusty stuff on the gasket face of the head.
In cleaning that off, some dropped into the deep pocket the valve push rod runs in. Is that sealed at the bottom of that hole? Its extremely difficult to see down in there let alone pick anything out. It would seem easy to get debris in those pockets just by changing oil.
Engine is an old Perkins 4.145 diesel. Runs well.

 

[woodster]

this is why they put a sump screen in and also the oil filter ....you will be OK if it wasn't nuts and bolts ...i have seen worse than that fall in the engine and run for ever ....but next time stuff some rags around the push rod holes and you will not worry about it so much...you should be OK .....i do know that its not good to have this happen but it is probably not sever enough to pull the engine and then pull the pan to clean it out ...

regards

woody

 

[Dan Hill]

All that Woodster posted plus....

Find a new mechanic! Anyone that would install a new gasket without cleaning the old one out completely is NO mechanic. Personally I wouldn't trust his valve adjustment/assessment either.

 

[gettinthere]

This was a fairly large S Fl operation. I expected them to be able to handle this simple task.
Certainly will not return.
I got the clearamce dimensions from trans atlantic. He checked and all was on spec so nothing was changed.

Thanks guys

 

[Benny17441]

If the engine is not missing and you do not hear an intermittent tapping sound then your valve clearances should be OK given the fact that the mechanic just checked them and found no adjustment needed. At the sight of an oil leak you should have called the company back to fix their doing. I would not worry about pieces of gasket material down in the crankcase. It is customary to scrape and remove all gasket material when replacing but it is not unheard of that some of the caked pieces can be overlooked. I would have been interested to see how well the company would have responded to your problem.

 

[Bill Roosa]

The push rod holes lead to the camshaft and the engine sump. If they where substantially smaller then the pushrod to hole clearance then I'd not be too concerned. If they where "big" pieces then you might want to "push them all the way through" to the sum with a long thin bottle brush. By big I mean they would prevent oil from flowing back to the sump in that hole. As long as the valve train drains there should not be any problem.

 

[gettinthere]

Not going back to the service shop...

Screw me once shame on you, screw me twice shame on me.
They wont get a second chance. Gross incompetence first time around means no way. Doesnt have the presence of mond to clean off the old crap? I found a lot of it.

 

[Roadking Larry]

A phone call to the businesses manager letting him/her know why you will be taking your future business elsewhere might also be in order