My truck has 171k miles and has seen it’s fair share of hard use. I can honestly say it has held together well considering. Over the last few months with trips to King of Hammers in Johnson Valley and the 4WD Customer Appreciation Day in Ocotillo Wells the Cherokee has seen a lot of mileage and is showing it with a plethora of oil leaks.
So far I’ve replaced the oil filter adapter o-rings in a previous post. now it’s on to the rocker cover gasket and grommets. While this isn’t a hard job it can get a little messy. I started off by disconnecting the throttle, cruise, and transmission cables from the throttle body then removing the 3 10mm bolts that hold the cable bracket down to the intake manifold. Once you have those out of the way you can remove the plastic spark plug wire retainer with two 7/16 nuts that hold it down. After you have all that unbolted you can disconnect the two hoses on top of the valve cover, be careful as these are usually hardened due to age and can easily break the plastic nipples they are attached to if pulled too hard.
After all of that you can actually remove the 7/16 bolts and studs that hold the rocker cover down and remove the old gasket. Take note which bolts and studs go where as you take them off so you can re-install them correctly. You’ll have to wiggle the rocker cover to be able to lift it off as there is a giant washer on the rear head stud that holds down the ground strap to the fire wall, you can remove it for this service if you prefer but make sure it is clean and tight when you are done otherwise you will have lots of fun electrical issues!
Now that the rocker cover is removed you can see the rockers, valve springs, and push rods. I usually give these a thorough visual inspection to look for any signs of fatigue and or excessive heat which can show a lack of lubrication. The old rocker cover gasket will lift off the two locating pins and fit snugly in the bottom of the nearest trash can.
Grab a clean rag or shop towel and wipe down the sealing surface on the cylinder head till it’s clean and then simply lay the new gasket down making sure you line up the holes for the locating pins. Then Clean off the valve cover sealing surface and if your gasket kit came with them you can replace the grommets on the hold downs also. I also like to replace the breather nipple grommets because usually they have also hardened and can seep oil. Take not that if you choose to replace them you should probably replace the two breather nipples as they like to break when being removed.
Re-install the rocker cover and torque the bolts to the factory spec which is 70-80 inch/lbs starting from the center and working out to the ends. Re-install all the other hardware and hoses and you’re good to go. Start the engine and inspect for leaks, if there are none shut it off and check the oil level and correct as necessary.
I don’t have the dreaded rear main seal leak but I’m sure it will show up eventually…
The Performance Side 