Hi everyone... My 91 8V Auto Tracker had a bit of an oil leak, so I decided to fix it myself. I'm pretty sure the main source of it is a faulty valve cover gasket because it was leaking from the front corner of the valve cover.
Now I've done brakes and changed an oil pan gasket, changed a timing belt on my Metro, changed a water pump in my Trans Am, and put an exhaust manifold on this vehicle, but this is the first time I've ever torn *into* an engine, and I'm a bit intimidated. I know, I can almost hear the laughter now...a measly valve cover? Just run with me, k?
So, I pulled the Tracker into the garage, popped the hood, and went to work. I managed to get everything out of the way and then pulled the valve cover..and indeed the gasket looked absolutely shot in the problem area, however, as I examined things closer (Hmmmm, so THAT'S a camshaft!
)I noticed a hole where there shouldn't be a hole:
and closer up:
Pulling out my trusty FSM that I snagged from EBay per suggestion here (THANKS JTGH!!!), I believed the missing culprit to be a "Rocker Arm Shaft Screw" (figure 69, page 6A1-22 of the 91 FSM). Now I figured it couldn't just be *gone*, so I pulled out a magnetic retrieval tool, which has a cameo as the pointer in the above photos, and went fishing around in the oil that surrounded the rockers and springs. After a few minutes...BINGO!!
To say I was a little surprised to find this mangled little thing would be an understatement. Sooooo here's my questions:
1. Is this a common screw that I can get from my local bolt/screw supply place, or do I need to hit the junkyard?
2. Is there anything special I need to do besides screw it back in?
3. Is this really bad?
4. Do I need to check anything else in here before I put it back together?
Help! Found a surprise under the Valve Cover
)
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