2013 F150 3.5 Ecoboost valve train pics

[B1974]

Changing a leaking passenger side valve cover gasket and seals. 114k kms.

It was leaking at the back by the vacuum pump at the 90 degree corners going over the camshaft, dripping on the cats. Also leaking out of the spark plug seals and running down the valve cover right onto the exhaust and turbos. No oil in the spark plug tubes. It wasn't leaking much but I could smell it after sitting overnight.

It had gray RTV at the timing cover/head joint but not at the rear vacuum pump 90 degree corners from the factory. I'm going to RTV the timing/head joint and vacuum pump corners at the rear.

I still had to clean the surfaces after this pic. I'm the original owner and was using 5w30 PP then 5w30 RGT now 5w40 M1. A mix of Wix Xp, FL500S, Champ 500XL and Fram Ultra for filters.

 

[ctechbob]

How many miles?

 

[B1974]

How many miles?

114k kms so about 70k miles.

 

[Lubener]

Seeing nothing unusual here, using synthetic and changing oil on a regular basis. Views like this are very common today. I do not see any reason why you cleaned anything after this pic.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Changing a leaking passenger side valve cover gasket and seals. 114k kms.

It was leaking at the back by the vacuum pump at the 90 degree corners going over the camshaft, dripping on the cats. Also leaking out of the spark plug seals and running down the valve cover right onto the exhaust and turbos. No oil in the spark plug tubes. It wasn't leaking much but I could smell it after sitting overnight.

It had gray RTV at the timing cover/head joint but not at the rear vacuum pump 90 degree corners from the factory. I'm going to RTV the timing/head joint and vacuum pump corners at the rear.

I still had to clean the surfaces after this pic. I'm the original owner and was using 5w30 PP then 5w30 RGT now 5w40 M1. A mix of Wix Xp, FL500S, Champ 500XL and Fram Ultra for filters.
View attachment 183838

When it’s all back together can you give us a time estimate it took to complete, without any “extra” stuff you did?

 

[hemitom]

What type of intervals are you running yearly or mileage ?
looks very good...

 

[JavierH19]

Looks good to me.

 

[loneryder]

What is RGT oil?

 

[sloinker]

5W40 seems a little heavy to my mind. What is factory recommended weight? Seems most modern vehicles that use oil for cam variation timing, limit out at 5W30 with many being much lighter viscosities. Just wanting to inform myself. Thanks.

 

[DuckRyder]

What is RGT oil?

Guessing Rotella Gas Truck.

 

[KrisZ]

Looks good, just don't over do it with the RTV. Looks like the factory did and it still leaked.

 

[B1974]

I do not see any reason why you cleaned anything after this pic.

Just cleaned the gasket mating surface a bit more.

What type of intervals are you running yearly or mileage ?

Once in spring and once in fall. I set the oil minder to 60% but usually never hit 0% on it, I think it's usually 5,000kms.
The fuel dilution in these keeps the insides clean.

Looks good, just don't over do it with the RTV. Looks like the factory did and it still leaked.

It didn't leak at the factory RTV points. The base of the vacuum pump arch in the cover leaked probably due to the gasket getting hard over time, I'm going to RTV those spots. And the spark plug tubes leaked down the valve cover.

 

[B1974]

All back together now. I'll update if it leaks again. Took about 3 hours in total with me taking my time, this could be done in less then a couple hours if one needed to work fast. Used a Fel-pro gasket set.

 

[JavierH19]

5W40 seems a little heavy to my mind. What is factory recommended weight? Seems most modern vehicles that use oil for cam variation timing, limit out at 5W30 with many being much lighter viscosities. Just wanting to inform myself. Thanks.

5w-30. And no ford's ti-vct is torque actuated and it's actually the opposite. The engine doesn't mind thicker oil but if the oil is too thin the oil pressure will be too low and the locking pin in the phaser won't stay engaged causing cam problems. So going thicker is actually better for vct operation on engines with that problem like the early dohc 5.0.