I'd wait 'til tomorrow on the "official" word from UL...

 

Yea, that's what I decided

 

I checked today with old Chrysler colleagues and due to the wisdom of "corporate document retention policy," the build book is no longer available. However, the repair procedure is identical to the SOHC 2.0l Neon engine. It uses the red loctite. My recollection is that the interference fit in the 1.6l engine is greater (and deeper) than the 2.0l due to this concern about leakage, (a known issue when we designed the 1.6) so might be harder to remove. This guy seems to have a good handle on it and references the Neon service manual in his video:

http://youtu.be/-Dp4RoEW1N0

 

Yup, that's the video I watched a couple of days ago. I guess I'll yank that tube out of there, loctite/reloctite it, shove it back in and see if that fixes my problem. Is there a gasket down in the head that seals the tube?

 

New ones here, i would try to twist them out a hair, maybe with a pipe wrench and see it they budge. Just be careful when twisting and pulling.

You can get new ones here :

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/11121487186/

 

No gasket

 

Yea, juts the metal on metal and the loctite.

 

Curious:

Was the spark plug tube on your engine's #2 cylinder extended higher than the others as was the example in the video?

 

We have Loctite HERE if needed. Let us know if this fixes your issue, very curious!

 

Nope, they're all the same hight and at that point I didn't really think to see if it was loose. I actually just found a little bit of oil in tube 1, also. That hadn't been there before today. I won't be able to pull the tubes until tomorrow or saturday, but I'll post an update when I have new information or lack of information. Thanks for all the help, it's greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks, I've already been snooping around on your site.

 

Welcome,. we welcome the snoopers

 

Ooooooookay. Now that I'm looking at this, here's a little more info. When I first got the low oil pressure light and oil in the #2 tube, I took off the valve cover and the gasket looked exactly like this. That gasket was only a month old, all new gaskets were installed when the new head was installed. So, I replaced it when it failed and that one failed two days later(but I never really inspected it when I took it out). So, now the one you're looking at is the third and it failed in a day. Could I be doing this myself while putting on the valve cover?

 

There shouldn't be any tears like that. How are you inserting the seals into the valve cover?
Putting the valve cover on the engine is simply placing it in position. Hard to imagine hurting seals. You shouldn't need to beat it into place.

 

I just line up the holes and push it down into place. It's weird that this keeps happening to seal 2. I just don't know. New seals are on order.

 

When installing the spark plug tube seals, they should be pressed evenly into place from the underside of the valve cover, using even pressure from a large socket, not by pressing with a sharp object such as a screwdriver.

The valve cover should then easily slip over the tubes and down into position.

Are all the spark plug tubes even with one another when running a straight-edge across them? If so, I don't think the #2 tube is the issue.

Might want to just bring your car to a good mechanic and take the head rebuilding folks up on their offer, rather than throwing more parts at it... I still don't like how that timesert came out with the plug.

 

Well, the "head" people are only agreeing to pay for the time-sert fix, at this point, which isn't the cause of my oil problem. I think, somehow I'M the cause of that and I just can't figure it out. I'd like to bring it to my mechanic, however, not only am I trying to learn more about working on my own vehicles, I've also spent about $2k on this thing in the last 4 months and it's getting to a fix it myself or junk it point.

 

Not sure if you understood (apologies if you did), but David.R53 (quoted above) was asking exactly how you inserted the new spark plug seals into the valve cover, not how you're lowering the valve cover onto the spark plug tubes.

Those seals need to be seated properly in order to work. They are on the hard side, and can be difficult to seat. I found the best way is to warm them up a bit with a hair dryer to make them more pliable, then press them into place with a large socket on an extension, so they pop in evenly. Pushing them in with a screwdriver or punch can result in tears like the one you show.

Have you checked for "play" in the spark plug tube on cylinder #2 that would suggest that it has loosened? Maybe there's a crack in the tube that occurred when he time-sert was installed.

I think a focus on the #2 spark plug tube should be next on your list...

It is the cause, if they wrecked the spark plug tube when they did it...

 

Actually, I didn't have to use anything but my thumb to press them in. They went in very snug, but pressing all around the out side of each one with my thumb was enough. I knew to be careful. The #2 tube isn't seated any higher than the rest and, like all the others, it has no wiggle whatsoever.

 

There are BMW/MINI special tools for extracting and driving in the spark plug tools,
but they are hard to find and quite expensive, and although helpful, probably not essential.

 

Problem solved! It turns out that a rocker arm was lifting slightly higher than the rest and was tapping a hole into the seal. Thank you for the help, everyone. I own a 2002 mini, so I'm sure I'll be needing your brains again soon.

 

Thanks for the update, we need pics .

 

 

Looks good with the BRG and the green Forrest. Nice shot.