4.6 Thor valley cover leak.

[PeterH]

Hi everyone, I have a coolant leak at the back of the engine on my 4.6 Thor.
It's very difficult to spot exactly where it's coming from, I tried an inspection camera and the good old mirror and torch, I can see evidence of coolant around the middle of the rear of the engine.
It's been running down the bell housing.
From what I can tell it seems to be coming from the valley cover bolt in the middle.
I've had a look at other forums and I'm suspecting it could be the valley cover gasket at the rear of the engine.
I don't think it's head gaskets, it seems to be from the middle of the engine as far as I can tell.
Has anyone done the valley cover gasket job and how did you go with it?
I've had a look at rave and it looks doable, but I've never tackled this job before, any thoughts appreciated!
Thanks, Pete.

[prelude]

No experience with the thor, but I have done the GEMS a few times. Seeing as the intake/throttle body is the only real difference but the block underneath (including the heads afaik) is exactly the same, the valley gasket will be more or less the same as well.

I have found that giving the gasket a tight fit is not always easy since it needs to sit in between / "under" the cylinder heads on both sides and the rocker cover gasket may or may not be in the way if it sticks out. Other than that it is a fairly easy job. Remove the intake and injection, a lot of screws and plugs. It will drain some coolant but if your valley gasket is not split somewhere it will pool at the end and drip off. The remainder can easily be done up with a rag. Remove the two round metal braces that hold the gasket down, clean als much dirt as you can or it WILL fall into the engine, et presto!

I usually remove two of the four retaining clips of the gas struts which allows me to open the bonnet to vertical which makes working on the engine a lot easier. Settle her down on access mode to lower the car and this engine bay and enjoy the job :)

Cheers,
-P

[PeterH]

Thank you prelude, nice to hear it is possible to do!
I'll do the rocker cover gaskets while I'm in there anyway, mine are leaking a bit.
I find if I approach most jobs with enjoying it in mind, it definitely helps.
I've got the gaskets waiting for me at my parts supplier, hopefully I might get a crack at it on the weekend.
Cheers, Pete.

[prelude]

Yes, definitely. Enjoying the process is half the job! The other half is the right tools for the job. :)

Good luck and have fun!
Cheers,
-P