Help. I put the wrong valve cover gasket in....now im getting a low oil pressure sign

[Rodriguezhu]

Hi everybody. First time here to this site. I own a 2005 Lincoln Aviator that I have been having some issues with. I'm not sure if this is the right thread to be posting this but I couldn't find any other so I'm sorry. I'm not a Mechanic but I LOVE to work on my car myself and slowly learn the mechanics of a vehicle. Well Ill start with my issue. It started with multiple things going on at once with my vehicle. I had a bad steering pump that was leaking that I have already replaced and is in good working shape now. along with an oil leak. After a closer inspection of where the oil was leaking from I noticed it was coming from the valve covers on both sides and leaking onto the exhaust and causing a this white smoke and burning smell. So I immediately ordered some valve cover gaskets for the car. Well in the meantime of waiting to receive my gaskets from Rockauto.com I told my girlfriend not to drive the vehicle and I CONSTANTLY herd her nagging about not being able to use her vehicle because I had to put gaskets on and it wasn't safe. Well finally the day is here and the gaskets get here and I immediately take the valve covers off and get started. I open the new valve cover box and it is the WRONG ONE. smh I cant bear to hear my girlfriends nagging again and wait to get new ones...so I do the stupidest thing I can do and make the one I received work. It was to big so I cut it and made it look descent even thought it was a little flimsy on a corner or two. after I put it together I started the car and it sounded perfect. No smoke or oil leak and I felt like a 20 year mechanic. lol That's until I drove it for about 3 miles and all of the sudden I received a " Low oil Pressure" sign on the vehicle. 2 minutes after receiving that sign I started to hear a small clanking in the engine like there was not enough oil which I was sure there was because I just changed the oil last month along with the filter. I check the oil and the oil was fine. I drove back to my house and let the car sit there for a few hours. I came back to check on it and started it up and it was fine just sitting there...but as soon as I took it for a test drive 2 miles later it did it again and I took it back home. I have not driven it since it has that problem since I did not want it to cause damage. So the question is...Did my super stupid mistake of putting the wrong Valve cover gasket in be the cause of of the "Low oil pressure sign" and the small clanking in the engine that I got? Please help me before my girlfriend gets after me again. lol

 

[1Aauto]

Welcome to the site it's great to have you here

Tony

 

[96firephoenix]

smh I cant bear to hear my girlfriends nagging again and wait to get new ones...so I do the stupidest thing I can do and make the one I received work.

point one: I know an easy fix for that: Don't spoil your nagging GF with a Lincoln. Get her an old Toyota and see if she sticks around for you or for your Lincoln.

Point two: you did not make it work, lol

cutting the gaskets was a huge mistake. Odds are very good that this is the source of your clunking sound. Odds are close to 100% that this is the source of your low oil pressure light.

get the right gaskets, put them in, ignore your girlfriend while she whines.

 

[Rodriguezhu]

Honest and straight forward...I can respect that. Now the problem Im having now is that I went to Rockauto.com and ordered the gasket which the part number is VS50477R1 <--The wrong one. And there are only 2 gasket sets that are available for my 2005 Lincoln Aviator...The other is part #VS50477R . But upon checking the compatibility for both of them...the website says both are compatible for my vehicle. So I just chose one and I chose the wrong one. So now I will order the other one which is the # VS50477R. Can anybody help me determine if this is in fact the right part # for the valve cover gasket so I don't get the wrong one again? Its a 2005 Lincoln aviator 2 wheel drive.

P.S. That nagging girlfriend is the mother of my child. Its cheaper to keeper. lol

 

[Turdle]

The low oil pressure part bothers me. I wonder if a small piece of the cut off gasket got into the engine, and has clogged the pickup tube.

A bad gasket would result in low oil pressure if the oil leaked out yes, but you said it was full.

 

[96firephoenix]

well, I suppose she's got a reason to stick around. I still say she's being spoiled if she's nagging you about her luxury SUV, but that's me.

The low oil pressure part bothers me. I wonder if a small piece of the cut off gasket got into the engine, and has clogged the pickup tube.

A bad gasket would result in low oil pressure if the oil leaked out yes, but you said it was full.

I like your supposition better than mine. if the pickup tube is clogged, then the engine would also act like it is starved for oil.

 

[Rodriguezhu]

Well here's the thing . when I first turn on the car and its just sitting there it sounds amazing. It sounds great. It only throws out the low oil pressure sign when its being driven a couple of miles. I'm not a pro but my guess is that doesn't the pressure build up more when you drive and if it is coming out because I have the wrong gaskets then the oil in the engine is not getting into all the right places? Which would be causing the small clanking sound. A kind of sound like you would hear if you thought you needed some oil?

 

[Turdle]

The cylinder heads are the last place the pressurized oil goes. The gaskets hold the oil in the valve covers so it can drain back to the oil pan to be re pumped up again.

You can have strong oil pressure with no valve cover at all until all the oil goes away.

 

[Rodriguezhu]

I did notice when I opened up the valve covers that the one on the left side was pretty dirty looking the the other side. Like black gunky stuff. Is it possible when I replace the right gasket and have the valve covers off that I could clean it out with some kind of special solution or spray of some sort?

 

[2000StreetRod]

what's the difference?

I looked at the photos and I can't see any difference in the two part numbers. Application for both is 2003 to 2005 Aviator. The more expensive one states that it is improved but I would think either should fit. What part of the gasket didn't fit?

I agree with Turdle's concern. Unless the gasket allowed oil to leak out it should have no affect on the oil pressure. When the original gaskets were still in place were you having any oil pressure related symptoms?

 

[Rodriguezhu]

Thanks for the reply. I had never had any oil pressure problems on the car until I changed the gaskets out. The ones I received from rockauto came in a pair. one was way to big which is the one I stupidly cut and on both of them the corners did not match up all the way. Gaskets should fit exactly to all the corners of the cover all the "Ins and Outs" but it didn't. My guess was that even though I requested the right part number for the gasket....could they have still sent the wrong ones? I'm not trying to get my money back just trying to figure out what went wrong. should both gaskets be the same size? Also does anybody know of a cleaner I could spray in there once I take the covers off again to help clean it out? Thanks

 

[2000StreetRod]

wrong gaskets?

. . . I had never had any oil pressure problems on the car until I changed the gaskets out. The ones I received from rockauto came in a pair. one was way to big which is the one I stupidly cut and on both of them the corners did not match up all the way. Gaskets should fit exactly to all the corners of the cover all the "Ins and Outs" but it didn't. My guess was that even though I requested the right part number for the gasket....could they have still sent the wrong ones? I'm not trying to get my money back just trying to figure out what went wrong. should both gaskets be the same size?

The photo for VS50477R1 on Rock Auto looks identical for both sides. Same is true for VS50477R. Did you check the part numbers of what you received?

Also does anybody know of a cleaner I could spray in there once I take the covers off again to help clean it out? Thanks

My engine was full of sludge when I purchased my Sport. I change the oil twice a year. Every other oil change I add Gunk engine flush after the engine is warmed up, let it idle for 5 minutes and then replace the oil and filter.

 

[Rodriguezhu]

Thanks for the reply. I contacted Rockauto and it turns out that they sent me the wrong ones and I should be getting my new ones in free of charge but probley wont get to work on it till Friday or Saturday. If anybody has any other information to what may be the cause of the "Low Oil Pressure sign" please feel free to let me know but for now my only answer is to replace the right gaskets in there and hope for the best.

 

[2000StreetRod]

oil in the heads

If sludge builds up to the point that the oil gets trapped in the heads and can't drain back to the oil pan fast enough the oil pump will starve from insufficient input. By the time you stop the vehicle, open the hood and check the oil level it has drained back into the pan. It usually happens when the engine has been running at cruise speeds for 15 to 20 minutes.

 

[Rodriguezhu]

I will try that once the new gaskets come in and I install them. I know when I recently opened both valve covers one side looked way worse then the other side. Is there a part of the valve that I should check while im in there to see if it is clogged?

 

[2000StreetRod]

spray and brush

I sprayed and brushed the entire area (especially where the drain holes are) with Gunk engine flush and let it drain into the pan. Then I installed the valve covers and changed the oil and filter.

 

[crispins]

Hi everybody. First time here to this site. I own a 2005 Lincoln Aviator that I have been having some issues with. I'm not sure if this is the right thread to be posting this but I couldn't find any other so I'm sorry. I'm not a Mechanic but I LOVE to work on my car myself and slowly learn the mechanics of a vehicle. Well Ill start with my issue. It started with multiple things going on at once with my vehicle. I had a bad steering pump that was leaking that I have already replaced and is in good working shape now. along with an oil leak. After a closer inspection of where the oil was leaking from I noticed it was coming from the valve covers on both sides and leaking onto the exhaust and causing a this white smoke and burning smell. So I immediately ordered some valve cover gaskets for the car. Well in the meantime of waiting to receive my gaskets from Rockauto.com I told my girlfriend not to drive the vehicle and I CONSTANTLY herd her nagging about not being able to use her vehicle because I had to put gaskets on and it wasn't safe. Well finally the day is here and the gaskets get here and I immediately take the valve covers off and get started. I open the new valve cover box and it is the WRONG ONE. smh I cant bear to hear my girlfriends nagging again and wait to get new ones...so I do the stupidest thing I can do and make the one I received work. It was to big so I cut it and made it look descent even thought it was a little flimsy on a corner or two. after I put it together I started the car and it sounded perfect. No smoke or oil leak and I felt like a 20 year mechanic. lol That's until I drove it for about 3 miles and all of the sudden I received a " Low oil Pressure" sign on the vehicle. 2 minutes after receiving that sign I started to hear a small clanking in the engine like there was not enough oil which I was sure there was because I just changed the oil last month along with the filter. I check the oil and the oil was fine. I drove back to my house and let the car sit there for a few hours. I came back to check on it and started it up and it was fine just sitting there...but as soon as I took it for a test drive 2 miles later it did it again and I took it back home. I have not driven it since it has that problem since I did not want it to cause damage. So the question is...Did my super stupid mistake of putting the wrong Valve cover gasket in be the cause of of the "Low oil pressure sign" and the small clanking in the engine that I got? Please help me before my girlfriend gets after me again. lol

 

[Rodriguezhu]

UPDATE: So I received the "Right" valve cover gaskets and installed them on Friday hoping this would help with my low oil pressure symptoms. I drove the car and the low oil pressure sign came right back on after 2 miles. So what I did next was I did a engine flush because upon removing the valve covers it was really dirty inside. I used motor medic and let the car run for 5 minutes and then did a oil and filter change to the car. Test drove it and it has been running great for 2 days now. I hope nothing changes. Im guessing the filter may have been clogged with some gunk build up I had. Since the car has not been ran for about 3 weeks now...the battery has been needing to be jumped a few times and I'm getting the battery charged at AutoZone as we speak. Thanks for everything guys I will update you all if there has been any changes. Up next is the ball bearings to be changed. Wish me luck.