There are about 8 bolts that hold the valve covers down. If I'm not mistaken (its been awhile since i took mine off) there is a breather hose on the back side that connects both valve covers and a PCV valve on the driver side front. Once you take the bolts off, you may have to slightly persuade the covers with a rubber mallet. Sometimes the seals fuse to the cylinder head and do not want to release. I hope you have a kit containing the spark plug well seals as well. It is a common area for oil leaks.

As far as pictures - I don't think this is bad. It is an engine built in '98 with many miles on it. What you see is oil residue from the blow back. Since you are there, you can wipe some of it out. But most likely it will come back overtime. Once thing I do not like is that sloppy gasket job. That is just nasty.

BTW, when you are going to do the compression testing, make sure to disconnect those fuel injector plugs you see in the photo. This way you will not be flooding the cylinders with unburnt gasoline.

 

UPDATE:

I got the passenger side valve cover off, and thankfully it looks very clean inside the motor and I do not see hardly any sludge build up, at all really...


I did discover that the plastic shroud that covers the timing belt (and bolts to the valve cover) is cracked right in half... so I will have to order a new shroud if I can find one..

I also found that the plastic tubes that connect the wires down through the valve cover to the spark plugs, are MELTED at the bottom of the tubes and cracked off... some of the plastic is melted around the spark plug so I am not sure how I am going to get my plug socket onto the plugs but I will figure that out tomorrow... I will obviously need to order new tubes.


I already have new wires, new plugs and new rubber boots for the spark plug wells (as Hunter mentioned I should order, I do already have them).

Once I get the plugs out tomorrow, and the other valve cover off I will do the compression test and report back.

 

The valve compartment looks beautiful. That is indeed a good news. Based on that I'd venture to guess that the bottom end is also clean and well lubricated. What you see on the spark plug tubes is likely caused by oil leaking into the plug wells. Tubes swell up from oil and overtime become very brittle. You should be able to get a long screwdriver in there and dislodge a broken off piece so that you can get the socket onto the plug. Get a new set of wires and irridium plugs and you will not have to worry about them for another 80k miles. Nice project so far

 

Thanks man, I am also very happy to see how clean it is in there..

I purchased NGK wires and NGK Iridium IX plugs.

I really hope that the compression test results are good and not really low numbers.. I hope that I can get this car running again and not have to throw tons of parts at it.. One step at a time I guess!

And then once I get the car running again and put back together I have to go back to the coolant problem of it spraying everywhere (from where I don't know) and the overheating issue...

 

Should I even bother putting the valve covers back on in order to do the compression test or should I just focus on removing the parts that are necessary in order to get to the timing belt to see if it is broken or not?

Because even if I put the valve covers back on, the motor will be cold during the compression test so I will get altered numbers which may throw things off anyways.

 

You run compression test on cold engine, so don't worry about that. I'd re-assemble the valve covers so that you don't get any oil spray from any oil galleys on the camshaft and lifters. This also prevents "accidental" dropping of any tools onto the lifters and camshaft.

Also, don't forget to do a "dry" compression test first and then follow up with "wet" compression test. A wet compression test is when you pour a teaspoon of engine oil into the spark plug well and then run a compression test again. This eliminates the blow by through the rings and gives a good picture of what's going on at the top end of the engine i.e. if you have a leak through valves. You suppose to compare dry and wet results and if your difference is small and uniform across all cylinders - you are good.

 

From what I have read you are supposed to do the compression test on a warm engine (according to this link Part 1 -How to Test Engine Compression (3.0L Mitsubishi)).

My other problem Is the dang bottom of the spark plug boots are still broken off on the spark plugs so I am having trouble getting the plugs out.
So far I have two plugs out and the spark plug wells were FULL of oil... dripping off the plug and socket.. Maybe that's why it couldn't start, it was flooded with oil??

I think It's too late to do the compression test anyways, I wasnt thinking and took the radiator, fan, and belts off (belts were shot anyways and cracking).

Let's say my compression test results were bad.. This would basically mean that my timing belt is broken right? Or that the motor itself is blown, or the head gasket is blown.. but we have eliminated the head gasket being blown because there is no signs of coolant in my oil and the motor itself is not blown because it still was cranking.. so that could only leave my timing belt/water pump correct?

And let's say the timing belt is my problem, what If damage occurred from the motor running as the belt snapped? Seeing as I was driving on the highway when suddenly it started overheating and coolant spraying and then the motor wouldn't accelerate anymore. The engine could be shot. I could spend all the money on the belt and water pump etc and get everything back together and the motor could have internal damage....

I am just very confused and don't know what to do at this point. I paid $1,600 for the car and now It may be scrap metal... I can't afford to put a new motor in it.

 

If it doesn't start you can't get it warm... If it's that bad that it won't start your results will probably be dramatic rather than borderline.

If you fail the compression test that means air is escaping.. It could be anything from a gasket to the block being cracked... Not having coolant mixed in doesn't guarantee good compression.

I guess it's possible it could be stopping the plug from sparking... Not sure though.

If it's an interference engine and your belt broke you could have damaged the valves and or pistons if it's not it would just stop running...

There's bearings and other things inside the engine that could have been damaged but I don't think that usually happens unless you run it out of oil.

 

Well I can see the timing belt from the back with the valve cover removed.. and it appears to have tension. I pushed on it with a screwdriver and tried to pry it up a little bit and it did not budge... so maybe the belt is NOT broken?




So I guess in this case, I will put everything back together with new plugs and wires and new valve cover, intake manifold and spark plug well gaskets and then see if it will start?

I guess there is no point in ripping all the pulleys and stuff off to get to the tensioner if I can see that there is still tension. Right?

I'm not sure what the coolant problem is though, and why it sprayed everywhere in the first place. I guess I will replace the radiator since I already have it out, and put a new thermostat in as well right?

If the water pump is bad, it would have siezed and snapped the belt... I don't know.

 

Bad/poor compression simply means the gasses on the power stroke escape out of the cylinder without producing work. That usually happens when the rings are very worn out or a valve is not seating properly. Don't worry about it ahead of time. Honestly, I think you jumped to compression testing too soon. Since you are now set to do it - do so and then work on other systems.

You can't tell if timing belt is properly tensioned by looking at it or by trying to push on it. The belt in the photo looks OK, except that it seem to be a bit glazed on the flat (upper part). I do not know if the water pump on your truck is driven by the timing belt or a separate accessory belt. On the newer models timing belt drives the water pump.

Getting the broken off boot out of the plug well is going to be tough. Get a good long, thin screwdriver and start poking between the spark plug and the valve cover. Hopefully you can break off little pieces of the boot that are stuck down there and get them removed. Oil in the wells could reduce efficiency of the spark but I don't think it would kill your engine all together.