So I put RTV on the valve cover, attach the gasket, and put two dabs of RTV on the head at the front where the timing chain is....no RTV anywhere else on the head?
Not on the grommets, only where the timing cover touches the heads. The only advise I can offer is be carefull and take your time. Clean the area well before removing those covers. The last thing you want is for dirt, gravel, or any other contaminate to make it's way into your engine. Clean the heads of oil and old RTV where the new gaskets, grommets, and RTV will go before installing the new stuff. When cleaning, I would just use a clean dry lynt free rag. You don't want chemical cleaners getting into the engine oil. Follow the correct torque values and sequence. It can be found in some repair manuals, but I would only trust the ford manual. Don't over torque the bolts or you could damage the valve covers, grommets, or the threads in the heads.
It's a pretty easy job if you take your time. Good luck.
Well at this point I'm going to leave this to someone who belongs performing the task. Actually the bolt closest to number #1 cyl (the one where the COP had oil all over it) wasn't even hand tight so I tightened it in line with the other ones...gave it a little drive around (long enough to get to operating temp) and there was no stray oil so we'll see....
The bolts on the outside closest to the firewall. The rear one there's just too much stuff in the way and the one before that is pretty much blocked by the strut tower so I'll need one of those sockets that can work at an angle and then we'll tackle this thing.
Like I said, though, I tightened that bolt closest to the leak and drove around, quick once over and there didn't seem to be any fresh oil there....just gave it another look after driving into town and still no fresh oil that I can see (although it's dark). We'll see what tomorrow brings...
The bolts on the outside closest to the firewall. The rear one there's just too much stuff in the way and the one before that is pretty much blocked by the strut tower so I'll need one of those sockets that can work at an angle and then we'll tackle this thing.
Like I said, though, I tightened that bolt closest to the leak and drove around, quick once over and there didn't seem to be any fresh oil there....just gave it another look after driving into town and still no fresh oil that I can see (although it's dark). We'll see what tomorrow brings...