Valley Cover Gasket Replacement

My Dodge Diesel developed an oil leak on the drivers side of the engine, just below the head gasket. At first I thought it might actually be a blown head gasket, but after looking deeper I learned that it was leaking around the gasket of the "valley cover" also known as the Pushrod Cover.

This was definitely the most daunting repair I've ever attempted, mostly because I also had to remove the vp44 injection pump. I looked around on the internet and found this instruction video, and I followed this procedure as precisely as a could...right down to replacing the camshaft position sensor as he recommends.

What made this project so interesting was:

• This was my first winter in Colorado and it was freakin' cold. I had to do the repairs in my driveway between snow storms.


• I got to do it twice. Yes, twice. After I got the entire system back together, I started the engine and it still leaked oil. As it turned out, the actual cover was slightly warped. So the second time around, I replaced the cover as well as the gasket. The cost of the pushrod cover was something like $40...so if you have to do this repair, I'd recommend you splurge and do the same.
  

I took some pictures, mostly to help in case I forgot how something went together.

Here the intake manifold is gone, next is the injection lines:

The injection pump is gone...the pushrod cover, with the rust stain is behind it.

I bought plastic caps to cover the ports on the injection pump. I placed the injection lines in plastic garbage bags and sealed them shut.... One spider can ruin a very expensive injection system:

Pushrods exposed after I removed the cover:

Running Engine after I got it back together.