How do I change the rocker gaskets on a TJ series II?

I've searched the forum but I can't seem to find a thread where this is discussed. Obviously its the rear which is the problem as I know the plenum has to come off.

look forward to your assistance.

Gotta get ready for work. Search should probably find discussions. Hint: Search for 'plug tube seals' should get relevant results. Plug Tube seals sit under the rocker covers at the spark-plug holes, and (forgive the term) you'd be a fool to do the rocker cover gaskets without doing the plug tube seals.

Rocker covers are two skins of tin, gaskets sit between the two skins at the edges - be very careful not to bend the tin (or straighten edges carefully if they do get bent). DO NOT overtighten the rocker covers EVER, or tin will be distorted and you will never get them to seal.

There is a metal gasket on the air-intake (which you remove to get to rear bank plugs). This gasket is cheap, but absolutely no need to replace it, re-use the original with no worries whatever.
When air-intake is off, use spare rags or some cover to keep small parts out of the exposed holes of air-intake (dropping a nut down into a cylinder is a very "D'Oh" moment).

Search of 'plug tube seals' will give good range of threads, I assume.

MadMagna (Mal, in Melb eastern suburbs) is the Gold Standard for advice and tips, if you see him comment in a thread, then you have likely found the best advice available.

Cheers and good luck

Just be sure they give you the right gaskets first. I got them from ripco for a 6g72 stating it was out of a TE magna they gave me the gasket kits from a different make of 6g72 with rounded extended sections at either end of the rocker cover. luckily a mate had a spare couple gaskets for a 6g74 floating around and they fit just fine. Also Make sure you have something to clean the sealing point before replacing the gasket as you will need to glue the seal in to the top and bottom. I find the easiest way to clean the recessed area in the rocker cover is a screw driver wrapped in a rag and a can of degreaser. clean it out clean out the bottom glue on the new tube seals (top and bottom so it seal to the tube and the rocker cover)

But yeah i've only done it twice so I'm not an expert and therefore could be wrong. but neither engine have died yet and the first one has done more than 5thousand km's since we replaced the seal.

If your rocker cover gaskets have gone hard and are leaking the spark plug tube seals will be too.

Going from memory,

Remove air intake
Disconnect throttle cable from back of intake manifold
Remove 4 screws securing throttle body to intake manifold and push aside. DO NOT disconnect the throttle body coolant lines.
Remove upper intake manifold.
Remove upper timing cover screws, the rocker cover sits under the lip of the timing belt cover
Remove high tension leads
Disconnect PCV valve
You should now be able to remove the rocker covers
Clean upper intake manifold, rocker covers, PCV valve & breather hoese. Pay attention to the mesh/screen area in the rocker covers. These are the breathers and are prone to getting blocked.
Replace rocker cover and spark plug seals.
Replace rocker covers.
Replace the rest in reverse sequence.
NOTE: Rocker covers and intake manifold need to be tightened in specified sequence and torque as per the PDF manual.

I think that it. Shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours.

Just be sure they give you the right gaskets first. I got them from ripco for a 6g72 stating it was out of a TE magna they gave me the gasket kits from a different make of 6g72 with rounded extended sections at either end of the rocker cover. luckily a mate had a spare couple gaskets for a 6g74 floating around and they fit just fine. Also Make sure you have something to clean the sealing point before replacing the gasket as you will need to glue the seal in to the top and bottom. I find the easiest way to clean the recessed area in the rocker cover is a screw driver wrapped in a rag and a can of degreaser. clean it out clean out the bottom glue on the new tube seals (top and bottom so it seal to the tube and the rocker cover)

But yeah i've only done it twice so I'm not an expert and therefore could be wrong. but neither engine have died yet and the first one has done more than 5thousand km's since we replaced the seal.

Please do not Glue your gaskets, if you have new gaskets and tube seals there is no need to glue anything.

For the rest, follow what Mitch has stated and you should be ok, although I usually take the TB off with the upper manifold and take off the coolant lines, provided your engine is cold and you have some plugs for the lines you will lose about a tablespoon of coolant

V6 TS same thing, only lose a small amount of coolant. Impossible though to keep the new gasket in place in the rocker cover without some sort of glue. Especially the rear one. No point replacing a pinched gsket with a new one if its only going to get pinched again when you put the cover back on.

Bolts go through the gasket holding it in place. No sealant needed. Just have all the bolts started before you tighten any of them.

I usually take the TB off with the upper manifold and take off the coolant lines, provided your engine is cold and you have some plugs for the lines you will lose about a tablespoon of coolant Thanks Mal, I'll remember that for next time :)

did mine on the weekend , went ok but plenty of careful scraping to get the rear gasket off , it had glued itself in place and broke off in little chunks. plug tube seals were the same. all good now , no leaks.
the cover breather hose on the pass side would not come off at all so had to break it off and replaced it with 12mm water hose until i get the correct hose from Mitsu.

Bolts go through the gasket holding it in place. No sealant needed. Just have all the bolts started before you tighten any of them.

Yep, forgot the gen 3 engine has different rocker covers to the gen 2 engine. Sounds like a much better design. Gen 2 rocker cover gaskets are a pain to get right.