Help Replacing Valve Cover Gasket

[Ziris]

Hi Guys,

Got my car back from the mechanic today and he said the valve cover gasket has a small leak.

At the point where the cover is sitting on there lose but can't get enough clearance to get it out!!

In the picture below the black tube seems to be in the way and can not figure out how to disconnect it.

using the Haynes manual and just can't see how to disconect that or am I missing something else? This should have been fairly easy just towards the back it seems to tight.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[whtcobra1998]

yeah its tight, its your clutch cable. some mechanic if you have to do it for him. disconnect your clutch cable, get alot of beer and have a blast of time doing it, and than get a new mechanic and burn the haynes manual. than the best time is resetting your clutch quadrant. sorry i work as a tech and hate diy guys that try it, and it still leaks since something moved or got cut when reinstalling, and than take it to a tech in pieces to finish.

 

[WhiteFoxGT]

ha, well I agree with this guy (5yr ford tech here), but the driver side isnt that bad. Passenger side is a bitch. The clutch cable is simple really, its a tiny ass screw that holds it in you just gotta pop the cable off at the quadrant. Slip the one end off the fork on the trans and it becomes cake. From there its pretty straight forward.

 

[my94pony]

is this really that hard or pita? im gonna do this tues when i change my cam covers to black ones i just got

 

[PSUCOBRA96]

I did both sides in under 3 hours taking my time, removing the upper hat and used a jack to tilt the motor, passenger side I did in under an hour. Use your head, zip ties are your friend.

 

[Chris _Scott]

removing valve covers on these cars are tricky..and you can thank the hydrabooster for that. [although I wouldn't know anything about power steering :banana:]

yeah its tight, its your clutch cable. some mechanic if you have to do it for him. disconnect your clutch cable, get alot of beer and have a blast of time doing it, and than get a new mechanic and burn the haynes manual. than the best time is resetting your clutch quadrant. sorry i work as a tech and hate diy guys that try it, and it still leaks since something moved or got cut when reinstalling, and than take it to a tech in pieces to finish.

:shrug::shrug:

I just removed and installed a FIORE quadrant and firewall adjuster on a friend's car...was very simple.

 

[98 svt]

I thought that they were a lot easier than everyone makes it out to be.

Just unclip the clutch cable from under the dash and pull the cable back through the firerwall (the cable is what you have circled in your pic).

Then, ziptie anything else that may be in your way.
As mentioned, the ds is the easier of the 2.

Also, I used a few very small dabs of black gasket maker so the gasket won't fall out when trying to line it all up.

Also, don't forget you NEED to add a dab of gasket maker where the timing cover and block meet. This is done from the factory as well.
Is that where your leak is? Why didn't your mechanic replace the gasket instead of telling you about it.

 

[PSUCOBRA96]

yeah you gotta use some gasket sealer on the small round ones, they fall off real easy

 

[my94pony]

so i started changing my cam covers tonight, in the 2 hours i had of sunlight after work i got this far, doesn't seem too bad and with the day off tomorrow I'll have no problem putting this back together in the daylight

 

[Tabres]

It took you two hours to get the intake hat and plug wires off? Or the black covers are what you installed?



It's really not a bad job. People make it out to be worse than it is.

 

[Chris _Scott]

yea I don't know what is everybody's complaint..or mentioning of taking it to a tech...

I'm able to remove and replace my valve covers without the removal of the clutch cable. Just take some maneuvering and patience..otherwise you remove bolts and replace bolts, simple stuff.

 

[my94pony]

It took you two hours to get the intake hat and plug wires off? Or the black covers are what you installed?



It's really not a bad job. People make it out to be worse than it is.

lol no i was installing the black covers, all i hada do today was put the hat cai and wires back on

 

[my94pony]

It took you two hours to get the intake hat and plug wires off? Or the black covers are what you installed?



It's really not a bad job. People make it out to be worse than it is.

agreed 100% it took me about 3 hours total (including cleaning) to swap my covers
i took the clutch cable off, all u needa do is lift the clutch pedal and the quadrant disengages making it easy as pie to disconnect