valve cover removal

Ok, I thought there would be a clearance issue in removing the valve covers on my dad's '99 CV S model. Does the motor have to be lifted/jacked up in order to perform this job? I have the bolts/studs out but there's no way these covers are removable from this point. Is there a good on-line procedure for this?

I haven't done this yet, but have heard from others that they can do it as-is with some patience and wiggling them in and out (minding the gaskets when re-installing). Others said there's no way without removing the HVAC stuff on the passenger side and removing the brake booster from the firewall on the driver side. And others say to jack up the engine.

Did you alteast remove the wiper cowl? That should give some clearance towards the back and only takes 15 minutes or so to remove.

If you don't want to jack up the motor and still can't get it out, I'd say go ahead and move the HVAC stuff out of the way. The driver said most people said they can get out w/o removing the brake booster, but makes it easier if removed.

At the time of the initial post, I was in the process of removing the left side (passenger) cover. Ran into a brick wall on that side and then came in to post thread before looking at the right side. After posting, I went out to tackle at least the bolts/studs on the right side. That one came off fairly easily, didn't have to mess with the brake booster or wiper cowl, just had to disconnect and remove the wiring harnesses and move them into the valley. From there, just grab the thing on both ends and rotate the cover toward the valley......plenty of clearance. The left side is another story. I've tried rotating, wiggling, and finagling every which way I could think of, but not even close to getting it off. Now when you say 'remove the HVAC stuff', does that mean evacuating the system and then disconnecting portions of it to move out of the way? What's in the way seems to be the plastic cover over the HVAC portion that passes through the firewall (evaporator?). I think if I could get the motor up about another 3" on this side that that would solve the clearance issue. What do I have to do to be able to jack the engine up on that side? Thanks again for all of your help.

I do mean that you will have to move the condensor and the plastic cowl over it to make room. You shouldn't have to purge the A/C system.

I'm not sure what's needed to get the engine lifted exactly, but you will have to disconnect the engine from the mounts at the minimum obviously. I don't know if the A/C condensor or piping needs to be moved in any way.

Are you doing this with the intake manifold off or did you get the new one on yet? Would it make a difference in your opinion? I'm both excited and worried about doing this myself when I'm done with summer classes.

Passenger side is a little easier to do if you remove passenger side motor mount and just jack up theat side of the engine. All you need is about 1 inch. We do not remove anything to change them. But we have quite a few under our belts. Do not remove the a/c plenum. You can not get it out very easily without removing the accumulator and you have to discharge the system to do this. Adds about 2 or 3 hours to the job.

I do have the new manifold, just not on yet. Thought that I'd tackle the valve covers with everything moved out of the way as much as possible. We had some t-storms roll through this afternoon and evening, so had to wrap up work for the day.........I'm working in the driveway because I don't have a garage available to me. I don't even have a 'shade tree'. Tomorrow I'm going to remove the motor mount on the passenger side and jack the engine up as Way2Old recommended. I'm not sure how easily the covers would come off, even with the engine jacked up, because of the harnesses, fuel rail, cop's, etc. being in such close proximity, but I'll try to do a mock-up with the intake laying in place and let you know what my opinion is. Til then.........sweet dreams. Thanks again, you guys are indispensible.

Would it be safe (not cause any damage) to clean these plastic valve covers in mineral spirits(UN1255-mfd by Pitt Penn Oil Co.), which is parts washer fluid? If not, what is the recommended cleaning solution?

You can clean them with just about anything. They are pretty durable.

I removed the through bolt on passenger side and tried jacking up the engine.......seemed to bind up and wanted to lift the entire vehicle. I then removed the driver side through bolt and the jacking maneuver worked successfully. Only had to raise the motor an inch or so, like suggested. I think that my problem with the binding at first was due to the fact that I was jacking from the front of the oil pan. After removing the second through bolt, I moved the jack to the rear of the oil pan and the motor came right up. I do believe that the valve covers can be removed with the intake in place, but it is so much easier with the intake removed and all of the harnesses disconnected and laying in the valley of the block. Thank you very much for all of your input.

So to be clear when I go to do this, I just have to unbolt the engine from the passenger and driver side motor mounts, and jack it up from the rear of the oil pan an inch or two?

I will be doing it with the intake manifold on, though.

Is it unsafe/stressful to the other mounts to leave the engine in that position for a day or two while I also remove the timing cover and change those tensioners and arms and cams?

The only other mount is the rear trans mount. You can loosen the bolts in it and allow the trans fo lift slightly and relieve stress. You said in an earlier post to remove the wiper module, so do that and you should be OK.

Awesome, thanks!

I would tackle the driver side cover with the motor in place..........jacked up you might start having clearance issues with the brake booster. The lower rear bolt on the passenger side is kind of difficult to get at no matter how you look at it, so I would remove it first and then jack up the motor to facilitate removal of the cover. In my case, I had less clearance to remove/reinstall that bolt with the motor jacked up. If you were to go up 5-6" or so you might alleviate that problem, but you'd probably put too much stress on the transmission. I opted to go only enough to gain the clearance to get the cover off (just over 1"). Because of the lack of clearance and lack of the proper tools, I had to hand torque (guess at it from the amount of force I had to use on the other bolts/studs) that lower rear bolt. I'm not sure if they make a 1/4" torque wrench or not. If they don't, or you don't have one, you can use a 3/8" drive torque wrench with a 3/8" to 1/4" adapter, a 1/4" extension with a 10mm swivel socket to make the job easier(the swivel socket will give you some added clearance). I had to use a 1/4" drive ratchet with a long extension coupled to a swivel adapter and then the 10mm socket, and still had problems with that. It's really that tight in there with the HVAC cowl almost up against the valve cover (no wonder it has some heat reflecting material attached to it!). I don't think that you'll have any problems.

FWIW, the guy that helped me with my cam swap removed both valve covers without removing the motor mounts or removing the HVAC stuff. A swivel socket got the hard to reach bolts with no problem. And to remove the cover, he removed the two bolts holding the passenger side fuel rail, removed the 4 fuel injectors, and had enough room to maneuver it out.

have 07 mercury grand marquis , removed intake for replacement , noticed oil in spark plug holes and decided needs valve cover gasket replacement , drivers side was an easy removal with intake removed , passenger side however is a different story .Removed wiring harness and placed in valley , have removed all bolts on passenger valve cover but left bottom access being blocked by evap , Considering removal of passenger and drivers side motor mounts and raising motor to gain access to last bolt ,is this the best avenue ? Do not want to remove evap or any of that stuff