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Upper camshaft cover gasket

Porker993

Porker993

New member
Finally getting round to fixing the leaky upper cam cover gasket, drivers side. (RHD)

I got as far as removing the air filter box and housing and have moved the aircon pump out of the way, but now I see before me the power steering pump blocking access.

I haven't had time to look at it yet, but is it possible to remove the power steering pump to gain access to the cam cover fasteners with the engine still in the car ?

Has anyone tried this ? Is it easy to re-fit ?

I was hoping to do this (simple?) job without having to take it to my specialist.

Thanks for any replies -

Mark
 
Hi Mark,

Doing the same work on my car at the moment. Unfortunately this has turned into a "tale of woe", lower left hand cover done with only a few minor issues, upper left hand one - two screw heads sheared off and just spent a week trying to get them out to no avail so now looking at taking out the engine.

Top right hand cover I looked at and like you thought it was impossible with the engine in situ so this will now get done with engine out same as the lower right hand one. It will also give me a chance to do the cam chain covers and power steering belt etc.

Seriously not looking forward to taking out the engine as every single b****y bolt seems to be stuck on this car. So frustrated that I have started looking at going back to a good old Mk2 RS Escort as they are so easy to work on and a lot cheaper on spares !

Andy.
 
Mark! no special tools required or removal of the pas pump just paitence and a very short 5mm allen key,plus perhaps a bit ratchet and 5mm bit.It makes it easier if you drop the engine down a bit on its mountings and remove some of the tinwork securing allen bolts from the side of the cam housing(best accomplished by jacking up the car and removing engine shield first)
I've done a few sets and never had any nightmares(yet) or had to remove anything serious!!. BTW the left hand one is the real pain the rearmost bolts are very close to the tinwork! sometimes when the bolts are really tight a mini pair of vise grips and the allen key will break them loose(they usually wind out by hand once cracked undone) or tightening them up a bit first to crack them off before you go and round out the head of the allen socket,Quality tools are a must
I could in a proffessional situation do both upper covers or gaskets in around three hours depending on the stiffness of some of the bolts.

regards C
 
How are you getting on Mark ?

I still reckon this job is almost impossible with the engine in, even though it would appear to have been done. The leaverage you need on some of the screw's on my car to get them undone would have been really hard even with stubby allen keys.

Whatever you do don't break a screw or you will be where I am now !

Let us know how you get on.

Andy.
 
Thank you both for your replies ! I have a full set of Snap On stubby allen key socket drivers (the 5mm is a ¼ drive) and a full set of Snap On regular allen socket drivers (the 5mm is a 3/8 drive for some reason) in preparation for this job. And Snap On ratchets of course.

So, once again at the weekend I removed the air box and aircon pump, to be confronted by the PAS pump. I could not even see the fasteners under it in the few minutes I had, so I chickened out and put it all back together when I was called for my Dinner !

From what you are saying, CarreraSport, if I cut an old 5mm allen key down a bit, I should be able to reach under the PAS pump. I will give some thought to this, and have a go when I have a bit more time.

Alternatively I have a few 5mm allen bits which I could get a spanner on. It's going to take some creative thinking from what you've said, but at least I've got some inspiration now.
 
Mark you need the 5mm allen key bit for use with either a 1/4 size ring spanner or a dedicated bit rachet which has a low overall width with the bit installed.this is for the right hand cover although the cut down conventional allen key is the most useful tool for most of the bolts(cut down achieved by grinding the short end even shorter,if it can be cut with a hacksaw "it aint hard enough" for the job), it's absolutley essential for the rearmost left hand cover bolts. although their just isn't the space to use it, to take the bolt all the way out, you must hope that the bolt will become finger loose as soon as you crack it undone for the best speed of job(take all of the easy bolts out fully to make the hard ones easier to turn by hand,maybe with a bit of wiggling of the cover itself) and remember to put the bolt into the new cover before you put it back into place or you will find that it cant be installed(very annoying when you have ten other bolts in and started!!) fit all of the bolts loosely to the cover and then finger tighten all of them up and then start the final tightening sequence. the cover will pull in quite a bit and at first you cant even get the allen key into the lower rearmost left hand cover bolt ,but as the other bolts pull the cover down towards the cam housing the gap will increase and then you will be able to get the tool in!
Dont forget that for stubborn bolts dont round them out by just useing the allen key try tightening them first before reversing the direction of rotation and a mini set of vise grips(mole grip) to aid the allen key(it is tight but it can be done)always cracks them loose.
P.S that set of snap on allen key sockets will be of no use whatsoever on this job i think except for the super short 1/4 drive 5mm perhaps and dont even think about getting that 3/8 drive ratchet out of the kra59j tool caddy ,Well not for actually removing the cam cover bolts anyway.It will be ok for the ac pump and the air box!(dont forget to relieve the tension on the lower ht lead set (both banks) to get the room the get to all the bolts and to actually get the covers out)and not forgetting the clutch ventilation pipe and its steel section needs to be loosened sometimes to get the r/hand cover off!!
Am i making it sound easy yet?????!!!!
Best of luck with it C
 
I'm just looking at doing the upper right hand cover at the moment (the upper left hand cover was done recently, so no bother there.) I agree with you about the allen key - I'm going to purchase the genuine Snap On item, and grind that down with my dremel. My other allen keys are Halfords cheapo jobbies and possibly too soft. They seem to bend easily enough. I can't risk rounding out the fasteners, otherwise it's a job for the professionals, I think. By the way, I think from memory it's a KRA63 top box, I'll have to check that later !

Cheers for the tips - If I can't do it, I'll let you have a go next time we meet !

Mark
 
Right - all done - thanks for your tips CarreraSport - I have posted a How To guide and some photos in another thread for Maurice to post in the technical FAQ section if he thinks it is useful.

By the way, you were right, my Snap On tool chest is a KRA59, not a KRA 63, it's a KRA59 k, though, not a j. Don't know what the significiance of the last digit is though, maybe it's the year code.

Thanks very much for your help.

Mark
 
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