Rear valve cover won't come off!
 

On the left side of the rear valve cover, there is this big fat wiring harness that's sandwiched between the lip of the valve cover and the power steering pump. I've removed all the bolts but I can't lift up the left side of the cover because this stupid wiring harness is in the way!

My Haynes manual, useless as always, advises me to "Remove the power steering pump if necessary." So is this really necessary on my car? The heater outlet pipe is mounted to the same bolt that the power steering pump assembly is mounted to. The pipe doesn't have enough play in it to pull it off the end of the bolt. So it looks like I would basically have to bend the pipe, running the risk of snapping it off inside the water pump. Oh Joy!!

Any suggestions before I go commit hari-kari? Yes I know I need to buy the service manual...

Jeremy

Well, I got it off but I'm not sure I'll be able to get it back on very easily. I removed all the steering pump assembly bolts except the one that the heater pipe is sitting on. Then I was able to pivot the steering pump assembly around that one bolt until there was just enough room to squeeze the valve cover off.

I noticed that my rear rocker arms are a completely different color than my front ones! The front ones are a silvery-metallic color. The rear ones are a reddish-brown color. I thought they were just dirty so I put a little intake cleaner on a rag and rubbed one, but the color didn't come off. Has the oil baked on from high temperatures in the rear of the engine?

The only rear cover I ever removed was on an L27, but very similar to my L67. We didn't have to move the PS pump that I recall. Must be just a 'tight' harness there.

The color difference you noticed is normal. Because of the way the motor is positioned in the engine bay, and the routing of the exhaust, the rear is always hotter. This is why rear plug wires and plugs typically fail first.

My 92 SE's Rear Valve Cover was a real PITA too. I did however have to unbolt the PS Pump to get it off. The Harness can be disconnected at it's connector once the PS Pump is moved to allow access to it too. :wink:

hmm mine were all the same light brown