For todays project, the drivers side valve cover is going to be replaced in a 1998 ford crown victoria police interceptor.

The driver's side valve cover is not leaking as bad as the passenger's side one was. But the valve cover gasket has been leaking faster as time goes on. And it doesn't take too much driving to coat the side of the power steering fluid reservoir in crankcase oil anymore.



First step of the project is to remove the windshield wiper cowl and wiper arm linkage



The harness tape which is supposed to hold the windshield washer hoses stationary in relation to the wiper tray has flaked off. So extra attention is paid to how the washer hoses route during disassembly.







The power brake booster and brake lines obstruct access to the valve cover


 
So a ratchet with some wobble bar extensions and a deep socket is used to remove the nuts on the inside of the car which hold the brake booster to the firewall





Now there is more space in the engine bay after the brake booster has been removed





A hand ratchet with a deep 8mm socket and long extension bar works well for removing the valve cover bolts










Here's a closeup of the camshaft position sensor setup



And a couple closeup pictures of where the front cover meets the cylinder head









The rear of the brake master cylinder has a slow hydraulic fluid leak



Brake fluid eats paint off of metal in a hurry. It will also fail the rubber diaphragm inside the booster at some point too.



Here's the bottom side of the valve cover



And top side



And the valve cover with the oil fill cap removed.

If you have a flexible fiber-optic camera, you could look around at your crownvic's valvetrain without removing the valve covers by going in through the filler cap opening



And here's the old gasket next to the new felpro gasket/grommets





A large flate blade screw driver was used to twist the grommets out from the back side of the valve cover



Interestingly, the old valve cover gasket material was still reasonable flexible. And it was still in original shape and not all flattened out. The main source of the oil leaks appeared to be around the cover grommets.



The valve covers do not bolt directly to the cylinder heads. Instead, the grommets are bolted to the cylinder head which then suspends the valve cover over the cylinder head on a rubber cushion with the valve cover gasket wedged in between.



The valve cover with the cool new blue colored felpro gasket held in place using some rtv



Make sure that the gasket channels in the valve cover are really clean prior to inserting the new gasket



The 1992-2002 crownvics have the oil fill located drivers side valve cover. The 2003-2009 crown vics have the oil fill located on the passengers side valve cover









Here's  a closeup of the casting information on the valve cover. F4SE-6591-AA-L.H.



And a closeup of the bottom of the pcv breather fitting



Here's the cylinder head after removing the old valve cover gasket. And then cleaning the metal with some carberator cleaner and soft kitchen paper towels.



And a couple closeup pictures of where the cylinder head meets the front timing cover





A test fit of the valve cover to make sure that the valve cover gasket stayed in place
















Here's a couple closeup pictures of the camshaft, roller followers, valve springs, and hydraulic lash adjusters






Unlike the passengers side, all of the valve cover fasteners have 8mm heads






The airbox makes a handy holder for the valve cover fasteners



And after getting all of the remaining rtv off of the junction of the front timing cover and cylinder head







And after applying some new ultra-copper permatex rtv sealant and placing the valve cover back on the engine















Now lets reinstall the power steering reservoir bracket





Make sure to place the camshaft sensor wiring behind the power steering bracket prior to tightening down all of the fasteners



And remember to reconnect the cylinder head temperature sensor too













Now reinstall the power brake booster and air intake stuff



And now the windshield wiper tray stuff

























To remove these arms, lift the arms upwards and slide the tab. Installation is the reverse of removal.





















Make sure to plug the wiper motor electrical connector in before bolting the wiper tray to the body of the car.

Also make sure that the windshield washer fluid hoses are routed such that they do not bind on the wiper transmission components.