Things just went south, literally. As I was relocating the wiring harness for the A/C compressor bracket I heard a light snap then some clankity-clank noises. By shear luck, I found the cracked plastic mounting clip with my borescope. There’s no way in h I can extract it. I’m trying to talk myself out of pulling the front cover, but I don’t think I can.

 

I can’t believe it… I actually got it!!!

 

After that scare, I buttoned up the LH cover.

 

Did you get new seals for the valve cover / VVT solenoid interface? They leak oil. Highly recommend OEM only on those. If not, no worries. They slip over the top of the solenoid easy enough, no disassembly required.

 

I did put new solenoid seals in. Not OEM, but Italian made. Also new gasket and spark plug seals. The parts kit I bought also came with valve cover bolt seals, but I chose not to use them. I don’t think they were silicone so I reused the factory bolt seals.

Yes, it does look like the solenoid seals are easy to pop out and replace. Might be the only easy thing!

I feel for those who have replaced the power steering pump and A/C compressor. A lot of trick socketry to get these things back on!

 

Even I could accomplish that one, and did!

 

Accessory belt on, the second time. Had to re-route due to feeble memory and not having the exact right pictures.


Fan belt on.


RH valve cover buttoned up.

 

Ive always been amazed by how little contact there is on the belts with the ac compressor and ps pump. Seems to be about 25% or so. Most I have worked on are at least 50%. Awesome work and really appreciate the documentation efforts. One of the best threads I have seen in a long time.

 

Coolant crossover, EGR plenum (?), and EGR ready. URO crossover. Wish me luck on that.

 

Freshly cleaned throttle body and new connector latch.