Timing Cover Gasket

[Caleb93]

I have a 1997 Mercury Mountaineer that is leaking coolant, and I had taken it into Midas and they told me that my Timing Cover Gasket was leaking and i am going to replace it my self but i do not know that much about cars pretty much nothing. The biggest thing i have done is replaced my shocks. I was trying to get a list together of what I need to get before I start taking stuff apart. Also I wanted see if I needed to remove my engine or not because I have gotten a lot of different answers with that some say i need to, some say i dont, a guy told me that needed to jack up the front of my engine. I have plenty of room in my Garage to work on it and plenty of time. Thanks to anyone who helps I just found this site today.

 

[lilredex97]

not sure what engine you have. But I dont see why you need to remove it. JUst take out the radiator and shroud. Take off the fan and belt. Then water pump. I never did a 4.0 but same principle for all engines just about. While you have it off. Check out the water pump and the timing chain. also i believe you will need a pulley puller for the crankshaft pully.

 

[1998Exp]

I hate to keep barking up this tree, but please provide more details about your vehicle, if you expect serious help. If you are asking about engine work, we need to know which engine you are working on!
Something makes me believe that the V8 (5.0L) engine was the only option for the 1997 Mountaineer. If so, keep reading. If yours has the V6 SOHC, I have no idea what's involved.

This leak is a common problem for the 5.0L at 100K+ miles and the repair has been discussed here many times. The search function is your friend...
The engine does not need to come out and this is not a particularly difficult task, but it requires quite a few tools and has a fairly long list of gotchas. Yours truly, who has been working on his own cars for over three decades and has all the necesssary tools, did it twice before getting it right. IMHO, with experience being limited to shock absorber replacement, you will want a more experienced person to hold your hand, or may end up doing more harm than good.

I have a 1997 Mercury Mountaineer that is leaking coolant, and I had taken it into Midas and they told me that my Timing Cover Gasket was leaking and i am going to replace it my self but i do not know that much about cars pretty much nothing. The biggest thing i have done is replaced my shocks...

 

[Caleb93]

Thank You lilredex97 and 1998 Exp, your replies help a lot, sorry for not putting more info on my post but my engine is a V8 5.0L and it has 155000 miles on it. I have a complete teardown repair manual for my mountaineer which has helped out a lot already but where can i get a pulley puller for my crankshaft pulley?

 

[1998Exp]

You will need much more than just the puller. For starters, you need the installer as well, and that one is actually more critical. You will need the proper thin wrenches to remove the fan, a serpentine belt removal tool, most likely an impact wrench, a torque wrench, a tool to hold the pulley in place when you are re-torquing the center bolt, and so on. The workshop manual is great, but it's intended for professional mechanics. It often calls for some Ford-specific tools that you probably won't have, and more importantly, does not tell the whole story, with all the little gotchas along the way. Search and carefully read the posts on the subject, before even thinking of starting this task.

Most common tools can be rented for free from auto parts stores, like Autozone. They will charge you for the full cost of the tool, which will be refunded when you return it within their time frame (a couple days, usually). Sadly, many of their tools are sub-standard. Even those of decent quality will be generic and may not fit your vehicle very well. If you have a mechanic friend, try to enlist him (and his tools) to help. If you have a couple hundred $$$ to spend, buy a decent puller/installer kit, a good 1/2" torque wrench, the fan removal tools, and a good serpentine belt tool. You will use those more than once. If you find my two-year old post for this job, I listed some tools by part number and vendor. If not, Amazon is your friend... . I am assuming that you have a compressor and an impact wrench. If not, buy those. You will wonder how you ever managed without them.

And by the way, even though it's a common problem for this engine, you don't want to tackle it unless you are certain of the diagnosis. With all due respect to Midas, I would advise you to rent a radiator pressure tester and confirm that the leak is indeed from the timing cover gasket.

Thank You lilredex97 and 1998 Exp, your replies help a lot, sorry for not putting more info on my post but my engine is a V8 5.0L and it has 155000 miles on it. I have a complete teardown repair manual for my mountaineer which has helped out a lot already but where can i get a pulley puller for my crankshaft pulley?