Help Please! Valve cover wont come off

[Scott Eisenman]

I cant get passenger side valve cover off due to clearance issues. There is a EGR tube on top of it that is blocking it. my Haynes manual says to remove throttle cables but, this EGR tube will still be in the way. Im trying to get cover off to diagnose engine knock coming from there. Can I cut it off and repair it with muffler tape? Please help. I had no idea this would be such a problem. its a 1998 5.0 engine

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[Mike65]

Welcome to the forum Scott. Sorry I can not help with your question since all of the Explorer's that we have owned have been 4.0 V-6's. My guess & it is just that is that you would have to remove the egr tube.

 

[koda2000]

I would try to remove the EGR tube, but this may turn out not to be possible on a 21/22 year old engine due to heat cycles and (depending on where you live) rust. I recently had to remove the EGR tube from my 2001, rust-free Sport Trac. It was a bear to get off of the header requiring a torch to heat the nut up red hot multiple times. Even then it was very hard to unscrew.

I don't recommend you cut the EGR tube. If you do you'll probably end up having to replace the EGR tube and the exhaust header.

BTW - Knocking noises are typically not coming from the area of the valve tappets. Problems there usually "click" rather than "knock". Just saying.