valve cover removal

[bcjm]

Is it just me or the valve cover is hard to remove?  I thought it is a 10 minutes job.  The body (firewall) prevents the back of the cover to go straight up.  I can't seem to push the cover forward due to the valves inside the cover.  Am I doing something wrong?

[Douglas]

How are your engine mounts? Could be that the engine isn't sitting right.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[bcjm]

I thought about it.  Is there a way to check?

Do you lift the front or back of the cover first when removing it?

[Cees Klumper]

You may want to try to jack up the transmission just a bit - that should tilt the engine upwards and forwards enough for you to be able to remove the valve cover. Bad engine and/or transmission mounts will cause the engine to sag so that you cannot remove the valve cover.

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[enochbell]

I have the same issue, but after a few trial-and-error approaches I found that the easiest way to deal with it was to simply raise the car slightly on the left front jack point.  Don't know why this works, seems counter-intuitive, but it works for me.  Also, I always back out the screw on the clamp for the fuel injector pipes in front of the valve cover, it gives me another 3 or 4 mm to work with.

Hope that helps,

g

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon

[mdsalemi]

Hopefully Joe Alexander will check in on this thread.  I saw him take the cover off of David Pease's car in Blacklick to adjust the valves; didn't take more then a few minutes...

Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored

[George Davis]

Raising the transmission, as Cees suggested, really helps.  Personally, I recommend loosening and partly unscrewing the transmission (rear motor) mount bolt before doing this (don't remove it completely).  If the mount is old and perished, the upward pressure may pull it apart.  The bolt head is in the middle of the large plate under the trans.



George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

[bcjm]

If the engine and transmission mounts are in good condition the job should be easy right?

[J. Huber]

This in NOT a recommendation only a related experience. Once on a road trip I had a problem and the only garage open in town helped me out. I recall he had trouble getting it off. What he did was use a large crow bar and wedged it (I presume) between the block and the firewall? Anyway, it worked by allowing enough clearance to get back section up. That was with lousy mounts.

James
63 230SL

[George Davis]

I don't think it's just the condition of the mounts that matters.  Caster is adjusted on these cars by moving the front subframe forward or backward, and the engine sits on the subframe and moves with it.  If the subframe is forward, valve cover removal should be easy, if it's back, then you might have a struggle even with good mounts.

George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

[bcjm]

This is getting complicated.  I just had the kingpins replaced and the alignment shop didn't know how to adjust the caster.

[enochbell]

George has the castor issue covered, I think.  That is why so much caution is necessary with messing with the subframe attachment at the point where the sway bar bushing is attached, you need to mark carefully the position of the mounting plate if you ever need to disattach it.  I just had my alignment done, I watched each measurement and adjustment, castor needed no adjustment, toe-in and camber were slightly off (camber is adjusted at the star wheel in the upper CA bushing) so I know mine are on spec...and I still have to raise slightly the car at a jack point to get the valve cover to clear (I admit, the first time I did it I thought about prising the engine forward from behind the short block, but thought better of it).  When I have the car on jack stands it is also no problem to pull the valve cover.  The transmission mounting nut is in the center of the slot in the carrier plate, so I assume the drive train is in proper orientation with the frame. Does this mean I might have weak, squashed subframe bushings?  This post just has me wondering,

Thanks,

g

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon

[George Davis]

g,

after thinking about it a bit, I'd say you probably do have worn out subframe mounts.  I'd guess with the car lifted, the left subframe mount allows the subframe and engine to droop enough to provide more clearance for the valve cover.  Be easy enough to take a look at the mounts with the car lowered and raised positions to see how they look.

The bad news is if you replace the mounts, you'll then have a hard time getting the valve cover off !  Sorry, I couldn't resist that.

George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

[bcjm]

I have done more works this year than the past 13 years since I have had the car. Anyway, I jacked up the transmission a little and removed the valve cover easily.  I am going to replace mount just in case.

[J. Huber]

quote:Originally posted by bcjm

I have done more works this year than the past 13 years since I have had the car.

I bet this coincides with your finding this and other like-minded websites. Known as Pagoda-itis, this condition is very contagious and guess what? YOU GOT IT!  

James
63 230SL