PCV Valve replacement

I am trying to do some routine maintenance on my 1996 windstar 3.8L. I bought a new PCV valve but can't find it on the engine. The Haynes manual says it is on the side of the motor that faces the rear of the vehicle. There is so much stuff in the way that I can't see anything back there. How does one go about finding and replacing the PCV valve on this car? Also, how do you get to the three sparkplugs that are hidden back there?

On my 1999 3.8L The PCV vavle is on the valve cover that faces the front of the engine. Don't know if the 1996 is different but I dought it).

The spark plugs are a hassle. I have not done mine but I will soon. I have heard people do things such as loosen motor mounts, reomove the cowl or drive up on ramps and do them from underneath....

re: my last post
that should be "doubt"..........don't know where the dought came from. Was eating a doughnut while writing I suppose

DRW1000 hit it. On that model(s) you will need to either pull the cowling off, or attack it from underneath to service the PCV. Thank goodness they switched it to the front V-cover later on.
G/luck
Joel

How does one remove the cowling? I assume this is the plastic thing in front of the windshield. Is it difficult? I think that would make more sense than trying to get in from underneath. I have ramps but don't see how I could get in there from underneath and be able to see what I am doing.

In the haynes manual it says that it is easier to remove the cowling. You first remove the wiper arms. Then remove the screws on the cowling and as you are pulling it up you disconnect if i'm correct the wiper fluid hoses and pull the cowling out.

In the haynes manual it says that it is easier to remove the cowling. You first remove the wiper arms. Then remove the screws on the cowling and as you are pulling it up you disconnect if i'm correct the wiper fluid hoses and pull the cowling out.
thanks for the advice. I removed the cowling (not too difficult) and was able to replace the pcv valve and five of the six plugs this weekend. I gave up on the plug that is directly in front of the passenger's seat, because I couldn't get my hand in there without removing lots more stuff. I also ran a can of seafoam in through the pcv hole in the top of the manifold (lots of black smoke came out the exhaust). The car went two complete cycles before the check engine light went back on. I will check the codes tonight and report in again. Thanks for all your advice.

deeph8- you may get some random misfire codes from the seafoam cleaning- no big deal. That's common from an intake, PCV, EGR cleaning. Pulling power to the PCM (battery cable or fuse), or several normal driving cycles should clear it.
G/luck
Joel

My 98 windstar was a bear to change the plugs. I was able to remove the air intake hose from the trottle body and weave my arm around the wires and hoses on the passenger side of the motor. You can get to them fairly easily from underneath, provided you can get under the van. Warning, it's a long reach from the bottom and your arms will tire before the job is done. It is do-able though.

I have changed the plugs, the pcv valve and some of the vacuum hoses, but I still am getting the following codes: 1537 (intake manifold runner control stuck open, bank 1) and 1538 (intake manifold runner control stuck open, bank 2). I have a Haynes manual but it didn't offer any real advice for fixing this. Does anyone know how serious a problem this is and if there is a diy fix? I don't want to take the car to the dealer for budget reasons. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Deeph8- I'm not sure if the split port intake on the 1996 is similar to the 1999-2003 3.8L, but check that the actuator linkages are not binding on anything, or that the motor is not unplugged. Here's a pic of the newer style intake: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38634&item=2464404065 Note the "black box" on one end of the intake. That's the actuator motor that opens/closes the butterflies.
G/luck
Joel

Thanks for the advice, I will look at it when I get home. The funny thing is that the car is running well.

Good to hear it's running well. Those secondary butterflies only open up at high RPM's so you may only notice a slight power loss while passing on the highway, etc.. It wont harm the engine in any way with them stuck shut. You probably wouln't notice much with them stuck open either. Maybe a slightly rough idle, or a little low end power loss. This setup is Ford's way of squeezing every ounce of power out of an old school engine, without spending money on rolling out a new engine :banghead: . I personally like the ford 3.8L. It is a solid, tough engine. It would be MUCH better with a simpler intake design not prone to gasket issues!
G/luck
Joel