Remove Intake to get valve covers off?

[king2king]

Is it necessary to remove the intake manifold in order to remove the valve covers on a 94 3.2L?

[mrprogrock]

According to the Haynes Manual it is yes....never had to do the job myself, but it does look like you have to remove it.

[ibew595]

That sucks, I have leaky plug seals that someday need to be fixed. While you are in there change the stem seals too.They are crappy. There are 2 engines for the isuzu the 3.1 and 3.2 which is the newer engine. The 3.1 is harder to do, you may not have to remove the manifold from what I just read.

[95.5 Rodeo]

The "common chamber" or plenum needs to be removed in order to change the valve cover gaskets on the 3.2L. The intake manifold is underneath the common chamber and stays in place while you do the job.

The common chamber is not that difficult to work with except for the bracket in back on the passenger's side which holds the heater hoses in place. Getting the bolts started during installation took a while because there was only enough room to get my fingertips on the bolt heads. I ended up barely holding the bolt with place with one fingertip and turning it with the other hand using an open ended wrench. Getting those 4 bolts started was a lot of fun.

I left the throttle body hanging in place by the small heater hoses after unbolting it. It didn't need to be disconnected from the heater hoses to get enough clearance for the driver's side valve cover to get by it and I didn't want to create a potential leak there.

I also had to remove the engine hanger bracket on the driver's side from the exhaust manifold to get enough clearance. The engine hanger bolted to the passenger's side exhaust manifold guiding the spark plug wires had to be removed as well. I worked through the wheel wells to remove the exhaust manifold bolts.

Check the EGR passage in the common chamber for carbon while you have it removed. Mine was about 50% blocked. I used a drill bit turned by hand to clear it then washed out the crud with water afterwards. I removed the MAP sensor before cleaning the EGR passage.


Dale

[Cat Fuzz]

lol, on my Chevy truck I don't have to remove anything to change the valve covers except the valve covers.

[king2king]

Thanks, 95.5 Rodeo, for the well written description. It was accurate and very helpful.

Rich

[95.5 Rodeo]

You are welcome, good luck on the repair.

Dale

[95.5 Rodeo]

Originally Posted by Cat Fuzz

lol, on my Chevy truck I don't have to remove anything to change the valve covers except the valve covers.

Ahh, those were the days. On my old '65 Chevy pickup I could literally climb into the engine compartment and sit comfortably while working on those hard to reach parts.

My '78 Ford F250 needs valve cover gaskets and I should do that someday. Like your Chevy, they are right out in the open. It may take about an hour to complete the job.

Now I know why the Isuzu mechanics make the big bucks....


Dale