1992 Acclaim Valve Cover Removal

If you have the 2.5L engine, it is most likely the stamped steel valve cover. It should come loose once all the bolts are removed. It may have been "glued" on with gasket sealer. The steel valve cover was prone to leaking. I replaced mine with the aluminum one that is used on the turbo engine. It has not leaked since. It was over $70, but made sense since the car was still young at the time, and I planned on keeping it for awhile.

-Kirk Matheson

I have all the bolts off, but it's still obstructed in several places. To the rear left the air filter assembly is in the way (sorry, without the manual I'm not terribly fluent with the part names), while to the right there are three cables that are taut over the cover. Two of them I can push aside enough to probably get the cover off, but the third, thicker one is still in the way. It's connected to something almost directly below the battery, but I can't see where it goes to how to disconnect it.

Thanks, Patrick

Do yourself a large favor: Go shopping at a local wrecking yard and obtain a valve cover from a 1995-model Dodge or Plymouth with the 2.5-liter

4-cylinder engine. The '95 cover looks almost the same as the '92 cover, and the two are directly interchangeable, but the '95 cover is made out of cast aluminum and seals much better, and much more durably.

The turbo valve cover mentioned by another poster is NOT a directly-interchangeable swap; the crankcase ventillation fittings aren't the same and so modification is required -- probably not something you want to do, given that this is your first effort at car repair.

Yes: The rubber PCV valve elbow at the center rear, and the rubber crankcase air inlet hose at the driver's side rear. Remove the complete airbox (air cleaner) assembly from the engine compartment, and you will have a much clearer view of these two rubber items. Grasp and firmly pull each one off its fitting on the rear face of the valve cover, and you'll be all set.

I hope, for your sake and the sake of your wallet and your car, that you are getting a genuine FACTORY manual. The Haynes/Chiltons type manuals are worse than worthless.

While you are in the immediate neighborhood of your valve cover, you should take the small amount of extra time to service your engine's complete crankcase ventillation system. See my earlier post here for instructions:

DS

Dan is right about the cover not being the one for the turbo. I had forgotten this. When I went to the dealer to order it back in 1997, I asked for the turbo one. The parts guy came out and looked at my 2.5 to ensure that he ordered the correct one, not for the turbo. After putting on the aluminum cover, I had not had a leak problem since. I did not know that the aluminum cover was standard for 1995.

-Kirk Matheson

Yeah, for a while, at least, they were substituting a package with a simple cast alum. cover to replace the stamped leaker. There may have even been a recall on this...you might get a free cover! Do some research.

R.E.-

Not a recall, it was just a TSB. No free covers outta this one. The aluminum "looks like a steel one" cover was released in '94.

Those 3 cables are the throttle cables and go to the pedal, transmission kickdown, and cruise control. The thing under the battery is the cruise control servo. You have to remove the entire airbox and then unbolt the throttle cable bracket from the side of the throttle body to get the valve cover off. If I remember right from a head gasket swap on my aunt's 92 spirit they are 10mm.