tdbrown75

There is no way you can do this with the covers on the car. They are too tight to get back in place without damaging the sensors themselves. The covers must come off.

There's a write up the describes the process here:
https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...ll-w-pics.html

Tim

ytix

Not entirely true. PITA and should be done with the cam covers off the head? Yes. Impossible? No.

I swapped my torn and leaky grommet out without removing the cam cover. I fashioned a tight 1/2 inch U hook with a handle out of a metal clothes hanger. I punctured the soft rubber 'valley' of the grommet with the bend of hook and engaged the tip of the hook on the inside of the grommet rim. And pulled. I would not recommend this as the hook may slip off the rim and gouge the metal mating surface of the grommet hole. I got lucky and had no gouges.

Anyway when installing a new grommet it must either be slipped back over the sensor by pre-installing it in the cam cover off the head or you slip the grommet over the sensor by installing it in the cam cover already bolted to the head. So I don't think that you can avoid the 'too tight' issue.

davisr014

I have finished the swap leaving the covers on. The drivers one came out very easy and the passenger side was a little harder. I did apply some sealant on the seal before installing. I will for it to setup before starting it up. A deep 1 1/16 socket works great to press the seal on.

tdbrown75

Glad to hear it worked out!

Tim

timothyrw

Bringing this back to life for posterity:

I have an 06 with the tabs and found my passenger side leaking.

If you have an 05-06 with the tabs the part # is:

3L3Z-6C535-AA

I ordered the part # mentioned earlier and it definitely does not have tabs. Thankfully the one with tabs was in stock. It was $12 at the dealer.

UPDATE

Wow, what an easy removal and replace. Not a PITA at all!

See pics. Pretty self explanatory. But after I used a flat head screw driver and mallet to crush in the edges the seal literally popped out. I tried pulling it out by the tabs but ain't no way that is going to happen. The seal is actually metal covered by plastic/rubber. In the picture you can see I had already pulled off the neck of the seal that went around the sensor. That was the part that was leaking.

Switchblade

hi guys - did you ever try getting your grommets out without taking off your valve covers? I have the same issue and posted the below questions on another fourm.

Hey guys, I have this same issue. I didn't have this issue until I upgraded to the High Output Whipple SC (I had the regular SC non-intercooled before). Now I get oil leaking out of the driver side VCT grommet. I also have the Ford Racing chrome valve covers, which came with the grommets. I used the above part number and purchased two new grommets. The assumption is that the stock valve covers and the FR chrome covers use the same grommet, which looks to be the case.

My question is has anyone changed these out without removing the valve covers? It looks like I can leave the sensor in place, but just unplug the electrical wire, and then perhaps some how dig out the old grommet and some how pop the new one in, all without messing up my nice valve covers and without dropping either the old or new grommet down inside the valve cover. Please confirm.

As a side effect of the oil leaking from the VCT grommet, I am collecting oil in the adjacent spark plug area. It's not real clear how the oil is moving from the VCT grommet to the spark plug area, but it is. Has anyone had this side effect? At some point that area will fill up with oil and kill the plug. It also sometimes drips on my headers (stinks like crazy), which is how I found out about this problem in the first place.

I've also read that you can get leaks from the PVC port as well, under these same conditions. The solution is a oil catch can, which is better for your engine anyway. So I've orderd one of those too.

Switchblade

sorry, I just realized there was a page 2. I had posted and cannot edit my post yet ,so posting again.

I have a 2008 and the drivers side is leaking. I now read that davisr014 has been able to change these without removing the covers. I'd like to learn how you removed it. I read that the other guy used a hanger, but that sounds risky. Also, how did you get the new grommet in without damaging anything?

tdbrown75

I have changed two of these now since my original post, and stand by my comment that the fit is too tight to safely replace these with the valve covers on the car. I had to use a rubber mallet to get the new seals fully seated.

I suppose you could try working with the right sized deep socket to work around the top of the sensor, but if you bang that sensor by accident it's going to cost you a heck of a lot more and you'll end up pulling the cover anyway.

Just my 2c cents...

Tim

Switchblade

Thanks Tim. While I would really like to avoid removing the cover, I do think that is the best choice. I'm sure I would screw things up trying to remove the old one, or banging in the new one. what a PITA.

Did you ever have oil pooling in by the spark plug on the drivers side?