Hello everyone,

I've got a '99 F150 with a 4.6L V8. I've had the truck for several months now, and it came with a bit of an engine tick. I got a stethoscope and determined the sound was coming from the passenger side valve train. So today I decided I was going to open it up and see what's going on in there. My question is, doers anyone have any suggestions for getting the wiring harness out of the way? I suspect there must be some trick I don't know. I've detached it from the studs it mounts on, but the wires themselves prevent me from moving the whole thing more than maybe a few inches. Any tips or hints would be really appreciated.

 

Sure, - just tie it back w/bungies.

 

Once I got the cylinder cover off I was able to do just as you say. I had a lot of trouble getting the cover out. This is my first foray into an engine like this, so please excuse my stupid questions. I couldn't tell when I was trying to wrestle that cover out if I was doing something wrong, or if I didn't know some trick to get the stuff out of the way. I've now got a valve spring compressor on order. I'm pretty sure the clacking sound was coming from one of the first three valve assemblies; hopefully I'll find the culprit, and that will be that. I think I'd need to be a hobbit to get the valve assembly parts out all the way at the back. Thanks for your reply.