86 T-Bird 3.8L V6

Topic: 86 T-Bird 3.8L V6 (Read 904 times) previous topic - next topic

86 T-Bird 3.8L V6

December 24, 2011, 01:40:32 PM

Do you need to remove the oil pan to remove the timing cover on an 86 3.8L V6?
I know I saw this discussed on here before but I can't seem to find it.
The camshaft lobe for #2 cylinder intake valve is wiped. It is strange as I bought
this car and drove it for two days and it developed a miss which turned out to be
the wiped intake lobe. This car has 69K original miles and the engine is clean inside.
I have owned two other cars with 3.8L V6 in them and they both had 200K plus miles
on them when I got ride of them. I was never inside either engine except to replace
intake gaskets. Has anybody else experienced a wiped cam in a 3.8? Thanks.

86 T-Bird 3.8L V6

Reply #1 – December 24, 2011, 09:54:16 PM

On the "84" you definitely need to remove the oil pan first -- believe this is also true for the "86".

86 T-Bird 3.8L V6

Reply #2 – December 24, 2011, 10:35:52 PM

Ok, thanks dw85745. Many years ago I had the timing cover off of a 3.8 but I can't remember what year it was. I know I didn't take the oil pan off though.

86 T-Bird 3.8L V6

Reply #3 – January 01, 2012, 08:18:41 PM

No, you do not need to remove the pan on the '86 3.8L. I know, I've done it twice because of TC/Block coolant leaks. But you DO have to remove the crank pulley. There are some bolts that go through the pan into the cover, though, and those have to be removed. When you put the T/C back on, there is a corner where it makes up to the block and the pan on either side of the crank that has to be sealed with RTV. There is absolutely NO reason to remove the pan to remove the timing cover, though.

86 T-Bird 3.8L V6

Reply #4 – January 01, 2012, 09:11:46 PM

Thanks Old_Paint. I disassembled it a couple days ago and found out you don't really need to pull the pan. The timing cover on this one was starting to leak too as they eventually do. I am now waiting on my cam to show up so I can reassemble it. Then maybe I can enjoy driving it.