During Front Cover Gasket Replacement

1. Carefully cut the RTV sealant at the bottom of the front cover with a utility knife and pry carefully on the sides of the cover to avoid cracking the cover.

2. Prevent debris from entering the block, front cover, oil pan, and oil and coolant passages by taping, plugging, or sealing the passages prior to removing old gasket material. Immediately put shop towels in the front of the oil pan once the front cover is removed and plug the two oil passages in the block. The passages can be plugged with plastic plugs such as power steering hose plugs or tape. These same two passages must be plugged in the front cover before attempting to remove the old gasket. If debris does enter these passages, it will cause engine damage. The area around these passages should be hand scraped to avoid any possibility of contamination. It is important to prevent contamination from occurring. Debris cannot be cleaned out without engine and front cover disassembly.

3. After removing the timing chain and sprockets, plug the balance shaft hole with a clean shop towel on engines that do not have a balance shaft. The chain and sprockets must be removed, because they collect debris as the gasket is removed.

NOTE:
Leave rags and plugs in place when cleaning gasket particles off the front of the block. Remember to carefully remove the plugs and rags from the passages and oil pan before installing the new gasket. Use care when removing so that contamination does not enter the engine.

4. Hand scrape the old front cover gasket to remove heavy material before using the Roloc(TM) Bristle Disk to finish cleaning the gasket surfaces.

NOTE:
Roloc(TM) Bristle Disks are only authorized for use on the 3.8L and 4.2L front cover gaskets at this time. The 99B29 video says all, "Ford metal engine surfaces"; this has changed.

5. To prevent coolant from draining down the front of the block, remove coolant from the water pump passages in the block with a hydrometer or "turkey baster". This will allow the front of the block to be cleaned and dried for gasket installation.

6. The proper seal installation tools (T94P-6701-AH, T88T-6701-A1, and T82L-6316-A) must be used on the front crankshaft seal. Oil leaks and contamination will result if the proper tools are not used.

7. Wait to drain the engine oil until after the front cover is installed. DO NOT use solvent to wash debris into the oil pan or wash out the oil pan with the pan still on the vehicle. Solvent and debris will not drain completely out of the oil pan even with the drain plug removed. Any solvent and debris left in the pan will contaminate the engine oil.

8. Fill the new oil filter with clean engine oil and prime the lubrication system by cranking the engine with the coil disconnected for 15 seconds or until the oil light turns off or the gauge registers pressure.