V6 Valve Cover- How to remove this wiring harness clip

[keatingfee]

Hello all,
Heres the deal, im trying to remove the plastic wire harness box of the top of the valve cover, but the wires anchored a few inches back and I couldnt get it to budge, its being anchored by some type of "fastener"or clip that i have no idea how to remove w/out breaking. In the 2nd post below i have the pictures of the fastener thats causing all my problems,
if anyone has any ideas of how remove the plastic "bolt" from the mounting hole shown below please help me out and let me know. I just cant believe such a minor thing is stopping me from checking for sludge and keeping me out of my solara for so many days.
thanks

[99BlackSandv6]

I'm really not sure what your question is. But the picture you posted looks correct.
You should be able to unplug the three connectors from the coil packs on the spark plugs
and just push the plastic wire cover out of the way. That should make it easy to get to the
rear bolts on the valve cover.

Does that answer your question?

[keatingfee]

I'm really not sure what your question is. But the picture you posted looks correct.
You should be able to unplug the three connectors from the coil packs on the spark plugs
and just push the plastic wire cover out of the way. That should make it easy to get to the
rear bolts on the valve cover.

Does that answer your question?

Thanks For the reply. It looks that simple and it should be, but the plastic harness would barely budge because the wiring length behind it literally felt like it was run through a steel tube. But i finally found out what the issue is, a few inches back from the plastic harness the wiring is all taped together and there is an insert in the taped up wire with a plastic 'nub' (?) that goes through a hole in a little metal bracket, essentially anchoring it completely. So now ive found whats stopping me from being able to move the harness out of the way however i have no clue the proper way to release it from the bracket without just breaking the plastic. It almosts looks and serves as a drywall anchor for a screw. Here are the pics. If anyone has any idea of the proper way to release this please help me out. Thanks in advance. the picture highlights the exact spot. Any help is greatly appreaciated.

[SleeperSolara]

You just need to get a set of pliers and press the sides.

[keatingfee]

Hey y'all,
I finally got that clip removed, and without having to break it. Not a huge deal but id rather reinstall that than have broken it and used a zip tie or something. instead of one pair of pliers like it was designed to be removed with. It took 3 people one in front and one on each side, and together we were able to make up for the plastics lost elasticity over time. and after a little more coercing from the other connections, i was able to get that wiring harness box out of the way, so the valve covers finally coming off and getting a new gasket. Pictures to follow shortly, probably in early morning Fat Tuesday(Mardi gras Day). I might as well stay up all night working on it, i couldnt get sleep if i tried being that my house is on st. Charles right near bourbon, so im right on the parade route. Theres people out in the neutral ground(median) 24/7. Theyre drunk and have tents pitched but theyve got massive sound systems and such and build stages and just stay up all night till the next parades roll. Check out WDSU.com tomorow if you wanna see live coverage of Rex one of the oldest and most traditional parades in existence. Anyway, more to follow.

[mig0s]

Congrats! So Sludge or no?

[keatingfee]

In between bouts of severe weather, im trying to get some work done. But Flash flood warnings, tornado warnings, and hail wont stop this citys carnival goers on their last day. I wanted to post this for y'all. Its a local news channels live streaming feed from Bourbon street From Arnauds(a very famous restaurant) Balcony. Mind you the parades are all over and bourbon still looks like this from end to end. Last few nights it was literally no room to move,shoulder to sholder. But theres been this one lady on the balcony for the last hour thats got a whole crowd underneath her just to try and get her to throw them some beads. People do crazy things for beads during mardi gras. Its great. You can see her hold them up and dangle them over everyones heads like dogs,and they react as if they are when i see it on video like this, just jumping up me,me,me,its BACCOON. (No its beggin strips-beads)

[keatingfee]

Ok so hit one last problem. Please advise, I got all the wiring and junk out of the way. I just finished loosening all the bolts. Except one, Which is located in the back left corner of the cover, and is partially covered by the radiator hose. Being the idiot i am, i loosened the clamp and started to remove the hose from the radiator end, of course coolant began pouring out because i hadnt drained it. So a few questions, First, does the coolant pose any dangers to any of the parts it gushed all over, or any of the electrical connectors farther down that it drenched. If not than next question, should i drain the radiator and go about doing this the same way after being drained. I could probably push the hose aside enough to get to the bolt, but i was worried about when i go to re-seat the cover, that i should have full clearance everywhere so that i can lower it directly down, and not have to place it back down at any angles, for example with that left back corner tilted lower than the rest of it to get below the hose. Is this alright or should i only lower it directly down, in other words, drain the radiator and get that hose out the way? Any quick tips are greatly helpful as im trying to at least look beneath the valve cover before this storm comes. I might have to wait two days for the weather to clear up though if i cant get this. Anyway, thanks for any and all help.


last bolt by 99solara, on Flickr

[99BlackSandv6]

PM'd you.

[keatingfee]

Victory is Mine!!!!!!!
Hey guys,
First off thanks for all yall's help with everything everystep of the way. I've got the valve cover off. I was really bad off with by illness for the last couple days which really had me irate. I could hardly walk much less bend even slightly to work under the hood, point being, sorry for the delay. I wanted to make up for lost time and not have any catastrophes or even minor setbacks to delay things even a second loner. So i just took off the skid plate and drained the radiator so i would have to worry about rigging some type of catch/jug for the fluid when i removed the radiator hose, I was able to remove the hose from the radiator easily, but not from the neck right beneath the rad. cap. Wouldnt budge, like it was glue in place. Anyway i was at least able to bend the hose out of the way enough to get to the last bolt and remove the valve cover. Pictures are being uploaded as we speak so i will be posting very shortly. Looking forward to yall's feedback and diagnosis. The cover and the area around it is so dirty and i was so worried about the slightest spec of dust falling in there. I temporarily reseated the cover, but Right now i have the the ignition coils/spark plug tube out out of the engine and in sepperate bags to the side. Should i lightly put them back in to protect the holes or cover them with something or not worry about it at all? Anyway very shortly ill edit this post with the pictures of inside i just wanted everyone to know it was done. Again thanks for everyones help.

InValveCo3 by 99solara, on Flickr
InValveCo2 by 99solara, on Flickr

[99BlackSandv6]

Great job! The engine looks fantastic. No sludge is good sludge.
It looks like you might have a minor valve cover gasket leak, around
the front edge of the valve cover. You might want to pick up the
gasket set and throw a new one on there. The kit cost $15-20.

[keatingfee]

Great job! The engine looks fantastic. No sludge is good sludge.
It looks like you might have a minor valve cover gasket leak, around
the front edge of the valve cover. You might want to pick up the
gasket set and throw a new one on there. The kit cost $15-20.

Thanks man. Yea got a new felpro gasket set before i had the cover off. Now that the cover is off, Can anyone give any recommendations as far as cleaning the following:
1.) the top of the inside of the valve cover
2.) everthing/all the insides underneath where the valve cover was(or should that just be left alone)
3.) cleaning the surfaces on the edge of the valve cover and the edge of where it meets the engine.
4.) lastly cleaning that area of residue buildup underneath the gasket from all the pics.
I'm sure that theres one cleaner or chemical thats probably perfect for all of these, but im guessing that the tools i should use will vary with which area im cleaning. If anyone can give me any suggestions so i can put together a little mini-cleaning guide for everything before i install the new gasket and replace the cover, it would help me out a whole lot. Thanks for everyones support.

[99BlackSandv6]

Don't spray anything into the engine to clean it. Leave the engine internals alone, they're in great shape.
Use a paper tower with a little Simple Green on it to clean the mating surface on the engine.

[99BlackSandv6]

If the gunk is too tough to easily cut with Simple Green, you could use brake parts cleaner.
It's harsh stuff, basically straight methanol. Avoid getting it on anything that isn't bare metal. It eats paint.
Get the cheap stuff at Wal Mart if it's convenient. You don't need to spend $4 on the CRC stuff at O'Reilly's

[DSM_Lara]

Just curious how many miles is on the car????