1998 2.0 4-cyl Zetec 115k
Tried to take my timing belt cover off to look at belt. Took out four bolts, and could wiggle and pull back the cover but unable to lift or slide it off. Seems like it will just break if i pull or yank any more. I read about others referring to top, middle, and bottom cover pieces, but mine seems to be all one piece (see pic).
Problem is, there is a gasket that goes around the inside of the cover that is apparently split in two on the bottom side of the cover because it was dangling from one side. I had my girl hold the cover out while I reached underneath to maneuver the gasket back in as best as I could. Put the bolts back and torqued it down, started feeling around the perimeter of the cover where the gasket would be and noticed now on the other side that the other half of where the gasket was split must have also been dangling because it got torqued down with some of it in and some of it out. Ugh!
Clearly the gasket is not gonna sit in there right, but taking the whole cover off seems to require me to unscrew things that I don't know what they are.
Questions:
1) Is this thing gonna leak oil like crazy now without the gasket sealing up the bottom of the timing belt cover? I've been reading on the forums about guys who run the car without the cover even on! But... there is a gasket, after all. So... WTF?
2) Why is my timing belt cover giving me so much trouble to get off? Is there one more thing I need to unscrew or remove before it can come off? Should I mess with it?
Any advice or experience would be tremendously appreciated! I'm pretty new to these cars, but I have been very much proactive in trying to prolong the life of this one.
In the pictures below, you can see the gasket protruding in the top pic and that the cover is all one piece in the bottom pic.
Tried to take my timing belt cover off to look at belt. Took out four bolts, and could wiggle and pull back the cover but unable to lift or slide it off. Seems like it will just break if i pull or yank any more. I read about others referring to top, middle, and bottom cover pieces, but mine seems to be all one piece (see pic).
Problem is, there is a gasket that goes around the inside of the cover that is apparently split in two on the bottom side of the cover because it was dangling from one side. I had my girl hold the cover out while I reached underneath to maneuver the gasket back in as best as I could. Put the bolts back and torqued it down, started feeling around the perimeter of the cover where the gasket would be and noticed now on the other side that the other half of where the gasket was split must have also been dangling because it got torqued down with some of it in and some of it out. Ugh!
Clearly the gasket is not gonna sit in there right, but taking the whole cover off seems to require me to unscrew things that I don't know what they are.
Questions:
1) Is this thing gonna leak oil like crazy now without the gasket sealing up the bottom of the timing belt cover? I've been reading on the forums about guys who run the car without the cover even on! But... there is a gasket, after all. So... WTF?
2) Why is my timing belt cover giving me so much trouble to get off? Is there one more thing I need to unscrew or remove before it can come off? Should I mess with it?
Any advice or experience would be tremendously appreciated! I'm pretty new to these cars, but I have been very much proactive in trying to prolong the life of this one.
In the pictures below, you can see the gasket protruding in the top pic and that the cover is all one piece in the bottom pic.