i have a 96 3.8 and i believe i have a collapsed lifter or possibly a cracked pushrod or broken rocker. my buddy and i are beginning to tear it apart to find out and i was wondering if there are any tricks to removing the passenger side valve cover because the engine lift bracket is covering the bolt nearest to the firewall. my car was stripped of its ac compressor/coil and now we both think that it would be easiest if we remove the entire heating coil and all the crap on that side of the engine. please help, i want to fix this so i can sell it.

 

When I did mine, I just used a piece of angle iron and hammered the engine lift bracket out of the way. You can take it off, but it's a pain. I caution you though, if you do hammer it out of the way and want to keep the same heater hoses, don't hammer it too far.

 

that idea came to mind... ill give it a try hopefully i wont hammer it to far, thank you!

 

You can reach it from under the car. The bolt for the bracket that is.Its tight, but it can be done. Either that or get a mirror so you can see what your doing.

 

i got it thanks guys! but it turned out to be on the driver side. pretty sure i have two collapsed lifters or my cam is shot... does anyone know if the 3.8 has a hydralic roller cam by chance? because i have been old they tend to wear. now it is time to yank the intake manifold so ill let post my discoveries but ill prob wind up replacing alll lifters and cam and possibly pushrods if needed.