V6 engine cover question

[vt solo2]

HI everyone, I tried searching for an answer and didn't see anything, so I'm sorry if I missed it. I have a 2000 V6 and was wondering if the plastic engine cover had any useful purpose and if I could remove it?

I had my cousin (yes, he's a real mechanic) replace the passenger coils, plugs, pcv valve and hose, but it looks like he routed some of the hoses incorrectly, so the engine cover doesn't fit correctly. Not sure what he did, but there are a couple of hoses that are on top of where the push pin connector is supposed to go to attach the cover (above the #6 coil). So now the cover just sort of sits on top of the hoses and doesn't securely attach. I'm not sure I want to keep it that way, I don't want it to rub those hoses too much. So does the cover do anything (like keep water away from the coils?), or could I just remove it?

Thank you!

 

[2002_lincolnLS]

Its prurely decrotive, I dont know if the v-6 has coil covers or not but i know that the engine cover wouldl't do much in the way of keeping water out of your coils.

But it does add 5 horse power, and it its on correctly you may get as much as 7 out it.

 

[joegr]

The V8 cover is for noise reduction and appearance. I don't know about the V6 cover. However, I would certainly want the hoses to be routed correctly. Misrouted hoses may chafe or pull loose.

 

[Mechanicboy]

I wouldn't say it's purely decorative as it probably adds some protection against water getting onto the coils in case it get's past the windshield cowling. I took mine off as one of the tabs was broken anyway and I figured if anything all it does is hold more heat in the coil area and would make coil failure more prone.

Like joegr said, I'd want to find out why it doesn't fit to make sure it isn't going to cause some sort of other problem.

 

[vt solo2]

Thank you everyone for replying. I agree, I do need to figure out how the hoses are supposed to be routed. I looked at it before work this morning, so I didn't have much time to play around. I think my next step is to find a decent photo of what it is supposed to look like and go from there. Thank you!

 

[lincolnx2]

If you post a pic, I can tell you what is mis-routed, I had to re-route mine after a collision shop did a half-ass job

 

[milehighmikey]

The throttle cables go over the cover.
The vacuum lines go through the plenum, along with the water return from the throttle body to the degas bottle
The water line from the plastic front manifold for water flow to the throttle body goes through the front end of the plenum, as seen in the photo.

Hope this helps.

 

[vt solo2]

Ah, I see what happened. The two hoses that are zip tied together (one of the hoses has that yellow plastic piece) and going through the #4 and 5 runners is routed through the plenum between the #5 and 6 runners.

He had those two hoses laying on top of the bracket that the cover attaches to and then down through the plenum. Last night I tucked those two hoses down a little bit so they are below that bracket. They're pretty loose and don't look like they're tugging or rubbing on anything. Once I tucked them down a little they look like they're supposed to go through there. Any thoughts?

What are those two hoses for? The bigger one goes to the throttle body, right behind the IAC valve. The smaller one that's zip tied to it looks like it branches off of the bigger one closer to the throttle body.

I'll try to snap a picture later today when it stops raining, but any thoughts if I should go ahead and reroute it? I'm not sure what is under the plenum that might damage them.

A very big thank you to everyone, I don't know what I would do without this forum (probably would have traded it in by now...).

 

[LS4me]

What are those two hoses for? The bigger one goes to the throttle body, right behind the IAC valve. The smaller one that's zip tied to it looks like it branches off of the bigger one closer to the throttle body.

Those would be the coolant lines to the throttle body. The coolant will heat up the TB slightly, to prevent incoming cold, damp air from freezing. It keeps the TB from icing-up in the winter. Since we don't really have winter here I rerouted that line to avoid the TB and keep the incoming charge "cool".

 

[vt solo2]

So I just went outside and snapped a few pics, sorry about the quality, they're with my phone. It appears the hoses are vacuum because where that yellow plastic connect/splitter thing, a hose comes out the back of it, makes a 90 degree turn and goes directly to the air intake duct (one of the red arrows). What does everyone think?

And the little piece of duct tape on the bracket is from me, the hose got a little close to it, and wanted to provide some protection while I figure out what to do.

 

[joegr]

Yep, that's a vacuum hose. The two with clamps [at the throttle body] are the coolant to the throttle body heater, I assume. The big vacuum hose with the check valve inline goes to the brake booster.

 

[vt solo2]

Yep, that's a vacuum hose. The two with clamps [at the throttle body] are the coolant to the throttle body heater, I assume. The big vacuum hose with the check valve inline goes to the brake booster.

Well, at least it's a vacuum line and not a coolant line, so much easier to move and route correctly. The good news is that it doesn't look too difficult to get in the right spot.

I'm actually surprised Ford didn't route those hoses through there to begin with, they seem to fit perfectly in there, they're just a little close to the bracket for the engine cover.

Thank you to everyone who helped me with this, I really appreciate it.