Is it possible to change an EA82 v.c. gasket with the engine in the car? I haven't gotten too good of a look at it, but it doesn't look like there's much room in there.

 

The car is an '88 DL wagon 5 speed.

There's more then enough room to change those gaskets.

If, by 'more than enough room', you mean that there's enough room to get the job done without having to hammer or pry anything, then yes, there's plenty of room! :-p

 

I did the valve cover gaskets on my '88 this last summer in about 1 1/2 hours. The old gaskets were silicone'd in place, so about 1/2 hour of that was scraping gasket crap off the valve cover and cam cover.

 

Just get yourself the right size combination wrench, and be patient with the bolts. With my big fat hands, I was still able to squeeze them into there and turn the wrench.

 

MAKE SURE that your valve cover gasket set comes with new grommets for the valve cover bolts.

undo the nut from the motor mount on that side.(under the crossmember) jack up that side of the motor until the exhaust pipe meets the crossmember. you can get it up out of the framerail some 2-3 inches. makes it a lot easier.

 

i took one off without doing that, everytime i got a socket on a bolt, by the time i backed it out, it was wedged against the car, with the wrench!

 

its actually called a cam(case) cover on the ea82

 

 

either way described will work, but you will have less time in jacking the motor than you will turning the bolts 1/8 turn at a time!

Thanks for the info, guys. I'll give it a shot next weekend and let you know how it turns out.