but back to the question of : is it possible to change the valve seals only removing the rocker arm assembly and not having to take out the camshaft?

 

The best suggestion is to go on a site like automanualsource.com and buy a manual for your car as a pdf. They cost $21.99 and are worth the investment.

I don't have my 94 manual infront of me (similar to the F23 engine). I think that you would have to remove only the rocker assembly.

 

I have the haynes manual , but it is geared towards complete overhaul and they never address whether or not it can be done withourt removing the head and disassembling it . I may consider this manual. in the meantime I am going to get the leakdown test fittings and try to do it this weekend , I think I am also going to check all the intake lines going from the valve cover to the intake.

 

I was just reading through your thread, I don't have any information on your questions but i have the same car, well a 99 with a 2.3l, same engine, ive been experiencing a large amount of oil being burned and leaked, is it possible for the distributor cap to leak oil some way? i have not a clue about cars, but thats what it looks like its coming from, any ideas? someone said they have o-rings that might be bad?

 

I dont know about yours , however in my case with the amount that I am going through I would see a leak like that with a trail marked from my garage all over town . I dont have any leaks and for the amount that I am consuming I would think that I should be seeing large quantities of smoke any time the engine is running.

 

I just pulled all the lines going from the valve cover to the intake to see just how dirty and clogged they would be. I did expect to find them pretty cruddy at best and completly clogged at worst. I did replace the pcv valve about two weeks ago and it was gummed up and did not move at all. just a little while ago I checked all the lines and they we extremely clean , no deposits or build up what so ever. a slight amount of oil in the pcv valve itself, and when I took the intake hose off to see what the throttle plate looked like , admittedly , it was pretty clean. it did have a light film of oil and grime . I was really hoping that something simple like that would be the cause.

 

on a side note , a buddy from work has a f23a4 (ulev) engine I can pick up from him , however can i use that engine and head on my car?
if all I am using is the engine and head will my exhaust manifold and intake bolt up?

 

The ULEV has some differences, I think you will have to swap some sensors from your old motor to the new one as some are different.

Perhaps someone will chime in who knows what the differences are.

 

The ULEV car has a whole different wiring harness. So it seems easier (IMHO) to swap the sensors over and essentially turn the ULEV engine into a non-ULEV.

Most important is the exhaust manifold and front oxygen sensor. I don't know whether you need the next exhaust pipe, just to make it fit? So use your original exhaust manifold and entire exhaust system.

Not sure about the distributor; I suspect it's the same but you can check to see whether the distributor is "visually" the same and the wiring plugs are the same.

If you want, you can swap valve covers so use the one that doesn't say "ULEV". That might be less confusing to future mechanics, so they don't try to install a ULEV oxygen sensor a few years down the road.

 

my thoughts were to use everything from the f23a1 (lev) and move it to the f23a4 (ulev) so that essentially all I am using is the engine itself. from what I have come to understand , the long block is essentially the same ,