New to the forum, lots of neat ideas and information. On to the trouble.

2001 SE, 2.4 SOHC. Valve cover gasket is leaking, is this a do it yourself job or like so many others on this gem is it a "best left to the factory boys" kinda thing. My only great concern is that the ignition comes up right in the middle of it and I am wondering how much has to be disassembled to change this out.

Also, the power locks will unlock, but will not lock. All 4 Doors. This is the wife's car and the centralized locking system was kind of a real nice option for her to have to lock all the doors at once.

Otherwise in 88K the only thing that has gone wrong is a busted power steering hose, and the thermostat crapped out. I changed the thermostat, but the power steering hose was done by the factory girls[X(] $272.00 in labor to install a $42 hose[:@]

Love this car though, still get almost 30mpg on the highway and is oh so comfortable compared to the Escort we used to have.

 

Valve cover should not be that hard to do, just make sure you clean the mating services good before you put the new gasket on. Do all the doors not lock?

 

All 4 doors will not lock. Have to be manually locked. You can hear whatever it is that makes them try to lock when the car hits 10mph though.

 

I would try oiling them with some WD-40, or somethin. Its a PITA, try lubing the mechanisms from the outside, but you will probally have to take the door panels off.