I would not take the chance of the quarter fix. If I was real hard up on the money I would go no less than the plastic clip fix. It looks more secure and less likely to fall out and jamb into something else. I have found gasket and harnesses for $75 a side. Not cheap but with my truck too many miles have gone thru to skip the gaskets.

Did you do a buzz test or something to verify the harness is bad?

 

New UVC harnesses from International are about $35 now (and are made in China :thdown so are Alliant Power ones (I just scored one for about $25 off eBay), and I suspect that Ford's are as well as they get them from the same source. RockAuto sells them for less than $20 (Dorman brand) if you can wait for the mail.

I just did glow plugs and only had one new harness, so I shimmed the original (unimproved) one with a flat piece of plastic (keeps the harness latch engaged with the VC gasket). I cut it in a triangular shape so that when installed it was wedged between the latch part of the VC gasket connector and the VC itself when installed. There's no way it's coming out of there. I used the International/Ford clips on a previous engine for probably 100k miles and never had a problem with them. They're designed to lock in place as well.

I imagine a quarter would also be trapped in place, but I'm just nervous about having a piece of metal potentially loose inside the engine. Probably would have trouble getting anywhere but in the valve train, but still..... Plastic, on the other hand wouldn't lend much resistance if eaten by the engine.

The new harness is improved in that it has a couple of nubs that help keep the latch latched, but there's no guarantee that it won't get brittle and break like the original harness could (seen that happen).

Your mileage may vary.

 

Call your dealership and give them this part number and you'll be in business
2C3Z-14A163-AB.
Its a service kit for the retainer clip. Cheap and effective.

 

Unless you see that one of the harnesses is damaged, just do the clips and call it good.

 

i agree, i did the quarter fix (thought it was good and tight). 3 weeks later took off the valve cover for other work and the quarter was almost out :nono:. my connection was just to loose/weak. so new harness for me. If it is still a tight connection just clip it

 

I did new harnesses from Ford at cost, when I did glowplugs. Harnesses made in China, but the fit was perfect, hopefully they hold up. It actually is not that bad to get the covers off, but if I was going that far I would definately replace the harnesses.

 

my outer harness plugs were melted so i ordered glow plugs($9.95 each) and 2 of the dorman vc gasket kits($49.95 each) from summit racing. it included the valve cover gasket, under gasket harness AND outer harness repair pigtail. total $192 includes shipping. removed vc and found inner plug melted as well. changed out passenger side parts so far. will do driver side today. btw 240,000 on the truck.

 

put in brand new harnesses with covers from NAPA. They come already assembled, and then install the quarters.

What I just did and its perfect. You REALLY have to push the quarters into the harnesses. They are not going anywhere...

 

JSPD234 what material are the gaskets? Rubber or Silicon? So far that is the cheapest price I have seen anywhere.

 

My new harness clips started getting week in less than a year. I went back to my fix for my old harness. At pretty much any auto parts store you can get nylon license plate inserts #8 by .5" ( square on outside with screw hole in middle ), the ones I purchased twice are made by Dorman, they fit perfectly under harness clip tabs keeping pressure on the tab. You push the small end under the tab leaving the larger end facing up so that it will be against the valve cover when installed. Once the valve cover is on they can't fall out. I wouldn't put the valve covers back on without them even if you use new harness's.

 

I did the .50 cent fix and good so far. Once the valve cover is on I don't see how the quarter or .18 cent piece after grinding can go anywhere??:lol:

 

if your connection on the harness isn't completely snug and the tab on top to hold it in is a little weak and not completely snug it CAN come out...

I talked to a guy around here that had it happen, although he shut it down right away and in the end he found a quarter ontop of his head and a completely disconnected harness :icon_rolleyes:

 

Twenty five thousand miles now since I shoved a piece of 3/8" tubing under the clip (arch) on the drivers side, no problems so far. That was Fords fix, when trouble started, at least my buddy, a Ford mechanic, does it that way.

 

yes makes complete sence, positive force upward is much better than a general "gap filler" that doesnt provide force upwards on the middle of the tab, which lets the catch 'tooth' be more secure..

 

Sorry I never closed this one out. I went in and put in the clips from the stealer-ship. Not proud of what I payed for them, but I feel better having plastic in there over the quarter even though it would be pretty near impossible for a quarter to get out into the valve train.

 

well im glad you got it fixed 'for now' :thumbsup: