Can the upper timing belt covers on the SOHC 3.2L be removed seperatly without draining the coolant and such, as the shop manual says? When I bought my Trooper the owner said the belt was replaced about a year and a half ago when dealing with a blown head gasket. I noticed that the bolts on the passenger side are bare metal and the drivers side look OEM. I have seen YouTube videos of these engines running with the timing way off the mark on the cam sprockets, and I'm wondering if this might be why then engine feels "fflat". By that I mean it pulls good to about 3,200 to maybe 3,500 rpm and then the torque falls off. I've never really taken it past 4,000 rpm on purpose, and don't really plan to. This was most obvious when driving up the 6% Sherwin Grade in California. Couldn't maintain 55 mph and had to drive it in 4th @ 3000 rpm and around 45-50. It runs fime around town and the CV joints are a more pressing problem for now. Can I pull those 2 top covers separately to check the marks? Almost looks like the are bolted to the bottom cover under the coolant hose. Google was of no help and the shop manual doesn't specify.

Okay, this is kind of strange. Earlier I posted about the engine tapping out between 3,200 and 3,500 rpm. Since I have a Chilton's, I read sections that pertain to some issues before I post here, like the timing cover thing. So this morning I decided to check the ECM codes. Jumped the 1 and 3 pins and got nothing but 12's. All good. Here is where it gets strange for me. I was running the tank down before a top off to see when the low fuel light comes on (around 3-4 gallons). I remember reading about the ECM and "back up mode" when something is really wrong (the reason I decided to check for codes), and "open circuit mode" when at WOT (also kills the emission crap). So I decided to do a WOT old school blow the carbon out drive after filling up. After maybe 2 miles and a few stop lights, it was like flipping a switch. In second and third it pulls hard to 4,000 rpm or so (I chickened out), and didn't show signs of giving up. And at part throttle where I do most of my driving, it shows improvement also. When I got home though, I noticed I could hear the fuel pump running in the tank when I stand next to the fill door with the truck running. I never noticed this before. Before I would only hear it prime in the on (not running) position. Nothing in the Chilton's, any tech post on this or other forums, and Google was no help either. Anyone have an idea if this is normal? Did I inadvertently fix or break something? What gives? Help.