aptoslexus

At 158,000 miles I decided it was time to do this job. Should have done it years ago, as the rubber seals involved were hard as metal. Oil was starting to collect in the spark plug holes. If you've put off this job like I had, you should probably get it done before long. I'm listing some of the part numbers involved so that you can get this info in one post.

11213-50031 Right valve cover gasket
11214-50011 Left valve cover gasket
12204-50020 PCV valve.
90480-18001 PCV grommet
I had to destroy the grommet to get it out of the valve cover. Be sure you get a new one.
90109-06163 Valve cover bolts with seals. You need 18 of these. Some people buy just the seal and painstakingly put them on their old bolts. A waste of time and money. The bolts with already installed seals are less than half the price of the seals alone. You can also get a lot of these parts at Amayama.com for a considerable savings. These bolts and seals were $1 each there. Lexus dealers here in the States are asking about $4 for just the seal.
12261-50040 Driver side ventilation hose. Your old one will disintegrate on removal.
12262-50020 Passenger side ventilation hose. Connects to the air box.
11193-70010 Spark plug tube seals. You need 8 of these. See installation tip in photo.
12195-50010 Oil cap gasket.


Before

I think this is the first time the covers were off this car.

These seals were practically fused to the cover. It took a lot of prying to separate them.

These seals are in upside down. Discovered it as I tried to install the cover and was getting resistance from the plug tubes. There's a beveled edge on the seals that smooths the installation so I had to reinstall all these seals. I used a mallet and a 1.25 inch socket to tap in the seals. The socket fits perfectly between the tabs.

passenger side ventilation hose

Installed and ready to button up.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

very nice work, thanks for sharing!

400fanboy

Bookmarking this for when it's time. Fantastic.

Question - would those be all of the potential rubber "while you're in there" parts? You said "some of the part numbers". Is there anything else?

Thanks a bunch.

bradland

The tube seals are prob the biggest "WYIT" part. They're a huge PITA with high mileage.
Once you see how bad they can get they might be more important than the VC gasket itself...

400fanboy

Will probably order the parts this week just to have them sitting around for when it's time. I'm about to do spark plugs this weekend for the first time in my life - this is probably an adventure for another day

aptoslexus

Well, I think I got everything I could think of. You're also going to have to buy some FIPG and use a dab in a few places. The half-moons will also need FIPG if you remove them. I actually tried to pry mine out with pliers but they didn't want to budge so I just left them be. The oil cap gasket is rarely mentioned. Mine wasn't in bad shape compared to the other seals, but I changed it out anyway.

Losiracer2

I was just going to mention the half moons. You should have done those since now would be the only time you would do them unless having to do cam seals or something.

But I used just the Permatex Ultra black on there, you can also use Hondabond, which is very good at sealing corners of the gaskets.

aptoslexus

Yeah, it bugged me a little not doing the half-moons, but there's a little voice in my head that tells me to back off when I'm trying to force something that isn't cooperating. I've broken a few things in my time. They weren't leaking so I left them alone. If they ever start, the job isn't that difficult. I also used Permatex Ultra black on the corners.

paulo57509

If there's no evidence of seepage/leakage, I would leave the plugs alone. Unless the FIPG has been compromised when the cover is removed, the seal should be fine - there's only oil splash behind them.

If you lose sleep over not re-sealing the ones in the back, you'll have nightmares because there are two other plugs in the front under the cam bearing cap.