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I am about haflway though this job, and man it sucks! I spent at least 2hours wresting to get the driver's side cover off and it was equally hard to get back on. one of the most difficult parts was to remove the bolt holding the dipstick on, it took me about an hour to get that 1 bolt off. I know this is a common job, I never expected it to be so tedious. Should I hang up my wrenches and hang my head in shame LOL ?
Anyway, who doesn't love pics ?
on the plus side, I was glad to see a pretty clean engine for 140K miles. The previous owner probably changed the oil regularly, which I am thankful for.
Nice pictures and no wonder why these engines run hundreds of thousand miles and they still look almost brand new from inside. Toyota knew better than anyone what it takes to engineer such a perfect engine (imho).
Nice, it's not an easy job. Book calls for 3.8 hours assuming training and all tools and it took me 6 since I cleaned the hell out of the cover and resealed the fill neck since my engine was not well cared for before me. Did you do your moon seals while you had them off?
Running royal purple through it now on a 1500 mile change interval to clean it. Then it's back to moble 1 as usual.
Getting ready to do mine along with the dreaded dip stick o ring. I don't know if the o ring is bad but I figured while I have it down, I might as well get it done.
I did not do the half-moon seals , but I did the spark plug tube gaskets. I probably should have done the half-moons, because I never want to do this again LOL
After doing this, I don't even know how doing the dipstick o-ring is even possible. there is absolutely no room , I can't even see where the dip stick goes into the pan.
Valve cover gasket replacement is a tedious job. The passenger side is even more difficult.The Dipstick o ring is a real pain but necessary. I did my dip stick o ring seperately after discovering a leak. An important part of the valve cover gasket job is being extra careful when reinstalling the covers as NOT TO pinch the gasket. It’s important to make sure the gaskets are adhering to the covers before reinstalling and tightening all the bolts. You are working in very tight quarters. After all the work you don’t want any leaks.
I did not do the half-moon seals , but I did the spark plug tube gaskets. I probably should have done the half-moons, because I never want to do this again LOL
After doing this, I don't even know how doing the dipstick o-ring is even possible. there is absolutely no room , I can't even see where the dip stick goes into the pan.
Its done from below, a long pry is used to gently tap the tube out using the bolt-down tab section that attaches to to the block. Not very hard if you have a lift.
Passenger side was the easier one for me, don't forget to replace the PCV grommet and valve/line since that system is important
This, it's a fantastic time to do it. NGK or Denso is the OE plug
I pulled my plugs out at 118k? And they were NGK.
If plugs last 120k, I wouldn't necessarilly replace them if not needed, it's a relatively easy job. Meaning say plugs got replaced at 120k, and valve covers getting done at 150k, no need to throw away good plugs imho. But say valve covers done at 220k, sure....my .02
It's been my experience on all vehicles I've owned, I've seen zero benefit replacing plugs when recommended. Maybe cuz they were done when recommended, so not much difference to see (like if the mfg is doing the replace when half spent thing)
How long did it take you to do the job from start to finish? Any tips for someone contemplating this job?
I am a slow worker, and this is not my only car, so I can pull it in the garage and work on it as I have time. So I typically work on it in 1-2 hour chunks when I find the time. I am 6 hours in, and I only have the driver side done, and I am just about to get the passenger side off. I estimate I have another 3 hours maybe?? until I am done. It depends on how / if i am able to get the dipstick back on.
Tips:
1. Clean the hell out of the valve covers and sealing area before you take them off. Some grit fell in my cam area, and I spent a lot of time with a shop-vac getting it out. I also flushed fresh oil down over the area, and I will be draining / filling the oil at the end of this job to make sure I got all bits out.
2. Take pictures of all the wires / vacuum lines before you take them off.
3. Pray to your deity of choice that you are able to get the oil dipstick bolt out. I almost gave up because of that mother****er.
4. Use OEM parts, dont' save $3 by getting autozone ****. Just get the real deal parts and get it done right the first time. On another vehicle of mine, I thought I could save and use Fel-Pro, but they were garbage and leaked withing a year, forcing me to do the job again. I never, ever, ever buy anything from autozone / advance/ etc. OEM or don't bother. I've learned this from experience.
I plan to do this job next two weeks....any recommendations or tips to make my life easier ?
Biggest issue with doing any work on an old car is the “collateral damage”. To minimize this be extra careful and take your time removing parts (especially old brittle wiring) such as the coil packs. Label items if necessary to know where they belong. Just take your time.
Biggest issue with doing any work on an old car is the “collateral damage”. To minimize this be extra careful and take your time removing parts (especially old brittle wiring) such as the coil packs. Label items if necessary to know where they belong. Just take your time.
The picture thing is a seemingly simple but crazy smart idea. You can look back at it and notice something that was not noticed in real time.
True story, I've done how many oil changes in my lifetime? The first time I did the BMW I took pics. I looked at them and said holy ****, you mean I dropped the filter in, then tightened the cap, oh ****!! I had a pic of the housing opened and just the filter standing there, a** backwards.
To satisfy my curiousity, I opened the housing with a towel around it, and the filter came out along with the cap, so it really didn't make any difference (other than now there is an additional rotation of the cap of wear, on the o-ring). But the pic helped me to identify a procedural error on a simple job. As my mom would say, you are a dummy for telling everyone about your mistakes, they think you are a dummy. I have always disagreed and figure if one person avoids the mistake, good.
01-04-20, 08:15 PM
Doing the Valve Cover gaskets in my 04 LS430
