I forgot to add in my last post that I had to go out of town for a few weeks so the repair has been on hold. I am hoping to start it back up late next week. A couple of things I have been thinking about since stopping.
1) I need to check the short wiring harness that connects the knock sensors to the back of the motor. I was foolish and unbolted the the water pipe that runs across the intake valley where the sensors are located. I did this in order to help remove the rear water joint from the o-ring. When you do this, it puts a lot of pressure on the harness.
In hindsight, all you need to do is to spray some WD-40 into the front and rear joint to help separate them. Anyway, I will have to test the integrity of the connections at the end of the harness with a multimeter since this part is not currently available from Toyota and is on a nationwide backorder at the moment.
2) Regarding installing the timing cover with the oil pan installed. I believe I watched every related video on YouTube but no one specifically mentions about how to install the FIPG (seal packing) between the bottom of the timing cover and the top of the oil pan. I haven't tried to reinstall the cover yet, but I assume it is has to slide on.
My concern is that if you install the FIPG on the top of the oil pan and then slide the cover over it, doesn't the cover push the FIPG over the oil seal which sits on top of the oil pan?
This seems like you would need to put the FIPG on the bottom of the timing cover in front of the oil seal to avoid this from happening.
3) Maybe this is related to item #2 above, I will be changing the front crankshaft seal, should this be done before or after I install the timing cover? It seems like installing the seal before installing the cover would be easier, but I am not sure if it makes it harder to slide the timing cover since the seal would be new.
I appreciate the feedback as usual.