3.4 Valve Cover Gasket Replacement (part#s n pics)

[theesotericone]

OK. Here's the deal. I have all the parts sitting in my garage to replace the valve covers. I have all the tools needed to do the job. I was gonna do it over the next few days.

Today I decided to stop by my local shop and get a quote for labor. It's a great shop with one of the very few mechanics that I trust to work on my rigs. I was expecting a pretty high quote on the labor. I was given a printed quote that they stand behind. It's what I will pay to have them do the job. That quote was $258.50. Way cheaper then I had expected.

So now I'm in this conundrum. I can easily do the job myself but I'm figuring it will take me 4-5 hours. So, what to do? Pay these guys and take the easy road out or fix them myself. I like swearing and have had plenty of experience wrenching but it's cheap enough I'm considering it. No hassle, no blood, no grease under my nails. What would you guys do?

 

[mtbtim]

OK. Here's the deal. I have all the parts sitting in my garage to replace the valve covers. I have all the tools needed to do the job. I was gonna do it over the next few days.

Today I decided to stop by my local shop and get a quote for labor. It's a great shop with one of the very few mechanics that I trust to work on my rigs. I was expecting a pretty high quote on the labor. I was given a printed quote that they stand behind. It's what I will pay to have them do the job. That quote was $258.50. Way cheaper then I had expected.

So now I'm in this conundrum. I can easily do the job myself but I'm figuring it will take me 4-5 hours. So, what to do? Pay these guys and take the easy road out or fix them myself. I like swearing and have had plenty of experience wrenching but it's cheap enough I'm considering it. No hassle, no blood, no grease under my nails. What would you guys do?

I guess it depends if you trust your ability more than the shops'. I know I'm going to take my time doing a repair on my own rig to make sure I do everything correctly. I don't have the same confidence in some dude at a shop who's having a bad day, in a rush to get the job done so he can make more money, thinks he know how to do the job properly but doesn't, etc, etc.

My advice to you is tackle the job yourself and use this as a learning experience to get better acquainted with your rig. The price they quoted you is SUPER fair for the time that is involved with this repair, but you take a risk of them doing it wrong, and you also miss an opportunity to learn something and challenge yourself.

Like others, I've had bad experiences with the supposed "Expert Mechanics" so I now prefer to do all my own work. Believe me, you'll walk away with a big sense of accomplishment if you do this yourself. This repair was what inspired me to start making my "Timmy the Toolman" videos with [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] (aka Sean). Take up the challenge! You won't regret it.

 

[theesotericone]

Take up the challenge! You won't regret it.

It's not really the challenge at all. I've done a lot of engine work in the last 25 years. The covers will be pretty tame compared to some other stuff I've done. One of the reasons I'll probably end up doing it myself is so I can have a look at the valve train. The other is that little thing called pride. Plus then I can throw 250 bucks at sliders. It's still an insanely cheap quote though.

I've done everything to this vehicle by myself so far. Including the 3" lift. There's a lot of stuff on this site that is informative and the FSM is pretty easy to understand. There's also a lot of stuff that people can make seem harder than it really is. Like the rear coils. A lot of stuff I read on here where people struggling with them. Wishing they had another person or two. Made me wonder. All my buddies where either climbing or fishing the day I did them so I went at it solo.

Did the fronts first including new SPC arms. Got to the rears and was thinking "This is gonna be a PIMA." It was super easy. I just disconnected the panhard bar. The springs came out in seconds. The new ones went in almost as easily. The hardest part was getting that old nut off the rear shock. I cut them to save time.

Just goes to show how different levels of experience can lead to dramatically different levels of frustration when doing just about anything really. lol

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

OK. Here's the deal. I have all the parts sitting in my garage to replace the valve covers. I have all the tools needed to do the job. I was gonna do it over the next few days.

Today I decided to stop by my local shop and get a quote for labor. It's a great shop with one of the very few mechanics that I trust to work on my rigs. I was expecting a pretty high quote on the labor. I was given a printed quote that they stand behind. It's what I will pay to have them do the job. That quote was $258.50. Way cheaper then I had expected.

So now I'm in this conundrum. I can easily do the job myself but I'm figuring it will take me 4-5 hours. So, what to do? Pay these guys and take the easy road out or fix them myself. I like swearing and have had plenty of experience wrenching but it's cheap enough I'm considering it. No hassle, no blood, no grease under my nails. What would you guys do?

When I do repairs on my truck, especially a repair like this, I take the time to clean as I go and check vacuum hoses for cracks and look for other leaks and basically do as much as I can while I have it apart to that particular level. No flat rate mechanic is going to do that and I wouldn't expect them to.

A prime example is doing the PVC grommet when doing this job. That way if you drop pieces down in the baffle you can get it out easily. I highly suggest replacing the grommet/PCV valve while performing this repair if you hadn't planned on it.

 

[theesotericone]

When I do repairs on my truck, especially a repair like this, I take the time to clean as I go and check vacuum hoses for cracks and look for other leaks and basically do as much as I can while I have it apart to that particular level. No flat rate mechanic is going to do that and I wouldn't expect them to.

A prime example is doing the PVC grommet when doing this job. That way if you drop pieces down in the baffle you can get it out easily. I highly suggest replacing the grommet/PCV valve while performing this repair if you hadn't planned on it.

That's a pretty valid point. Double checking all links in the system is a good reason to do it myself. And yes the a new PCV valve and grommet are in the garage. I also have two OEM half moons as a just in case measure. I also went with non-OEM cam plugs. There Ishino, but from all the research I did Toyo just rebrands them so hopefully they'll work. If not my local Toyo dealer has them in stock.

 

[I_bRAD]

Great thread!

Questions:

Toyota 00295-00103 FIPG only or is permatex ultra black OK?

Has anyone purchased the washer seals lately? My online parts source doesn't seem to have them.

Not 100% sure if it's necessary based on the information I've found, but did anyone replace the cam oil seals as well? (9031138051)

The plastic cover around the fuel injection harness. I know mine is already broken. Is this available as a discrete replacement part or is it only part of the (very expensive) wire harness assembly?

thanks for any help!

 

[mtbtim]

Great thread!

Questions:

Toyota 00295-00103 FIPG only or is permatex ultra black OK?

Has anyone purchased the washer seals lately? My online parts source doesn't seem to have them.

Not 100% sure if it's necessary based on the information I've found, but did anyone replace the cam oil seals as well? (9031138051)

The plastic cover around the fuel injection harness. I know mine is already broken. Is this available as a discrete replacement part or is it only part of the (very expensive) wire harness assembly?

thanks for any help!

Permatex should be fine.

Yes, absolutely replace the cam seals on the backs of the heads. It's a known place for leaks to occur.

You should be able to get those washers. Try Camelback Toyota.

For a replacement plastic wiring harness, you can buy that round black wiring harness with the slit built into it at a local auto parts store. They sell it in bulk and different diameters. Find the diameter that works for the harness and then secure it around it with some electrical tape.

 

[I_bRAD]

Permatex should be fine.

Yes, absolutely replace the cam seals on the backs of the heads. It's a known place for leaks to occur.

You should be able to get those washers. Try Camelback Toyota.

For a replacement plastic wiring harness, you can buy that round black wiring harness with the slit built into it at a local auto parts store. They sell it in bulk and different diameters. Find the diameter that works for the harness and then secure it around it with some electrical tape.

Thanks, and thanks for the video too!

Camelback won't ship to Canada AFAIK, but if the washers are available they'll still be reasonable at the dealer even if I have to pay $2 each.

Not talking about the cam plug, but the seal which is directly behind the plug the best I can figure. Item 11151B

Edit- See attachment Step 5a, part 4. The seal I'm talking about appears to be opposite the cam plug, but that would require removing the cam pulleys. That adds a whole bunch of work to the project so I think I'll leave that alone and get the seals next day from the dealer if I get into and discover they are leaking (and if they were I likely would have skipped a tooth on the timing belt by now so they probably aren't)

And the wire harness conduit- so simple and obvious. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[mtbtim]

Thanks, and thanks for the video too!

Camelback won't ship to Canada AFAIK, but if the washers are available they'll still be reasonable at the dealer even if I have to pay $2 each.

Not talking about the cam plug, but the seal which is directly behind the plug the best I can figure. Item 11151B

Edit- See attachment Step 5a, part 4. The seal I'm talking about appears to be opposite the cam plug, but that would require removing the cam pulleys. That adds a whole bunch of work to the project so I think I'll leave that alone and get the seals next day from the dealer if I get into and discover they are leaking (and if they were I likely would have skipped a tooth on the timing belt by now so they probably aren't)

And the wire harness conduit- so simple and obvious. Thanks for the suggestion!

Yeah, replacing cam shaft seals is something to consider when doing the timing belt job, because at that point, you have everything out of the way except the cam shaft pulleys.

 

[fourfive]

The plastic cover around the fuel injection harness. I know mine is already broken. Is this available as a discrete replacement part or is it only part of the (very expensive) wire harness assembly?

I've searched around a few times on various online toyota sites for that plastic harness and haven't found any part numbers yet either. If someone finds it let me know.

 

[MonsterMaxx]

Great write up, thanks.

 

[Anthrax]

Anybody know what service manual OP is using or a good one I should use? Gonna tackle this job soon.

 

[campben]

I would look around on youtube, some great video tutorials on there!

 

[campben]

Quick question, I had this job done about a week ago, and my oil leak has gotten worse. The shadetree guy who did the job is no longer answering his phone, and I suspect he did not remove and reseal the half moons.

I am going to tackle this soon, but want to know what parts I need to reorder. Everything I bought previously was OEM and I really dont want to have to order it all again. Can the VCG and Cam Plug be reused? How about the 16x bolt gaskets, PCV and spark plug gaskets? I have FIPG on order and am looking forward to doing the job, but I would like to minimize the impact to my wallet.

 

[Rusty Nut]

Quick question, I had this job done about a week ago, and my oil leak has gotten worse. The shadetree guy who did the job is no longer answering his phone, and I suspect he did not remove and reseal the half moons.

I am going to tackle this soon, but want to know what parts I need to reorder. Everything I bought previously was OEM and I really dont want to have to order it all again. Can the VCG and Cam Plug be reused? How about the 16x bolt gaskets, PCV and spark plug gaskets? I have FIPG on order and am looking forward to doing the job, but I would like to minimize the impact to my wallet.

The only stuff I'd consider replacing after only a week would be the intake gaskets, they're the flat kind. The other ones have plenty of rubber springiness (that's the technical term I'm sure) and so I think they'd retain that after just a week. The cam plugs can be reused, they're metal and the FIPG makes a nice seal on them.

Just whatever you do, make sure that wiring harness is all wrapped up in duct tape (the real duct tape for ducting, the flashy heat resistant stuff) otherwise it's breaking up on you. Nothing to fear if you've wrapped it thoroughly

 

[campben]

The only stuff I'd consider replacing after only a week would be the intake gaskets, they're the flat kind. The other ones have plenty of rubber springiness (that's the technical term I'm sure) and so I think they'd retain that after just a week. The cam plugs can be reused, they're metal and the FIPG makes a nice seal on them.

Just whatever you do, make sure that wiring harness is all wrapped up in duct tape (the real duct tape for ducting, the flashy heat resistant stuff) otherwise it's breaking up on you. Nothing to fear if you've wrapped it thoroughly

Hey Rusty, I know the halfmoons can be reused, but how about the Camshaft Plugs??

 

[Rusty Nut]

Hey Rusty, I know the halfmoons can be reused, but how about the Camshaft Plugs??

Sorry, forgot about them. Did this more than a year ago. Yes, I'd say the camshaft plugs could be reused too they slid in nicely and with FIPG They could be reused I think. I replaced mine but they were original. They don't get deformed by this install.

 

[campben]

Sorry, forgot about them. Did this more than a year ago. Yes, I'd say the camshaft plugs could be reused too they slid in nicely and with FIPG They could be reused I think. I replaced mine but they were original. They don't get deformed by this install.

Appreciate the help Rusty, I'm gonna give it a go this weekend. Have some FIPG on the way.

 

[AnotherCO4Runner]

Torque the Valve Cover Bolts?

When I removed the bolts for my valve covers they were so loose it was evident that my problem was loose covers and not the gasket. I want to torque the bolts down correctly when I re-install. How do I do that for the ones in the back? I can not get a straight shot at them with the torque wrench.

 

[octanejunkie]

When I removed the bolts for my valve covers they were so loose it was evident that my problem was loose covers and not the gasket. I want to torque the bolts down correctly when I re-install. How do I do that for the ones in the back? I can not get a straight shot at them with the torque wrench.

Use either a "wobble" extension, crow's foot or a knuckle, if it fits

If you have a good "feel" for it, you can use a regular wrench and mimic the tightness of the bolts you can get a torque wrench on. A little loctite won't hurt either