Valve cover repair possible?? Take Wire plug off how??

[Honda pc]

So.. I cracked my passengers valve cover by my doing the dumbest thing i never thought i would.. But happened, had a brain freeze today. I don't know to laugh or so mad i am ready to hammer the valve gasket repair job....lol

So anybody repair a cracked valve cover successfully??? Or buy new or used

Also how do you take off the back single wire plug by firewall to gain more clearance off for drivers valve cover off?? Don't want to do stupid thing again.. Lol.. Still have to do the driver side valve cover gasket.. Pics included.

 

[Malcolm99]

You will need a new valve cover, the temp sensor should have a tab squeezed and pull straight off, maybe help it gently with a screw driver. That's pretty dark looking under that cover, keep up on the oil changes, I can't recommend engine flush as it's risky and the directions need to be followed to the letter, but it does work, I've used it from time to time for good luck on high milage 5vz-fe's for that reason.

 

[spartacus]

I cracked mine also a while back and used jb weld to hold it together for a few days until I found an oem used at a salvage yard. You can look at co- part salvage or ebay for oem used, I would stay away from the cheapo after market. I reused the rubber vc gasket and bolt washers but had to buy new spark plug tube gaskets.

 

[mtbtim]

Sounds like you must have not tightened down the valve cover bolts slowly and evenly as you brought them up to the proper torque spec. Or, you just incredibly overtightened the bolts. The valve cover is toast. Like [MENTION=564148]Malcolm99[/MENTION] said above, you need to replace it. Maybe you can grab one off a used engine you find at a PicknPull yard or other type of wrecking yard. That will be your most affordable option.

There's a guy on Facebook, Josh Young, that parts out 3rd Gens and maybe he could sell you one for an affordable prive. Log into Facebook

That temp sensor on the back of the engine is a single blade connector and should just pull right up. There is no push tab to free it. Accidentally pulling that connector off the temp sensor when doing a valve cover gasket job is pretty common. It happened to me when I did the valve cover gasket job on my 98. I noticed the temp gauge on my dash cluster wasn't working after the job and did research on where the sensor was located. Once I learned where it was, I figured out what most likely happened and I was right. I first looked with a telescoping mirror to see where the sensor was and then reached in blindly with my hand, found the connector and slipped it onto the sensor post.

 

[Honda pc]

thanks guys...looks like I am heading to junk yard... too bad no easy solution fix.

story....actually my dumb mistake was being careless and just plain stupid or lazy. Guessing I had a brain freeze or just didn't think...crazy.. I started to take off the valve cover off with my Milwaukee stubby impact really fast... then when I went to put it back on. I went with harbor freight 1/4inch torque wrench by hand feel.....I set it at 153inch lb....instead of 53 in lb....yeah... and I started cracking down in crisscross fashion and kept turning since never thinking...till I heard a corner crack....another brain fart...never thought of stopping or thinking that's too much effort tightening till it cracked.

Guessing I just plain got tired of taking all the stuff off, fighting the wiring loom, access and then trying to clean valve cover.. I gave up on cleaning the valve cover inside section, takes too much time, then punching out the spark plug rubber plug, cleaning up the gasket grooves, half moon, corner plug...so on final tightening and long day...and damn near every wiring connection tabs kept breaking off when I took it off...I just didn't think and went dead brain mode... I guess I rushed it too fast because job was taking too long.... either that or wife nagging me when I am going to finish it...lol

Now I am getting pissed off at this valve cover job as wasting too much time at point where I should have left it and live with the oil leak....lol.. thinking that it was a quick job turning into a long project....

When I did my front end LCA, UCA, wheel bearings, struts, tie rod, ball joints on both sides...the job was long but went off without much problems and turned out great.... but now this valve cover job has got me pissed off that I could make such a basic mistake that I feel dejected on this repair project.

Oh well...live and learn by life experience or mistakes. won't be making this mistake again. it just sucks.

 

[HiLife]

Lots on here has gone through that, in one way or another including myself.

 

[Malcolm99]

At second glance I'm impressed with how clean the outside of the lower intake manifold is, and a lil shocked how bad the valve train and valve cover insides are. Is this really just neglect/cheap oil?, I know it seems to pop up on the 5vz-Fe here from time to time, I must have got lucky all the old 5vz-fe's I opened looked like new inside with a slight stain, I don't consider what I'm seeing above good and a compression test would be my next thought, the hard part is cleaning it out, most say just run Syn oil and hope it cleans out, as that's where the flush can become risky ironically. I hope you get it sorted out, sometimes the less you do the better after 20years.

 

[FD7683]

I cracked both of mine for being a dumbass and overtighening all the bolts holding the cover on (no torque wrench). I tried JB Weld and didn't work so I had to replace both valve covers. I went to the scrapper and was able to score both valve covers off a salvaged 4Runner for only $6 - what a steal!

 

[Honda pc]

I got the 4runner at 230k miles from my neighbor at pretty good price and now its at 271k miles.. Runs great, no problems, just needed basic maint as high miles which i am doing slowly.. The valve gasket was leak very bad and was oil build up everywhere and under car.. So i recently took a power washer to it and blasted it away taking precautions.. Yeah i know, but it was lazy easy way to clean.. Lol.. Its been 300 miles since power wash and still running good.. Now i can see the leaks from what areas..but i wanted to clean area before doing valve gasket repair. Guessing it might have been run on low oil since leaking through the previous ownership. Maybe reason why cover, engine so dirty. Will be doing whole tuneup job plus the valve gaskets.

Now that you mention it.. I will run a compression test if i don't cross thread the plug.. Lol.. But pretty sure its ok as i test drove it before purchase and also been running good since purchase for 40k miles already.

So today I was able to get a valve cover from a local auto dismantling place. Cost was $50 and it was in great shape, cant believe how clean it was inside, weird.. It was from a 98 toyota 4runner, looks like. It was like almost new..

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[3bears]

................

There's a guy on Facebook, Josh Young, that parts out 3rd Gens and maybe he could sell you one for an affordable prive. Log into Facebook
.................
t.

I am pretty sure on this forum that is Death Cougar and always has stuff for sale in the for sale section, he parts out 3rd adn 4th gens

 

[Malcolm99]

[MENTION=144019]Honda pc[/MENTION] that pressure washing did a great job!, I should do the same one day.
That's what it should look like even after 250,000mi, I'd go back for the other cover for the driver side and save yourself $50 of brake clean and a hour of scrubbing, and splurge for a PCV and grommet, I'm sure it's plugged up, aswell as all those baffles where you can't really see.

 

[Devbot]

Lots on here has gone through that, in one way or another including myself.

And they gave you guys licenses?? Sheesh...
Reminds me of the guy we fired for stripping a lug from starting a nut with an impact.

 

[HiLife]

Never did something that dumb, common scense.
Awesome post. Must be nice being you.

 

[DreadPirateJon]

[MENTION=144019]Honda pc[/MENTION] that pressure washing did a great job!, I should do the same one day.
That's what it should look like even after 250,000mi, I'd go back for the other cover for the driver side and save yourself $50 of brake clean and a hour of scrubbing, and splurge for a PCV and grommet, I'm sure it's plugged up, aswell as all those baffles where you can't really see.

I agree with getting the other one, and also the compression test. When I got mine i thought it felt fine for a 20 year old toyota truck engine, but when I did compression saw two cylinders were way low. And the valve train and covers on this engine looked practically brand new.

 

[Honda pc]

Well.. Finished up the passenger side cover, went great, no problems.. Got the drivers side done too, the cover inside and valves were just as dirty as the passenger side. Cleaned cover outside and finished it off with help from timmy toolmans youtube videos while working step by step.. Cleaned out the throttle body and new pcv valve with new grommet. New spar plugs, with anti-seize, cleaned out the coil electrical connection and put some dielectric grease on, also on electrical connection point, spark plug rubber boot ends, replace, repair some dried out cracked hoses. Started car and ran fine.. But was getting high idle on park, neutral... Other gears idle is normal.. Maybe ecu will settle idle down later on on park, neutral.. Or maybe have to reset ecu.. Atleast hope so.. Will find out later couple weeks. No oil leaks, gasket and sealants are on nice by mirror inspection.

Next project is power steering flush and maybe clean out the reservoir..and maybe new radiator No compression checked as no tool with me... Will on later project as time permits.

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[Outrider]

I had a brain fart and cracked mine when doing my TB. I searched everywhere, and was unable to find one that I could get reasonably quickly.

Then I learned a hard lesson, after buying an aftermarket Dorman valve cover from Rockauto. I don't know if mine was just a lemon, or if they are all just an extremely poor design, but my engine started burning copious amounts of oil. Something in the internal baffling of mine was causing that - oil somehow making its way into the intake. I returned it to Rockauto and got a refund.

A very gracious member (thegipper) here sold me one that he had lying around. It was a very reasonable price, considering that the shipping charge was pretty high.

My oil problem went away instantly when I put an OEM valve cover back on.