Valve cover spark plug shaft seal corrosion. Need help with this!

[SolRayz]

I know this is a 4runner forum, but I'm a desperate 4Runner owner that took my wifes Rav4 to the shop Wed morning for a couple issues and new tires.

They discovered my valve cover leaking and opened it up. And this is what they saw. Has anyone ever seen corrosion and deterioration where the spark plug shaft seals go on the valve cover, on any vehicle ever? Mechanic says this is plastic and cheap construction, but i thought the whole valve cover was aluminum. I've owned to car since 2012 and have meticulously changed the engine oil with Mobile1 Syth every 5K miles and this is a 2005 Rav4 with 82,000 miles on it. The mechanic says its quite brittle. Whats going on here?

Here is link to the pictures in case they don't load in the thread.

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[rdruss]

I'm assuming you took vehicle to a non-Toyota dealer. I would certainly make Toyota aware of this situation for their input and possible cause/solution.
Maybe they are already aware and have a solution.

 

[JohnathanSullivan]

(5th Gen) Things I learned when swapping my Limited wheels with a different model yea

I decided to swap out the factory 20s on my 2016 Limited with a set of 17s off a 2018 SR5. I have my reasons. I couldn't find any definitive info out there before I swapped, so I decided to just go for it and see what happened. Hopefully this will help someone out in the future.

First thing I found was Toyota uses overlapping TPMS sensor numbers/frequencies. 2 of the wheels off the 2018 I swapped with would register on the tire shop's scanner as compatible with 2016, 2 did not. Therefore they sent me to the dealer to get the sensors reprogrammed.vidmate mobdro word counter


Second, the dealer cannot reprogram the TPMS sensors. They tried twice. Their efforts shut the TPMS light off for about 10 miles, then it came back on both times. Apparently you need to replace the sensors completely. At $150-$200 a piece (dealer quoted), I'll deal with the light. I have a couple of old cars I mess with so I'm used to checking tire pressures periodically anyway. Reprogramming may or may not work if you swap wheels with the same model year, but I cannot confirm either way.

Third, the Limited's spare is a full size 20" wheel and tire, just like the other 4 on the truck. The dealer could not confirm if the Limited has a 5th sensor in the spare or not. I feel it could, since it's a 5th premium wheel, but I can also see why it wouldn't since it's intended to be used as a spare. Additionally, don't forget to swap out your spares!! The 17" package is just slightly taller and a little wider. Mismatching tire height and width is not good for a full-time 4wd/AWD vehicle. The height difference might not be enough to cause any damage in the amount of time you'd be using a spare, but I'm not going to risk it.

 

[pDubs]

I decided to swap out the factory 20s on my 2016 Limited with a set of 17s off a 2018 SR5. I have my reasons. I couldn't find any definitive info out there before I swapped, so I decided to just go for it and see what happened. Hopefully this will help someone out in the future.

First thing I found was Toyota uses overlapping TPMS sensor numbers/frequencies. 2 of the wheels off the 2018 I swapped with would register on the tire shop's scanner as compatible with 2016, 2 did not. Therefore they sent me to the dealer to get the sensors reprogrammed.

Second, the dealer cannot reprogram the TPMS sensors. They tried twice. Their efforts shut the TPMS light off for about 10 miles, then it came back on both times. Apparently you need to replace the sensors completely. At $150-$200 a piece (dealer quoted), I'll deal with the light. I have a couple of old cars I mess with so I'm used to checking tire pressures periodically anyway. Reprogramming may or may not work if you swap wheels with the same model year, but I cannot confirm either way.

Third, the Limited's spare is a full size 20" wheel and tire, just like the other 4 on the truck. The dealer could not confirm if the Limited has a 5th sensor in the spare or not. I feel it could, since it's a 5th premium wheel, but I can also see why it wouldn't since it's intended to be used as a spare. Additionally, don't forget to swap out your spares!! The 17" package is just slightly taller and a little wider. Mismatching tire height and width is not good for a full-time 4wd/AWD vehicle. The height difference might not be enough to cause any damage in the amount of time you'd be using a spare, but I'm not going to risk it.