Working through a head gasket replacement on a 1993 4runner 3vze. We're having dificulty getting the heads to lift off of the block, even though we're pretty sure it's disconnected. The crossover and exhaust manifolds are still attached. Flange on exhaust down pipe has been disconnected. The front of the heads appear to be loose, but the rear part of the heads hardly move at all. We're trying to remove both heads with the exhaust cross over attached. Any help or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Not sure if this will help; in the printed FSM (pg EG-59) for head removal, it shows to remove the crossover pipe. Engine still in place. I didn't do that; I removed the entire engine with crossover still attached. Even out of vehicle those heads were a bugger to remove IIRC. Had to pry on rear near where water bypass outlet (and sensor housing) is.

 

Removing the heads with the cross-over attached sounds like it would be REALLY difficult. The head bolts have a locating tube surrounding them, that fits into the head. The heads are angled apart, and they only want to come off in the piston-direction, which means you will have to really fight them to lift them in the vertical direction.

I suspect you had trouble getting to the bolts on the cross-over; the "secret" is to use the right wrench:

 

It's not that hard. I did it by my self with both heads attached by the cross over pipe. It would be a lot better if you had two people on each side to help lift.

Near the back of the heads on both sides check for a 6 point bolt. It's kind of hidden and probably covered with oil and gunk.

 

We had to drill the head off of one of the 12mm head bolts, so that may be adding to the difficulty. Checked the 6 point bolts - they are removed. Looks like sears has the bent ratchet, so may pick that up tomorrow. Do you also use a wobble socket, or just a standard low profile socket? I see how the bent ratchet can reach two of the three nuts on the crossover flange, but one is under the crossover pipe. How is that one accessed? Thanks for the help.

 

It's not so much the bend in the ratchet (though that helps), it's the flex-head. The problem is that there isn't a clear plane in which to swing it. I used plain-ole sockets; there's plenty of room back there.

The nuts on the bottom have to be accessed from underneath the truck and some good extensions will make your life easier. While it will be tempting to scrounge up all your 3" and 6" 3/8 drive extensions and make a long chain, now might be a good time to pick up some real 1/2" drive extensions. I have this set http://www.harborfreight.com/4-pc-12...set-67977.html ; note they lock together.

DON'T use a fancy 3/8" drive wobble-head extension. You may have to really wale on that nut, and you could shear the extension right at the wobble head.

 

Thanks for the help; we finally were able to get the heads off. Contacted two recommended shops that seem to have similar pricing. The shops want $55/head for testing for cracks, $100/head for machining the gasket surface, and about $200/head for a valve job. Does that pricing sound reasonable? Is there a way to tell visually or by pressure testing if a valve job is necessary? I'm assuming that looking for cracks and machining the gasket surface are necessary.
Thanks.

 

There's no way to tell if a valve job is "necessary." The valves may seal perfectly (though there isn't much way to tell that either), but not have much "meat" left on the sealing surface. Grinding the valves assures (more or less) that they will work well for a long time.

Same with cracks; I assume they'll use a penetrate dye test. You can't really see if there are cracks without the dye, and you don't really want to spend $200 on a valve job if there are cracks in the head. You COULD skip machining the head surface and rely on a straight edge to check for flatness, but you will get a better seal if the heads are "kissed" with the grinder.

What it boils down to: it was a lot of work to get the heads off, and you've spent a fair amount on the replacement gaskets, etc. Do you want to save another $700? No one will criticize you either way.

 

Thanks for the help Scope. One more question... Do you need to remove the head to do a valve job, or can that be done with just the valve cover and cams removed?

 

How would you remove the valves with out removing the heads. The answer is yes the big part of the valve sits inside the motor so there is no way to remove the valves with out removing the heads. You must resurface your heads while they are off the motor. This is a must for proper sealing. And as said above do a proper valve job while they are off. Cut corners now and you will be worse off then you are right now.

 

One more thing: your machine shop will need the valve-stem gaskets that come with your head-set. In my case, the machine shop got the head-set for me (at a pretty good price), and gave me the "rest" of the set after pulling out the valve-stem gaskets.

The machine shop will also set the clearances on all the valves as part of the valve job (so don't forget to send the cams with the heads). This is a bigger help than it sounds; the valve adjustment on the 3VZE is done by swapping shims, and the machine shop (should have) has a complete set. You and I have to measure, figure out which new shims we need, and order them onesy-twosy.

But don't forget that your whole truck is worth, what, $3k? Since you're hanging around here, it's worth a lot more TO YOU than that, but you need to not get carried away. You've got to balance what you put into it vs. what it will be worth TO YOU when you're done.

 

Thanks - we'll go ahead with the valve job. Ordered the head gasket and bolts from engnbldr. Apparently we broke the knock sensor when removing the heads, so we'll need to purchase a new one. Found what appears to be Toyota OEM / Denso on ebay for considerably less money. Does that look reasonable?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-OEM-New-Denso-Knock-Sensor-89615-50010-Toyota-Lexus/291674761636?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37427%26meid%3D94c4fe473e334e1a96e4144da569d635%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D370732031713

 

The machine shop called and the heads should be ready to pick up today. When we removed the heads we left the exhaust manifold, heat shields, pair reed valve, and water bypass pipe installed, but the FSM identifies the pair reed valve and water bypass pipe installed after placing the heads on the block. See any problem with installing the pair reed valve and water bypass installed after heads? Also, should the exhaust crossover be installed loosly before bolting down the heads? Any ideas on how to make crossover pipe installation easier?

Thanks.

 

The reed valve assembly and bypass tube can be installed after you have the heads on and torqued.

As for the crossover lay it in place then put your heads on is probably the easiest. When I last did a head gasket job approx. 6 years ago i made the mistake of putting the heads on and forgot all about the crossover, was one of those moments. Somehow I was able to snake it up from the drivers side into place , was not fun.

 

Some people put the cross over and both heads on assembled as one. Of course you will probably need two strong people to do it and be extra carefull not to damage the head gaskets when installing it.

 

We cleaned the block with acetone and a 3M roloc bristle disk. Does that look clean enough? It feels smooth to the tough, but still shows some signs of the previous gasket.

This is the worse area; appears to be some corrosion, or gasket material that won't come off.

This is the cylinder that had coolant sludge in it when we removed the heads. Appears to be some buildup on the cylinder wall. Comes off when scraped. Should we try to clean that off with something?

The is the worse cylinder; appears to be carbon buildup as well. Should we clean the carbon off with something? Perhaps the 3M roloc bristle disk?

 

Use somthing very soft like a sponge and WD-40. For the carbon build up bring the cylinder to top dead center and use WD-40 and a soft rubber pad on a drill or extremely soft wire wheel.

 

Trying to change the front oil seal and the parts store tells me there is a difference between parts for the Japanese and American made engines. Does that sound right? The only seal they have in stock is supposedly for the American version, but it looks identical to mine which is Japanese.

 

Can y'all help me identify where this wire goes/belongs? I know it connects with this bracket, but I'm not sure where the end should be placed
. The wire with the pink tag is the one I'm not sure about.
This bracket connects with the wire, I just don't know where the wire should go.

 

Ground Point EC. It connects to the head just below the throttle body. The bracket is to hold the plug-wire loom.