THANK YOU for shedding some light on the loose valve cover bolts issue. I had a leak worse than yours, and mine were EXTREMELY loose. Saved me some time and money!

 

Replacing the valve cover gasket isn't as hard as it looks but it does take some time to get to it. The passenger side is the easiest but the driver side will take some time to fight the wiring harnesses and other stuff that is in the way.

Heres a couple of pics from my project:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/5...beware-149594/

 

i replace my valve cover gasket while i was replacing one of my dead injector

 

so i've decided to replace my valve cover gasket bcause it's still leaking in the back (near the firewall). I leaks really bad especially after a long drive.


Here is the quote for the parts:

(2) valve cover gaskets = $44.30
(6) Spark plug gaskets = $17.88
(16) "crush" washer = $14.08
(2) air intake plenum gaskets = $23.36

this is with a 15% discount.

stay tuned folks, i will be tackling this job soon!

 

nice, i plan on doing this soon so take some pics! how about part numbers for everything?

 

all leaks are coming from the head of the rotating part..
I think i need to buy the gaskets for those too?

these are the part nos i have so far:

(2) valve cover gaskets/11213-2020/$44.30
(6) sprkg plug seals/11193-70010/$17.88
(16) crush washers/90210-05007/$14.08
(2) air intake plenum gasket/17176-62040/$23.26

 

so it looks like i need to replace the oil seals in the rear. do i need any special tool for this?

 

I changed the VCG on my 4runner this past summer to cure the oil leak coming from the back of the valve cover, primarily the passenger side, similar to yours. Well, it is still leaking, so this coming weekend I will replace them again, but this time I bought the Toyota brand FIPG (form in place gasket) and will also be replacing the half moons and some other parts I didn't change last time. Hopefully it cures the problem.

 

So I'm in the process of replacing my valve cover gaskets but there is a roadblock.

I can't get the 2 coolant hoses off the throttle body. I've already removed the clamps
but i really cant get it off,and I've read somewhere here to undo the (4) screws but can't get them to turn and I'm afraid i might strip it.

I know a lot of guys have dealt with this.. Can you give me some advise on how to remove these suckers.


P.s. dnt worry i'm taking pictures

 

Sometimes it is easy to just twist the hose to break it loose off the nipple and then it should pull right off. Make sure you remove the clamp far enough down because in this pic they are still on tight. If you use a pair of pliars or something you may put a hole in the hose.

 

stir_fry,

Here is the pic of where my leak is coming from



oil leaks out below that circular rubber cap.
how do i remove that circular rubber thing?

and a picture of my 110k engine

 

You don't remove the circular cap. That stays there. There should be some silacone left over in the right angle where the cam goes over the head. You need to remove the silacone only. After you get it clean, you will put some FIPG or HondaBond where the right angle is. You will also put some where the upside down semi-circular caps go where the other cam (toward the outside of the engine) is. You will need to scrape off all the old silacone. I did it with my fingernail, you can carefully use a razor blade but don't use a screwdriver or you can scratch the head. Don't remove the semi-circular caps. So that is 4 total places where you need to put silacone on each END of each head.

They usually leak there because of the right angle. It won't be a problem with a little bit of silacone to seal the gap.

Once you put on the silacone, you only have about 2 minutes to get the cover back on and bolted down at least somewhat. I used an inch-pound wrench to 53 in-lbs. I alternated tightening bolts to get the cover to go down as flat as possible. 53 in-lbs is the FSM torque spec. Let me see if I can circle where you need to put the FIPG.

Here you go:



See the RED circles?

Here is the right angle I am talking about (red circles indicate where you should put the FIPG):



Right side circle is UNDER the silver bar.

BTW, what is that silver bar? I don't recognize it.

 

gotcha stir fry! it makes sense now, the leak is coming from that right angle and goes down to the rubber circular cap. at first glance you would think that the oil is coming below the housing cap. btw, the silver bar on the left is a ground wire, it grounds the engine into the body of the t4r. If you're asking about the bar on the right, its the arm of my mirror tool.

Thank you very much!

 

No prob! You need to make sure all the silicone comes off of the flat surface on the head (i.e. anywhere where the valve cover meets the head) especially in the right angles where you are going to put some new FIPG. In other words, the surfaces that touch any part of the valve cover gasket must be free of debris, oil and silicone or else when you put the new FIPG on, it will not seal and obviously leak. Then you put the FIPG on where I showed you, then the valve cover (with the valve cover gasket installed into the valve cover). If the valve cover gasket doesn't stay good into the groove, you can use some Vaseline to hold it in place. I didn't have any trouble with mine staying put without Vaseline. If the valve cover gasket folds over itself when you put it on, it will leak like crazy.

HA! I didn't know what your mirror was when I first looked at your pic.

Did you replace your spark plug tube seals? Those are a royal PITA! I had to ruin my old ones in order to get them out.

 

Yes, I did. I went to the stealership with my pasenger side valve cover and a tech showed me how. he removed all three in less than 15 seconds

 

How did he do it? It took me about 10 minutes to remove all 3. I used a hammer, a small flat head screwdriver and a pair of pliars.

 

+1 same here. Did the tech have an angled tool to tilt out the old ones?

 

Sorry guys for the late reply, it's been a long day

He removed the spark plug seals using a (-) screw driver and a rubber mallet:

angle the screw driver towards the hole and give it some love taps with a rubber mallet.





your old seals should look like this after removal:


Update:
While I was trying to clean the mating surfaces, a piece of plastic fell into this crevice and I can't get it out

 

Ah ok. I was trying to avoid damaging the valve cover, so was tearing at the inside of the seal.

Try a wet/dry vac to suck out the plastic piece?

 

That is exactly how I removed my spark plug tube seals. Did you try some tweezers to get that plastic out?