Valve cover gaskets...what a job

Just finished up the passenger side valve cover on my 01, took me like 2.5 hours. This is honestly the first job in a while I wish I'd just paid someone to do. Not that it's particularly hard or anything, it just feels *scary* for some reason. Like, other jobs, if you mess up, it's like oh okay, time to redo it or tighten this or whatever. But when you can literally see the camshafts of your engine?? That's like, you know, the bits of the engine man. The spinny stuff that goes vroom. Where the magic smoke is kept. I was so nervous the whole time. I probably got a little bit of dirt into the engine, I may have used too much black RTV on the half moons, my torque wrench acts funny at ~5 ft-lbs, but like...it's back together? And drying? Still need to do the driver's side tomorrow, I have to swing by the toyota dealership because I accidentally punctured one of my new spark plug tube seals and had to steal one of the ones destined for the drivers side.

Did other people feel this way doing this job? Like you were totally about to Eff your engine? Or do I need to go back on my meds?

 

Honestly the 4.7 ones are just some of the easiest, granted I do this for a living. The feeling of nervousness is normal purely because, yes you are in a “sensitive” area. Little bit of debris will find its way in the oil. But fear not, because as long as you didn’t pour dirt in there intentionally, anything that may have gotten in there will be caught by the filter. The RTV? Eh it’s harmless unless you go WAY overboard.

 

Changing crank bearings while an engine is hanging from a tree branch on ratchet straps made me nervous. My truck has been a tx truck its whole life, so vc's should be pretty smooth, but i'd be at full pucker messing with bolts on a rustbelt engine.

gonna knock on wood for good measure, because my vc gaskets are due soon.

 

I think I used a reasonable and humane amount of RTV. Toothpaste on Toothbrush looking line all around the half moon, and again just in those corner sections. I didn't pour dirt in there intentionally. Yay!

Now THAT is some sketchy shit. Any pics? I love literal backyard mechanic work.

 

Felt the same way. I looked at it as "Well if I mess this up I could actually be fucked."

 

Ha, no, that was like '06 on a 22re in the front yard.

 

But you're not! It seems

I'm pretty sure the average 22RE rebuild takes places after 10pm, on a cold and humid fall day, next to a 30 rack of PBR, and performed with your grandad's wrench set and a greasey hammer. Nice work.

 

A job so nice i did it twice. Bought the truck cheap with a spun bearing, fixed it, drove it for a little over a year, spun a different bearing, fixed it, and traded it for a dirtbike, golf cart, and broken atv.

 

Didja get pics of the insides of the vc's? You know, for science?

 

Not too shabby for 276k

 

Do you have feeler gauges?

Just curious whether we oughtta be telling folks to adjust their valve lash.



I'll measure mine when i do my gaskets, bit i'm only at 140k.

 

Must not be too critical, nobody mentions it, except the fsm, inspection every 60k miles.

i'm just curious like that.

 

@empty_lord What’s your technique for getting rusty valve cover bolts off? Do you use rust penetrant and heat to keep from snapping the bolt heads off or just a low torque impact gun?

 

Valve cover gaskets was a relatively easy job, a bit tedious and time consuming for the spark plug tube gaskets, but no major hand gymnastics or crazy tools needed. Mine looked shiny and clean inside like yours (around 250k miles at the time).

 

Props my man. It gets easier with time. I've had mine open 3 times and have done it 3 times on my SHOs. On the SHOs you even have to pull the intake manifold.

I don't think it's necessary, but wouldn't hurt. Speaking of SHOs, you have to check them every 60k, and usually have to get new shims for them as it's a cam on bucket system, which I think is what we have. Ours must not wear as bad.

 

I still haven't touched mine at 190k. They don't leak so I'm going to keep sending it until they do. It seems like a tedious job and since I'm known to be a mangler, I'll avoid it for now.

 

I don’t think it’s hard work really, it’s just tedious sometimes, and you started with the easier side which is a smart way to help you get past it. I always prefer the worst side first, usually, get the gnarly part out of the way so the second one is a walk in the park, “worst is over” type thing.

I left some helpful tips for driver side in my one post on here with VC part numbers and instructions but I’m stuck on mobile so not about to try to find it. May be worth reading? Dunno.

Once done with both sides be sure to doublecheck all vacuum hoses are attached. For anything adjacent. Just because you’ll be finagling. And once you give time for FIPG to set, after checking torque on VC bolts, start it with the hood up so you can listen for any sucking or pumping sounds that could be a vacuum hose, look for fuel leaks, look for oil leaks.

Nervousness is normal when you care. Once you get accustomed to seeing/doing the work, it takes that edge off, but I think a lot of us feel that way a little bit when starting any new project. The reality? You’re probably showing more care and concern than any hired wrench in a shop would, and that’s why it’s important for you to do the work, not them. For all you know, the wrench at the shop has never done valve covers on your engine model in their lifetime either. Seriously.

 

Ok I lied, here’s that reply: https://www.tundras.com/threads/valve-covers-fix-or-leave.105385/#post-2712883

Remembered a word pair that would isolate that reply and it helped me pull it up pretty quick in search.

 

I’ve never had an issue removing the bolts honestly. Only when they’ve been previously done is it a issue

 

Interesting. Seems quite a few people here snap them off.

 

Alot of people break exhaust manifold bolts too. Personally I’ve NEVER broken one

 

FTFY

 

I replaced mine at about 180K as they were leaking around the edges. I decided not to change the tube seals because they’re a bit of a PITA. I did change all the bolts with new as the rubber was dry and cracked. At 250K no leaks from the valve covers. I’ve got a small seepage at bottom hole of the timing belt cover. Maybe a teaspoon full at oil change time on the skid plate. Oh well next TB change…

 

Oh yeah, don't you worry, I have one group of Google Chrome tabs that are like 4 of your posts. You're a tremendous help for working on this sort of stuff. I appreciate your advice and I honestly would have defintely paid a shop if it weren't for posts like yours.

 

Driver's side is off. Looks a little crustier but that makes sense since that's where I typically smelled oil from. Still not bad for the miles.

 

BMF would suggest washing that valve cover in the dishwasher before reinstalling

 

Well, if it was my shitty rental place, I'd do it. But I don't think my parents would appreciate that very much in their dishwasher...

 

Hard to break them off when they are only finger tight. Im just going to let it ride until I get into all the engine service parts I'm amassing.

 

Yup, firewall-side of the driver's head is always the crustiest. I'm sure there's a technical reason for this, I'm not sure what it is. It may just be because the driver's valve cover tends to hold more steam/moisture after shutting down? Maybe up inside the oil fill tube, and the condensate comes down from there and settles. OR maybe things run hotter over cylinders 6/8. Dunno.

I'd spend a minute to clean that up. You should've seen how crusty mine were. Chlorine-free Brakleen with a bronze wool brush will take the crust off lickety split and it's generally safe for everything else.

The only way to properly and thoroughly clean is a heated parts washer. You should really consider doing the PCV valve in that thing while in there. I see somoene slapped in an aftermarket one; OEM doesn't have a blue elbow, I don't think.