[bdac]

replacement.

Long story short. I was replacing spark plugs today and noticed two things. Oil seeping from the top of the spark plug boot and a large rock chip on my headlight.
Oil leak appears to be fairly considerable. After forum searching I found the culprit.

I placed an order with Tom at American Toyota (CDan is on vacation) and I plan to replace the valve cover gaskets and spark plug tube gasket repair next weekend. I want to make sure I have all the parts. Normally Dan would guide me but because he is MIA, I'm at a loss.

So far on the list is:
-Valve cover gasket
-Spark plug tube seals
-FIPG
-Throttle body gasket
-headlight

Is there anything else I need? Is there an additional part number for those half moon pieces at the front of the engine?

The LX is completely stock with 200k miles.



TIA.

[Chaldaean]

Originally Posted by bdac

Is there an additional part number for those half moon pieces at the front of the engine?

You only need to mess with the half-moons if you are removing the camshafts. If you are just replacing the valve cover gasket, there is no need to remove them.

If you do ever remove them (to adjust timing or replace the HG etc.), they are reusable, so you wouldn't have to order new ones.

Other than that, I can't think of anything to add to your shopping list.

[CreeperSleeper]

Other than a PCV valve and both PCV hoses... They tend to fall apart. Ask me how I know.

[cc93cruiser]

Originally Posted by Chaldaean

You only need to mess with the half-moons if you are removing the CAMSHAFTS. If you are just replacing the valve cover gasket, there is no need to remove them.

If you do ever remove them (to adjust timing or replace the HG etc.), they are reusable, so you wouldn't have to order new ones.

Other than that, I can't think of anything to add to your shopping list.

Fixed it for ya..

[Chaldaean]

Originally Posted by cc93cruiser

Fixed it for ya..

Thanks, man.

[bdac]

Thanks All.

[Kernal]

(Disclaimer: haven't done it yet myself) Seems like I read here on mud that to remove the valve cover you also have to remove the throttle body (is that correct?) Would you need to get a new throttle body gasket for when you put the throttle body back on the intake manifold??

[bdac]

Another related question.

FSM states to drain the coolant when removing the TB. Is this the case? Will a significant amount of coolant drain if the hoses to the TB are removed?

[Kernal]

Don't recall the exact answer, it has been discussed here on mud; IIRC from reading seems like only a small amount leaks out?? Maybe someone with experience will chime in.

[acflyguy18]

there is only a small amount of coolant that leaked out when I had mine apart, so NO is the short answer to draining coolant in my opinion.

[CreeperSleeper]

Originally Posted by acflyguy18

there is only a small amount of coolant that leaked out when I had mine apart, so NO is the short answer to draining coolant in my opinion.

I didn't when I did mine a month ago... It's maybe a 1/4 cup at the very most.

[stlcruiser]

Make sure you mark the position of the cables when you take them off the throttle body. Loosen only one nut each and use electrical tape to mark the position of the nut you didn't move.

Also, this is a great time to give the throttle body a through cleaning.

Steve
94' 205,000

[breathed]

PCV valve grommet. Be careful tightening the cover bolts. More than one person has snapped them. I used a straight driver handle and socket to keep the torque low.

[bdac]

Originally Posted by breathed

Be careful tightening the cover bolts. More than one person has snapped them. I used a straight driver handle and socket to keep the torque low.

Good tip. For reassembly, I was planning on picking up a low end torque wrench, but the driver handle/socket combo should do the trick as my forearms aren't huge. Hopefully, there aren't any seized screws or even worse snapping of screw heads while removing them. My last maintenance repair dealt with the O2 sensors and I was unable to remove the seized nuts and ended up bringing it to an indy shop.

[bhmmapping]

order a couple of extra cover bolts in case you do snap one.

[ravewoofer]

How many would you rate this job? I am in the process of deciding whether or not to do it myself. I'm pretty mechanically minded, yet I've never wrenched on the 80.

I haven't worked on a car since the '70s so I don't own many tools. Aside from a torque wrench, any special ones required?

How much time do you think the job would require of a shade tree mechanic like myself?

TIA

[bdac]

Originally Posted by ravewoofer

How many would you rate this job? I am in the process of deciding whether or not to do it myself. I'm pretty mechanically minded, yet I've never wrenched on the 80.

I haven't worked on a car since the '70s so I don't own many tools. Aside from a torque wrench, any special ones required?

How much time do you think the job would require of a shade tree mechanic like myself?

TIA

The Lexus stealer estimated $800 so I decided to do the work. My brother in-law and I tackled this today. We took our time since this is the first time either of us have done this type of invasive engine work. Our experiences are usually with just spark plugs, oil changes, coilover, exhaust installs, etc. It took us about 4hrs total, but with 2 45min breaks. Lucky we didn't break or lose anything in the process.

Parts purchased:
VVC gasket
6 spark plug tube seals
1 VVC screw as backup
TB gasket - (old can be reused if unable to obtain as it is made of metal)
FIPG (did not use)
PCV grommet
PCV valve

Tools used:
Regular 10mm, 12mm socket wrench. Two open ended 12mm and 14mm wrenches for the accel/throttle/cruise cables, screwdriver, hammer, pliers. Flex joint for last VVC nut by the firewall, magnetic pickup tool, pen, paper, ruler, electrical tape, digital camera, FSM and ih8mud links.

We never fully removed the TB, just unhooked the 4 nuts and 3 wired connectors. One of us held the TB while the other worked underneath.

We also used these bookmarks:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-te...last-bolt.html

http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-te...pm-w-pics.html

http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-te...h-starter.html

Good luck!

[94SRUNNER]

Glad to hear things went so well. It shows being well prepared will get you when you tackle a project such as this. And thin of how much cash you saved and how much wrench experience this gained you. Nice synopses on the project.

Well done!

One thing I would like to mention. It would be a nice addition to someone performing this same maintenance process. In addition to all of the items bdac has addressed, the oil fill cap is one I over looked and finally replaced a few weeks ago. I new one from CDan was not very much. On mine the rubber gasket at the top of cap had deteriorated long ago and oil was blowing out over the valve cover.

Maybe obvious to some, but it was something I completely overlooked.

Just my $0.02

[99UZJay]

One tip on getting the spark plug gaskets out, if you have a heat gun use it on them to heat the "rubber" up b/c after it has been under the heat of your v/c and turned to hard plastic. They will probbably break up but I used a heat gun and seal puller and got all mine. You'll be suprised what the new ones look like. I used the FSM and torqued my v/c bolts to 15 ft lbs per it's reccomendation and didn't shear any of them, water pump....different situation. PCV is kinda hard to get out, I used some visegrips and leveraged it against the v/c with a rag and mine didn't crumble into the v/c so I was lucky.