DIY - GX460 Valve Covers, Cam Towers, Coolant Valley and Timing Cover (2 Viewers)

[agentmm]

I acquired a 2012 GX460 (177k miles) with multiple leaks and figured I would tear the engine down to address the valve covers, cam towers, coolant valley leak and the timing cover all at once.

I have never done an in-depth write up and only decided to this after the fact so we'll see if it proves to be useful or not.

Quick note about the style of this document: I took pictures along the way and I draw freely on those pictures to remind me quantity of fastener/clip and rough orientation/location. I apologize to no man for the layout. It's what works for me.

I used a roll of painters tape for everything including labeling.
I used paper cups and plastic ziplock bags to store batches of fasteners.
As an example, I wrote “7” on a phone image and then wrote “7” on a paper cup and “7” on the Radiator to tie the image and fasteners to the component or assembly for future reference.

THIS TOOK A LONG TIME. Others will be speedier. Others should not attempt this.
I didn't want to **** it up and have to tear it down again so I kept a slow, intentional pace.

PARTS (generally speaking) just copy and pasted from RockAuto

AISIN​	THT005	Thermostat	$ 34.79​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 34.79​
AKEBONO​	ASP976	Brake Pad	$ 50.79​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 50.79​
AKEBONO​	ASP606A	Brake Pad	$ 49.79​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 49.79​
BECK/ARNLEY​	0450441 (045-0441)	Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) Valve	$ 4.98​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 4.98​
FEL-PRO​	35893	Water Inlet Gasket	$ 1.75​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 1.75​
FEL-PRO​	HS26394PT1 (HS26394PT-1)	Cylinder Head Gasket Set	$ 230.99​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 230.99​
FEL-PRO​	OS30803	Oil Pan Gasket	$ 9.18​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 9.18​
FEL-PRO​	TOS18736	Fluid Pan Gasket	$ 9.31​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 9.31​
GATES​	42262	Water Pump	$ 94.79​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 94.79​
GATES​	90K39185 (90K-39185)	Belt Tensioner	$ 122.79​	-​	1​	$ 122.79​
GATES​	K080948	[Kit Component] Belt	$ 14.99​	$ 0.00​	1​	-​
GATES​	36370	[Kit Component] Idler Pulley	$ 21.03​	$ 0.00​	1​	-​
GATES​	39185	[Kit Component] Belt Tensioner	$ 86.77​	$ 0.00​	1​	-​
MAHLE / CLEVITE​	67860	Timing Cover Seal	$ 9.24​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 9.24​
NGK​	94122	Spark Plug	$ 8.69​	$ 0.00​	8​	$ 69.52​
VAICO​	V700735 (V70-0735)	Filter	$ 30.89​	$ 0.00​	1​	$ 30.89​

-knock sensor wiring harness 82219A
PN: 8221960100
-at NAPA ask for Four Seasons 59019 Oz Bottle Silicone O-Ring Lubricant. Use it for all of the new rubber.
-TOYOTA long life Coolant from the stealership (4 jugs)
-0W20 oil (2 jugs)

REFERENCE MATERIALS:

Factory Service Manual
Get this. I referenced it throughout.
OneDrive - https://1drv.ms/b/s!AhQJISubE-NcvUAalPnNXDjSR9Xm

Great write up about the Coolant Valley Leak
DIY Coolant Valley Leak Repair - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/diy-coolant-valley-leak-repair.1240395/

Good YouTube link for setting the timing chains on 1URFE engine


Let us begin:

I'm starting at "5" because 1-4 were skid plates and grill. Figure those out.
Remove these plastics (2 of them).

unclip

unclip both

(2) horns. bolts and disco connectors.

disco sensor and remove tab from frame

 

[agentmm]

remove tabs (2) from frame

remove plastic protector (2 tabs)

remove "7" (hood latch mechanism) 3 bolts

disco hood latch cable

"8" is A/C line retainer plastic. 1 bolt and disco wires

 

[agentmm]

"9" is fan. bolts out.

remove "10" metal bracket. couple of bolts.

dump coolant from underneath the rad. There is a petcock under there, drivers side. Remove upper rad hose

(4) nuts from fan. slim 10mm wrench works well with another wrench or big flat blade to apply counter forces.

(3) bolts for fan shroud. 1 of which is at the coolant reservoir.

 

[r2m]

Wow! That is a good DIY instructions.
Hope you picked up your GX for a very good price considering the work it needed!
Can you give a couple specs: What year is your GX and how many miles on the clock?

 

[agentmm]

remove serpentine belt. You apply a wrench or socket to the tensioner and pull counter clockwise.

remove lower rad hose. This one sucks.

transmission cooler line.

transmission cooler line 2

remove the radiator. 4 bolts.
The lower 2 bolts are accessible through the front grill with a series of ratchet extensions.

 

[agentmm]

Again, these are my notes for remembering sequence when building back up.
Please reference the link I posted under REFERENCE MATERIALS for the Coolant Valley Leak and/or continue on this thread. I overlap with that thread for a while now:

remove air box by disco this sensor and backing off the clamp

disco this small air line

back this clamp off and remove hose

back this screw/clamp off. Remove

 

[agentmm]

Take off this hose assembly. Note the blue line shows routing. It goes under the wire loom. Clip disco here too.

remove this bracket for the engine cover

remove this purge valve emissions stuff. It's overkill, but I like to tape the removed fasteners in the exact location they go on the component. This becomes important when reasembling things and you feel like cross threading some different size s*** in the aluminum block.

remove these hoses and note the routing the hose in blue here.

I think this picture shows top of air box removed. And use some drop cloths on your whip.

 

[agentmm]

remove hoses and all red circles are bolts or clamps.

disco this wire and pull it off the valve cover.

follow the "yellow" line off screen and disco. You get the idea now.

remove this bracket sitting on the valve cover. unclip the wire tab. I think I missed circling a bolt there.

disco these 2 circled.

 

[agentmm]

throttle body has (4) bolts.

2ndary air system hoses. Leave as 1 piece (a "Y")

(2) or 3 bolts under the air filter here holding the bottom of the air box

remove the (2) T's top left. Splash some coolant around...it's good for you. Remove the other notes and yes, one of those sucked because it was tucked behind lines.

remove this 2ndary air pump. There was a bolt at the back (firewall side)

 

[agentmm]

passenger side valve cover. Remove the electrical harness.

(1) bolt for the dipstick

this is fuel line connector which there are (2) of. This fuel line runs behind the intake. At this point, lift up on the orange lock and then press in both sides and pull off

I need to mention that there is a 10mm bolt noted in the other write up for Coolant Valley Leak which does NOT need to be removed behind the intake at the firewall side. You undid the fuel lines so you can leave this bolt in place and save yourself the head ache. You DO need to pry off the driver side wiring harness clip from the intake and you DO need to break the passenger side wiring harness clip from the intake like the other write up suggests.

looks fine I guess

 

[agentmm]

we are under the intake. Let's get the foam out of the way.

apply some painters tape here. We don't want anything falling down into the valves.

undo everything here and remove the cooler.

remove this and replace the PCV now or do it before reinstall. MAKE A NOTE ON TAPE EITHER WAY SO YOU REMEMBER
DO replace the PCV!

pull this foam out

 

[agentmm]

pull this wiring harness that feeds the knock sensors. I ordered a new one. Cheap and a nice back up in case yours is cracked to s***.
I removed the knock sensors. Please be careful with those. Tall dollar to replace.

You are removing the coolant valley plate here. Take note of the nuts and the long bolt. I removed the bolt with an E8 (maybe E10) socket from the block at the nut closest to the grill. (I can't remember why. probably to get the coolant plate out)
I did not get a picture of the water tube here. It has (2) O-rings. Replace these and lube them up with a silicone based lube. I asked the NAPA desk for one and they provided - Four Seasons 59019 Oz Bottle Silicone O-Ring Lubricant
Stuff kicked ass.

coolant. Clean this up and do a good job.

taped everything off and did a good job. Shop vac was nice here.

lets get over to the passenger valve cover.

 

[agentmm]

This bolt was holding (2) brackets together so I removed it and wrapped it in tape and placed it on the table.

remove these nuts at the back of the 2ndary air valve pump deal. I seemed to have wrapped this thing in tape with bolts noted where everything goes.

I removed (4) bolts here for the coil packs. AND the centred long bolt for the valve cover. This bolt has a rubber washer on it. This comes in the FEL PRO engine rebuild gasket kit off Rock Auto.

remove this bolt holding the plastic bracket deal here. You will need the flexibility in all these lines back here to work the valve cover off (and access farthest fasteners)

I think we are removing the valve cover here.

 

[agentmm]

OK.
At this point, I would have unplugged and unbolted the fuel rail from the passenger side but I didn't do that for removal at this stage. DO IT. JUST DO IT NOW. It makes access and removal and reinstall much easier (I do it later... you will see)

more prep to get the valve cover off.

again, more s*** to help with wiggle room.

Hell yeah. And lookin pretty minty.

pulled the black gasket from the perimeter. lookin minty. I'm stoked.

 

[agentmm]

Drivers side now. This is disco electrical off valve cover and don't forget the wiring that runs down the front of the engine.

unhook some stuff.

get this entire harness pulled out the back (firewall side) under the fuel lines. We end up disco'ing those as well...do it now or later. It's coming up.

Undo this towards the back of the valve cover

I felt like wasting zip ties so I hung the harness up high. This is where we disco the fuel line. Have some rags handy.

 

[agentmm]

fuel line.

2ndary air system. Note the arrow pointing to the bracket at the back there.

(4) coil packs.

remove the drivers side valve cover.

find this white plastic bracket tab and remove it (drivers side towards back)

 

[agentmm]

milestone reached. good for you.

thermostat housing off. (3) bolts. and the housing forces an orientation so you are good to pull it off and throw it down.

let's get to the water pump and start by removing these lines and the water inlet stuff.

pull this off.

Water pump time. (4) nuts and some bolts. I left these bolts in their respective holes on the old WP so I knew which ones went where on the new one. Do whatever you want. It's your life.

 

[agentmm]

I don't care for this picture. I re-timed everything without assuming TDC upon reassembly so this picture should be assumed invalid. I include just because it proves that you may think you are TDC but you might be a full revolution out. Or the factory could have messed up (doubtful) anyway...we re-time entirely down the road.

I fired up the big impact and spun the crank bolt off like butter.

Pull the tensioner off. Requires an H6 for the allen bolt. and the other one is a standard bolt underneath.

remove this pulley

pull this sucker off.

 

[agentmm]

Undo this bolt at the bottom of the timing cover because it will provide room to get the timing cover in and out.

Remove these nuts and bolts to get the oil pump out of the way. It is going to come off and out of the engine bay.

The vane pump is the power steering pump. This is a messy photo. Disco the wire. Then undo one bolt that holds a bracket to the body and twist that bracket 90 degrees because it gets the pump out and in front of the engine (which provides space to do the timing cover) then there are (2) bolts that are accessed through the pulley. NOTE WHICH ONE GOES IN WHICH HOLE FOR REASSEMBLY.

This is the alternator. Jack up the car, remove the wheel and access some of this stuff through the wheel well. I removed the E10 bolt from the timing cover (it comes out after you remove the nut that sits on it) because it helped get the Alt down. Also, I left one of the bolts in the bottom of the alt for the duration of this job because it was easier than trying to remove it from the engine bay. Just remember it...whatever way you go.

From underneath the car, remove this bolt to drop the wiring harness plastic harness from the timing cover.

It should be noted that our goal here is to complete all of these jobs without removing the engine and leaving the A/C condenser in place (otherwise we have to de-energize that system and I'd rather not)

 

[agentmm]

I think this is a bolt I have noted on the A/C compressor (bottom, drivers side)

What I mean by this picture is that the A/C compressor has 2 bolts that go into it. The bolt near my finger tips goes towards the back of the compressor. The bolt near my wrist goes at the front of the compressor.

I removed the E8 bolt from the compressor/timing cover to release the compressor. Noted by my ratchet.

Remove the timing cover time.

I made a cardboard template and carefully removed all the bolts and the nut (covered by tape)