My 405,xxx mile valve job.... (1 Viewer)

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Soo, back in December, I had an intermittent missfire on cylinder #2

After a few days, it went from intermittent to a hard miss

I was hoping for a bad plug, wire or maybe a bad injector, but after doing a leakdown test, it turned out to be a leaky exhaust valve

I had put off replacing the valve seals for far too long and it coked up the valves and ports so badly with carbon deposits that a valve got stuck and burnt a nice chunk out of it

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Ordered up a valve grind kit, a new exhaust valve, guides, seals, a new front manifold, head bolts and a bunch of PM stuff from CDan, then sent the head off to the machine shop for them to do their magic while I cleaned up the block and painted the valve cover.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Having not dealt with this particular machine shop before, I printed out the FSM procedures, gave them a DVD copy of the FSM and made it clear that I didn't want to get a call from them saying they snapped the cams

Once they had it apart, they suggested replacing the other exhaust valve on #2 and even had an aftermarket valve on hand, but I was adamant about using all new OEM parts.

Seeing that I was so picky, they call up the next day and suggested I just replace all of the exhaust valves instead of grinding the old ones, so I ordered up the rest....

I must say, I was worried, but they did a fantastic job on the head.

Unfortunately, while doing the last 90* sweep torquing it down, one of the bolts pulled the threads right out of the block (F@CK!!!)

I've NEVER had this happen on an iron block before.....Aluminum, yes, but never an iron block.

The original bolt that came out of this particular hole was a little wobbly, but I didn't think much of it at the time since I had ordered new bolts anyways.

Made a call to TimeFastener to see about getting a Time Sert kit and after giving them some quick mearsurements, they had a kit on the way (for those interested, it's M11 x 1.25 with a 28mm insert)

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Of course this also meant having to order another HG and fresh bolts from CDan ($$$)

Installed the Time-Sert on shredded hole #9 and also put one in hole #7 cause it just felt kinda iffy on the last sweep.

After chasing all the holes, we dropped the head in, torqued down everything perfectly and the cams went in with ease

Ordered up a set of HPS silicone hoses, but decided to bypass the rear heater, so only used a few of them.

Also replaced the radiator hoses, heater control valve and T-Stat just because....

Replaced all of the vacuum hoses under the manifold with silicone tubing, gave the injectors a quick cleaning before replacing the seals, then installed a new fuel filter before slapping the manifold back on....

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

When I bypassed the rear heater, I used extra long pieces for the U-Turn to make changing the #6 plug easier....
I also had the opportunity to wrap the wiring harness with heat reflective tape while the EGR valve was out....

She fired up and idled perfectly right off the bat

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Checked the timing and it was dead set at 3* where I figured I'd leave it for the initial break in before bumping it up.

Only issue I had was that my speedometer stopped working

Turned out to be a loose ground wire behind the manifold that I found a few days later when I had her back on the lift (oops)

I'm happy to say she's been running tip top

Changed the oil at about 500 miles, then put another 500 miles on her last week without issue (zero smoke, zero oil consumption)

Can't wait to hit that million mile mark

 

[landtoy80]

And the total cost is?

 

[AaronM33]

Looks good, love the yellow valve cover.

How did you clean the block? How much did they shave off the head? I'm trying to figure out a good way to clean up my block surface without a shop vac or anything to suck up the dirt (no power in my garage).

I did the same thing with the extra length on the heater hoses, makes accessing some things easier and if you have a leak or split you have a little extra to cut a fresh end.

If I pulled the head bolt threads out I would probably sit down and throw up.

 

[baldilocks]

Probably the most concise head removal thread ever. Good work! Was there still visible cross hatching on the cylinder walls?

 

[TexasJack]

How much would it have cost you if you had paid someone to do it for you?

 

[arcteryx]

Very cool posts. How does time sert work? Out of curiosity, why did you not paint the other manifold?

 

[cme4lyt]

Great write up, thanks for sharing !!!

 

[120mm]

I'm going to favorite this. The pictures are amazing and I think will be useful for many projects in the engine bay.

 

[Dubbinchris]

Very cool posts. How does time sert work? Out of curiosity, why did you not paint the other manifold?

I don't think he painted either of them. I'm guessing the one that looks painted is simply a new one. There was a picture of one with a crack in it.

 

[rc51kid]

Cost is going to be more than you think but way less than paying somebody. I am in the middle of the same job but without putting new exhaust valves in or new manifold.
These are BALL PARK for OEM parts
Gasket kit $200
Valve guides $250
Head bolts $250 (he bought two sets!)
my machine work was $800, had the same basic stuff he did but i also had some old exhaust studs removed from the manifold.

I also did front motor mounts $160
alternator rebuild (had parts)
injectors to witch hunter $150
all new exhaust studs and nuts $50?

I already had newish fuel filter, plug wires, water pump and a lot of "while you are in there stuff" so i skipped that. But if that stuff is old then it adds a lot to parts.

For me i am luck enough to have two shops locally that i would trust to do this, ACC and Beno. I dont know what Beno would charge but ACC is around $2500-$3500. No way would i let anyone other then one of the experts do a job like this on my truck. Even finding the "right" machine shop is a very stressful situation.

PS. Snake eater, sorry if you wife is reading this and i get you in trouble! Hope it is not bad form to post prices like this in someone elses post.

 

[landtoy80]

What are the before and after compression results?

Does it have original rings? Any work done to the lower end?

 

[sbman]

Nice work. Did they measure the cam lobes? Incredible to get 400K+ miles out of a camshaft!

 

[TexasJack]

Genuinely impressive you did this job yourself. Big job! Congratulations that it turned out well!

 

[rc51kid]

I saw the yellow going on the valve cover. I thought "what the f&%$. That is going to look stupid." But with the CAT sticker i actually really like it, good job!

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

And the total cost is?

Just a quick tally from the Toyota invoices I have on hand.....$1,736.64 in parts before coolant (which I had to pickup at the local Toyo dealer)

Also have to factor in $480 for the head work, $156.57 for the Time Sert kit and about $200 in silicone hoses and constant torque breeze clamps

Looks good, love the yellow valve cover.

How did you clean the block? How much did they shave off the head? I'm trying to figure out a good way to clean up my block surface without a shop vac or anything to suck up the dirt (no power in my garage).

I did the same thing with the extra length on the heater hoses, makes accessing some things easier and if you have a leak or split you have a little extra to cut a fresh end.

If I pulled the head bolt threads out I would probably sit down and throw up.

I started off with a plastic scraper and a shop vac for the crusty stuff, then soaked everything down with a mixture of GM Top Engine cleaner and MOPAR combustion chamber cleaner for a few days before wiping it all down with bathroom towels I swiped from the house (shhhhh)

When I pulled the threads, I'm pretty sure the everyone across the street heard me droppin F-Bombs while stopping around the shop and pulling out what's left of the hair on my head

Probably the most concise head removal thread ever. Good work! Was there still visible cross hatching on the cylinder walls?

Yes, still visible

How much would it have cost you if you had paid someone to do it for you?

R&R for the head is like 21 hours book time (not including the head work)

I charge $85/Hr for mechanical at my shop + List pricing on all parts, so if a customer brought in the same job, they'd be crying when I handed them the bill

Very cool posts. How does time sert work?