Whenever I remove a nut or bolt with threads exposed to elements, I use a wire brush and clean the threads, then WD-40.. Even if you can't access one half of the threads, cleaning the other half make your life very easy.
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One more thing I do when replacing valve cover gasket is to apply a small film of toyota fipg on 3 sides (left, right and bottom sides) of the cylinder head surface.Wow. Sorry for your awful day ruining frustrations. Not being near as experienced I would really be hating life if it were me. I would end up replacing gaskets and then just using a superior gasket sealant adhesive on the outside around that corner and area of cover…. and move on. You probably will never need to replace gaskets again anyway.
Negetive on that. The bolt is back very near, or behind the firewall. No access to it other than a right angle drill.Another possible option that might work would be to use an extra long aircraft drill bit. I feel like you might be able to get a clear enough shot at it from around the brake master and everything else that is going on up there.
1000% this... I would at least try it. If it leaks then pull the engine. But if it doesn't, then do a little dance and go on you're way.Wow. Sorry for your awful day ruining frustrations. Not being near as experienced I would really be hating life if it were me. I would end up replacing gaskets and then just using a superior gasket sealant adhesive on the outside around that corner and area of cover…. and move on. You probably will never need to replace gaskets again anyway.
I hate busted bolts....
Pulling with transmission, one needs more room in front of vehicle than I have.
Good thinking.theoretically you could just remove the engine/trans combo enough to get to the rear of the engine past the obstacles, maybe 1-2 feet??
This might be the best solutionI think BullElk got this right in post 22 - don't worry, be happy. I added the be happy. This doesn't really have to be fixed, at least not now. Put some good sealant on that corner. I went out and had a look and it looks to me like the two surfaces are well suited to a G clamp like the ones in the link below. I bet it would never leak. Let someone else worry about it when they pull the engine in the future.
Amazon product ASIN B0956XGXLR
I'm hoping for the best for you. I had to do something similar on an early VH45DE where a dealer had previously stripped the rear VC bolts. It was a bear to install a timesert. That engine didn't use VC gaskets. VC oil seals were RTV.Small update: I am gong to try pulling out the motor mounts and dropping the engine down with no motor mounts in. if this gives me at least 1 - 1.5 more inches of clearance, i will be able to fit my right angle drill in there. I really don't want to pull the engine, but I don't do anything half-assed on my vehicles. I will fix this back to the way it should be. This isn't my daily driver, i have several other vehicles, so time is not an issue. I just need to have the truck back again by about late May to prepare for a big camping trip this summer.
I did not get enough time to do the full job this weekend. I pulled the radiator, fan shroud, and stuff around the front of the engine. I should be able to post another update maybe later this week once i get the engine hoist in place, and drop the motor mounts. It looks like the power steering and AC stuff has plenty of wiggle room to stay in place for the test. My other plan is to remove the exhaust hangers and keep all the exhaust connected.
Thank you to all those who provided suggestions. To answer a few comments:
1. The bottom of the bolt holes are exposed to the outside world, which must have allowed some corrostion to build up on the bottom of the bolt. They are in the splash zone from the front tires.
2. There is no way to drill it out from below without removing the driver side manifold, and even then it's a "maybe". but i might as well pull the engine at that point, because it's probably 6 -8 more hours of work to R&R the exhaust manifold.