How to: Passenger Side Valve Cover Replacement (Superchared V6)

I had to replace a buddy's passenger side valve cover today and after trying to find a how-to guide and having no luck, I decided to wing it. Everything I could find was either 15+ minute YouTube videos or picture guides that were way too detailed and overly burdensome. Most of the videos/picture guides I watched involved removing parts that didn't need to be removed that turned what should be a 30 minute job into something way too long.

DISCLAIMER: I didn't decide to take pictures until afterwards, so some imagination is required when looking at the pictures.

1. Move all the hoses/wires that are in the way out of the way. There are various emissions/intake hoses and wiring harnesses in the way that need to be moved.

2. Remove the intake stuff. My buddy had a K&M cold air intake. Regardless if you have a stock or aftermarket intake, loosening the hose clamp from the throttle body should do the job (some hoses/connectors will probably needed to be pulled/unplugged from the intake pipe).





3. Unscrew the bolts that hold the boot of the spark plug wires onto the manifold. There is one bolt per spark plug. You'll also need to unplug the wires going into the spark plug boots...they unclip easily. Two tips: 1. have a magnet on standby because the bolts will fall into the V6 abyss. 2. Be sure to pry off the grommets that will probably be stuck to the manifold. If your new kit doesn't include new grommets, you're going to need to reuse these. Grommets = insulation. Use them!

Since you've made it this far, you might as well replace the spark plugs, which you're supposed to do every 30k, anyway. If you look into those 3 deep holes, that's where they are. Unscrew, remove, gap, replace.



4. Unscrew the 4 bolts that attach the throttle body to the engine. They're allen head and they're tight. Your allen wrench probably won't loosen it. Ratchet likely required.



5. Just look at the exposed parts...aren't they beautiful? Now, you should have everything out of the way to pull the valve cover. Make sure nothing falls in there! Put on the new valve cover and you're done! I got my buddy's manifold from Rock Auto, which was about $70 cheaper than the local parts stores. The one I ordered came with the gasket pre-glued to the manifold. If your manifold doesn't come with a gasket, YOU HAVE TO GET ONE! Do not install the manifold without a gasket. The gasket is a seal that keeps good stuff in and bad stuff out.



6. Do everything I just said, but in reverse. Now you're done! Drive your truck to your local gas station and get a 6-pack. Also, enjoy the smell of an engine that doesn't smell like burning tires.

 

That was the easy side, now for the supercharger side part 2?)

Did you replace half moons, spark plug gasket or just top gasket?

It almost looks like you can leave the throttle body on from the photos ?
How long did that take to do 45 minutes?

 

Fortunately, his driver's side didn't need to be replaced. We did the passenger side because it was leaking and the burnt oil smell was terrible.

We just replaced the top gasket.

We could have probably kept pulling and the valve cover would've cleared the throttle body, but it was just easier to move it out of the way. The part that was hitting was the plastic female port for the wiring harness that connects to the throttle body and I didn't want to risk breaking it.

We did that and the supercharger oil change in less than an hour.

 

Should have resealed the halfooms and "hockey puck".

 

I still haven't installed the new cover yet (friend accidentally ordered the driver's side one, so we're waiting on the correct one to arrive today). I'll probably go ahead and do that and add it to the pics above. Good thinkin!

 

I didn't know about the hockey pucks when I had a 3.4 in my 4runner. Did both valve cover gaskets and the half moons.. no pucks... Guess what was leaking still leaking.. talk about annoying..