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Valve cover gasket replacement 3.4 V6 tips

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by TRD 2001 4X4, Nov 7, 2013.

Page 3 of 6
  1. Nov 21, 2015 at 4:13 PM
    #41
    NOLA ItsNotOva

    #41
    NOLA ItsNotOva Well-Known Member

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    Any time dude. I broke all mine off and replaced it with that tubing for wires from Home Depot
     
    NOLA ItsNotOva, Nov 21, 2015
    #41
  2. Nov 21, 2015 at 4:57 PM
    #42
    skidrow

    #42
    skidrow Well-Known Member

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    Bilstine adjustable 3" front--add leaf rear--skid row plates +
    Yep they snaped comming off.... also those spark plug boots that are in the valve cover are a pain in the butt to drive back in....
     
    skidrow, Nov 21, 2015
    #42
  3. Nov 21, 2015 at 5:05 PM
    #43
    NOLA ItsNotOva

    #43
    NOLA ItsNotOva Well-Known Member

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    They shouldnt be if you put them in the right way
     
    NOLA ItsNotOva, Nov 21, 2015
    #43
  4. Nov 21, 2015 at 7:44 PM
    #44
    skidrow

    #44
    skidrow Well-Known Member

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    Yea i thought i bought factory toyota parts off ebay when they arived i now see they were after market. ... got it all done now just going to let it sit over night and let the rtv cure all night thanks aging for the help and info everything whent very well but now that im done im thinking i should have done the valve shims.....oh well.....
     
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    skidrow, Nov 21, 2015
    #44
  5. Nov 21, 2015 at 7:45 PM
    #45
    NOLA ItsNotOva

    #45
    NOLA ItsNotOva Well-Known Member

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    Theres only so much you can do lol. Mine were leaking for a while before I fixed them. So a little leak won't hurt anything
     
    NOLA ItsNotOva, Nov 21, 2015
    #45
  6. Nov 21, 2015 at 7:47 PM
    #46
    skidrow

    #46
    skidrow Well-Known Member

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    Bilstine adjustable 3" front--add leaf rear--skid row plates +
    Yea my truck was leaking right into the exhaust manifold and juat drove me crazy with that smell everyone always asking whats that smell lol i just told them it was there upper lip
     
    skidrow, Nov 21, 2015
    #46
  7. Nov 21, 2015 at 7:51 PM
    #47
    00yotasr5

    #47
    00yotasr5 Well-Known Member

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    Icon ext travel expo leafs rear billies 5125 10'' travel bamf bpv relocate Brute Force Fab Sliders allpro ss brake lines f/r LR UCA 22in wetokled bar RAT Products ifs skid ARB rear locker Ultra gauge Redline Hood Struts Blue Sea Fuse box smittybilt xrc 9.5 w/TJM synthetic rope trail-gear rock assault low profile bumper LED bed strip 12v/usb charger in truck bed
    lol, don't let used oil burn off the exhaust for too long ive seen it catch on fire.
     
    00yotasr5, Nov 21, 2015
    #47
  8. Nov 21, 2015 at 7:53 PM
    #48
    NOLA ItsNotOva

    #48
    NOLA ItsNotOva Well-Known Member

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    Lol i know that smell all too well. Mine gets that smell too because the plugs in the rear of the head are leaking
     
    NOLA ItsNotOva, Nov 21, 2015
    #48
  9. Nov 21, 2015 at 7:53 PM
    #49
    skidrow

    #49
    skidrow Well-Known Member

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    Yeah i just got the teuck fixed tonight took about 3.5 hours to do my valve cover gaskets
     
    skidrow, Nov 21, 2015
    #49
  10. Dec 12, 2015 at 8:59 AM
    #50
    chpjr

    #50
    chpjr New Member

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    Hello, I'm a long time Tacoma owner, but new to this forum. I need to redo my valve cover gaskets and came across this post. It's a very nice write-up on what to do and the parts needed. Thanks. My question is has anybody checked valved lash (clearances) while the covers were off? I get conflicting info on if the valves need to be checked or not. The owner's manual says yes, the dealer say no, and forum searches are kind of all over the place.
     
    chpjr, Dec 12, 2015
    #50
  11. Dec 12, 2015 at 12:37 PM
    #51
    skidrow

    #51
    skidrow Well-Known Member

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    Well i have 180,000 miles and i kinda wish i would have checked the valve lash but ive also seen trucks with alot more miles with alot less maintenance ive always used mobile 1 and am sure it will help with wear on metal to metal parts far more than the standard recommended oils so im not to worried i also was reading about a guy with a 4runner 3.4 with 600k miles with just standard oil changes of course that's all highway miles and no four wheeling but still very impressive needless to say i think we are very safe to keep on keeping on!!
     
    skidrow, Dec 12, 2015
    #51
  12. Dec 12, 2015 at 6:45 PM
    #52
    deckeda

    #52
    deckeda Well-Known Member

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    Bookmarked! Thanks for the tips, OP!
     
    deckeda, Dec 12, 2015
    #52
  13. Dec 12, 2015 at 7:33 PM
    #53
    chpjr

    #53
    chpjr New Member

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    It seems like most people don't check the valve clearances and do just fine. I guess when the valve covers are off it wouldn't hurt to check them.
     
    chpjr, Dec 12, 2015
    #53
  14. Dec 14, 2015 at 3:27 AM
    #54
    pofarm

    #54
    pofarm Well-Known Member

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    The oil you use won't make much, if any difference on your valve clearances. The clearances get tighter over time due to normal wear on the valve faces and seats inside the combustion chamber. The clearances normally don't loosen up unless you have cam or shim wear, which is very uncommon.
    Years ago there was lead in fuel that acted as a buffer between the valves and seats. When the lead went away hardened seats had to be used to keep the valves from beating the crap out of them. (aging myself here. LOL)
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2015
    pofarm, Dec 14, 2015
    #54
    bowyer2002 and skidrow[QUOTED] like this.
  15. Nov 6, 2016 at 12:53 PM
    #55
    MainerDave19995VZ

    #55
    MainerDave19995VZ Well-Known Member

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    1999 Tacoma Extra Cab SR5 TRD 5 Speed 5VZFE
    2nd generation 16" wheels with 1.25" BORA spacers
    Started noticing a burnt oil smell late last winter. Looked it all over this spring and found that I have oil leaking out of the valve covers on the low side. I'm not sure if oil is leaking out of anything else. It has gotten decidedly worse this fall. So, yesterday, I got out my small inch pounds Craftsman torque wrench and set it to half the spec of 52 inch pounds. Well, a pinch less at 25 inch pounds. So as you all know you can reach 7 of the 8 lower blots on the covers with a small torque wrench. The rear-most one on the driver's side is tough to get the torque wrench on. I started on the passenger side and got around a full turn or more on each of the 4 lower bolts before clicking out at 25 inch pounds. So they were very very loose! Same on the 3 I could get to on the drivers side. I slipped in with a small ratchet to get the back bolt and gave it a light snugging. I couldnt get to any of the upper bolts so i just left them for now. If this improves my situation I'll let you know. Thanks to everyone who has posted here and elsewhere on the forum. I'm glad I didn't just go out with a wrench and torque 'em down!
     
    MainerDave19995VZ, Nov 6, 2016
    #55
  16. Dec 29, 2016 at 10:54 AM
    #56
    MainerDave19995VZ

    #56
    MainerDave19995VZ Well-Known Member

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    2nd generation 16" wheels with 1.25" BORA spacers
    Update: It's been about 7 weeks. Leaks a lot less! I'm going to tighten them to 40 inch pounds this spring and see if it gets the leaks down any further.
     
    MainerDave19995VZ, Dec 29, 2016
    #56
  17. Dec 29, 2016 at 11:41 AM
    #57
    ThunderOne

    #57
    ThunderOne Well-Known Member

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    Not sure if it's been said, but you can only access half of the valve cover bolts. The other half of the bolts require removing the air intake manifold
     
    ThunderOne, Dec 29, 2016
    #57
    TacoMan89 likes this.
  18. Jan 12, 2017 at 11:15 AM
    #58
    TacoMan89

    #58
    TacoMan89 Bigger wheels

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    Can we get a video? Much appreciated.
     
    TacoMan89, Jan 12, 2017
    #58
  19. Jan 12, 2017 at 12:07 PM
    #59
    757yotas

    #59
    757yotas Well-Known Member

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    I used FelPro gaskets and Black RTV on the Half Moon seals. The FelPro gaskets and tube seals worked great and are identical to the OEM ones other than color. I would recommend FelPro to anyone who doesnt want to waste money on OEM!
     
    757yotas, Jan 12, 2017
    #59
  20. Feb 8, 2017 at 10:32 AM
    #60
    RandyL

    #60
    RandyL Active Member

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    I'm doing a deep maintenance program on the 2000 V6 I just bought. My valve covers appear to have been leaking for some time now so I will be removing them to replace the gaskets. Seems nonsensical to me to not check the valve clearances while you're in there.

    My rig has 173,000 miles on it and I'll try to remember to report back as to what I find on clearances. The service records I received with the vehicle are incomplete, but there is no indication they've ever been checked, we'll see. Again though, I couldn't sleep if I didn't at least check them!
     
    RandyL, Feb 8, 2017
    #60
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