Aron9000

Been debating on taking my SC to my trusted mechanic or trying this repair myself. Valve cover is starting to leak oil pretty bad, plus I need to change the spark plugs, wires, dist rotor, dist cap, etc anyways, car has 96k miles on it. Not sure when the last time the spark plugs were changed. I know I can do this repair myself, it might take me a good darn while, but its pretty easy as far as access, you just have to take a lot of crap off to get to the spark plugs and valve cover.

Anyways, in terms of labor, if I provide the parts, how much should my mechanic charge me for this job????

Golden95SC

iTrader: (21)

It's impossible to say, every one is different and will have different pricing. call shops around and get different quotes.even ask a local dealer . Sometimes they are reasonable

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

For what it is worth it is not terribly hard to do this yourself. It's just a bit time consuming and requires following the TSRM. Having a garage to work in helps so as not to be rushed. Since you have to get in there anyway for your plugs, plug wires, cap and rotor it is a good thing to take care of. You might consider replacing a few of the plenum gaskets along the way. Also cleaning as much of the EGR tract as possible while you are in there.

It is probably a bit pricey to have done at any shop (independent trusted mechanic will be MUCH cheaper than a Lexus or Toyota dealer but still it's a chunk of labor hours) but doing it yourself is something almost anyone with patience, some workspace and attention to detail can accomplish. Following the TSRM instructions and not rushing is key if you haven't done it before.

To just do the spark plugs you only need to take off the throttle body (be sure to wait until the engine has cooled down for 12-24 hours first for the coolant to depressurize! Also put disposable shop towels and rags under the IACV coolant hose when disconnecting it!!) and use a long socket extension with a small angle adapter for ease with your torque wrench.

To get the valve covers off you will need to remove the EGR piping first and then the "Y" shaped intake plenum. The EGR piping should be removed in a particular way, referenced here (Page 15, Post #222 of the thread below). The example is of how a poor junior mechanic screwed up my Y-manifold forcing the EGR valve off the wrong way but within that post I detail the procedure to correctly remove the lower EGR pipe from the cylinder head and then remove the EGR valve from the "Y" intake plenum:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...ml#post9467282

THEN the valve covers can be removed and serviced. There are several small steps first that mostly center on removing parts on the throttle body before getting to the rest but these are covered in the TSRM.

If you cannot find all the instructions you need in the TSRM I can post the pertinent parts of it. Everything should be referenced here, FYI:

http://www.97supraturbo.com/Tech.html

....

Replacing valve cover gaskets on a 2JZ-GE yourself is a tedious thing to do *correctly* but there is no reason you can't do it if you are already capable of changing the spark plugs on an SC300. It is also perfectly understandable if you do not wish to get into this work yourself and would rather have a shop do it. I would recommend you use an independent shop with which you already have good trust established so long as they have serviced SC300's and GS300's before. A Toyota or Lexus dealer are also options of course, Lexus dealers being the most expensive option of all.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

Does anyone happen to know the correct bolt tightening sequence for the valve covers? I got most everything torn down and cleaned up yesterday, and will do the new gaskets and reassembly today, time permitting.

I've seen lots of references to "follow the correct tightening sequence," but no one specifying what that sequence is... No luck here, Supra Forums, Google (but lots of images of the sequence for other cars), or even the factory service manual. The closest I found was for another Toyota engine that basically alternated from side to side, working from the inside out.

Also, when I ordered my new gaskets, I didn't realize there are OEM kits that come with and without the grommets. :/ So, I'll be hoping to find something that matches at the hardware store, or using the washer method that some people have recommended as a solution to the possible reason these valve covers are so leaky: the grommets and low torque specs allow the bolts to loosen over time.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

never heard about a correct sequence for valve covers cause you don't really tighten them much but you can't go wrong with side to side from the middle out.
grommets... what grommets you don't need grommets just snug up the bolts but don't hulk them or you snap the edges of the valvecover.
I use my small 1/4 drive ratchet for reassembling these type of low torque items so its that much harder to over-torque. with a 3/8 drive you can go over pretty fast.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

That makes it easy. I've seen other people swear the grommets are necessary to avoid leaks. If the only issue is getting enough tension on the cover to compress the gasket but not so much as to crack the plastic, it's pretty easy to dial that sort of thing in by feel.

1/4" ratchet sounds like a good plan. If I'm not using a torque wrench, I usually just hold real close to the head of the ratchet for light duty to avoid overdoing it.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

I wasn't even aware there were grommets till you mentioned it here.. they are just to keep newbs from over tightening the bolts, but in my experience they actually make it harder to feel when its snug.. and they loosen up after a while. thanks but no thanks grommets =)

Halon

iTrader: (6)

Are you referring to the 'grommets' that go on the valve cover bolts?

I was looking for some of those for my car awhile back because I noticed my car didn't have any for some reason (92 SC300). I then took a look at my GE VVTi motor I have sitting here that looks like it was never opened up,which also didn't have those bolt grommets.

Based on that, I've been under the impression that those grommets are for GTE applications, not GE.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

Now that I've had the valve cover off (there were no grommets to remove), it's hard to imagine the grommets serving much purpose. It looks like they would just fill the half hole where the plastic doesn't extend down on the outer edge around the bolts.

The old gaskets were quite crusty, so good call in the other thread about that being the source of the leak. The only issue I ran into is the center metal tray that the spark plug boots clip to. It has a plastic (or super hardened/brittle rubber?) liner along the bottom lips to sit flush on the valve covers. That plastic was all cracked and flaking away, with many of the tabs that poke through the tiny holes above missing.

Is that plastic liner replaceable or do you have to replace the whole tray? I'm thinking I may use some RTV for the time being to keep gunk from getting in around the edges, although I may regret that later when it's tough to remove... I still need to get more of the oil out from the spark plug area before deciding on that. It's not a huge amount of oil, but some was definitely getting in there.

Yeah, there are 16 of them, which sounds about right for the number of bolts.

Hmm, interesting. Definitely fits with me not seeing any grommets on mine, although I have no idea if it was the original gaskets at 243k. They're listed as a GE part according to the valve gasket inclusion. Does the GTE use the same gaskets?

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

I don't remember the plastic part but doesn't sound important, that area isn't sealed that well anyways and doesn't need to be.. it will just be a pain to remove later.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

That's the dilemma. Make it tough to remove later by sealing it, or don't seal it and have to remove it more often? (I've bypassed the TB coolant lines and removed the EGR, so getting in there will be 100x easier in the future.) Without that plastic lip, the overall metal tray doesn't sit flat because the bolt holes are double thickness. Not the most practical design... If metal is good enough for the bolt holes, it should be good enough everywhere. Make the stupid thing flat throughout.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

its doesn't really need to seal that area though, its just there for the plug wire things to clip into.
once you do the valve cover gaskets it wont leak for a long time.. and same with the TB coolant lines.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

It's not needed to help seal the spark plug boots? I was thinking oil and grime would get down into the wells over time, but maybe that's not overly problematic as long as you clean them out (tedious) before removing the plugs?

I left paper towels in the wells overnight, wrapped around the plugs, and that got most of the oil out. A P.O. put in NGK Iridiums previously, same as what I'm putting in, so at least they did something right. Not sure what no-names they used for the wires, though.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

you don't even need the metal thing it just holds the wires in firm... if you have a valve cover leak it will eventually get into the valley, the key is to just do the gaskets every timing belt change.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

Gotcha.

Torquing the valve cover bolts down to 8 ft-lbs, one of them snapped before even reaching that point. What did Toyota make these bolts out of, paper mache? They're weaker than the plastic cover! And there was no visible wear beforehand -- I cleaned the grime off all of them after removal.

I think I'll just go moderately tight on the rest of them to be safe. Now to get the bolt extractor set out...