How in the world do you remove the bottom bolt on the right side (closest to firewall) of the Y pipe on an sc300? I'm trying to replace my plugs and valve covers but I cant remove that last bolt?

 

I used a ratchet wrench. Then wiggled the rest out with the tip of my fingers. That one is definitely a pain to get to.

 

If you already have your throttle body off, use a 12mm socket w/6-8" extension. It was actually really easy to get to - you'll have a lot more fun with the EGR being bolted into the side of the Y-pipe.

Once you get it all off, feel free to get creative with zip-ties to clean up any of the wiring or vacuum mess in that rats nest.

 

Problem is I cant get any tool to fit down there, I tried a ratchet with exention and it does not line up...............

 

I have tried everything I can think of at this point, but I cant get at that darn bolt because of the metal vaccum lines. Not mention I found some animals nest under the back cover of the sparkplugs .

Is there anyway at all of changing the valve covers and plugs without removing the y pipe?

 

For the Y pipe, buy the swivel ratchet attachment from craftsman. 3/8" or 1/4". Use that in conjunction with a 6" extension and you can get it no problem. Now, the EGR pipe. It is attached to the Y pipe like every other Toyota major engine pipe. Seems like it's designed to stay on even without any bolts. Great engineering, but a PITA when it comes to removing. I actually removed the studs from the Y pipe after the nuts. It's easy to strip the Torx male end of the EGR pipe studs, so make sure you have a good small socket. I used a 5/32 or something like that. Get the studs out and it just falls in your hand. Otherwise you have to do some bending and manipulating with the Y pipe that seems uncomfortable and didn't work for me. Lastly, for the valve seals. I suppose if you had to, you could remove the valve cover bolts and only lift the valve cover enough to pry the seal out and try to blindly feed the new one in without ever completely removing the cover. Never heard of anyone doing that and I don't recommend it. Enjoy.

 

Sorry, I mis-spoke a little above. Take the studs out of the EGR pipe entry point into the Y pipe.

 

Thank you for all your help everyone, I'm giving my knuckles a rest right now, but I will give it a shot tomorrow morning.

The biggest issue I'm having with this bolt is the fact that when I use an extension going under the Y-pipe from the passengers side the metal vacuum lines cause the socket to go millimeters below the nut and the ratchet wont go on. When I try it with a wrench the damn vacuum distro gets in my way and I cant move the metal pipping.

Now this might sound stupid, but where is the EGR pipe?

 

That was the BIGGEST pia nut I have ever had to remove, but I finally won after countless tries and the help of the damage socket. The EGR was easy thanks to slappy96 for informing me the studs are removable, thank you for the help.

Now I have to clean the crap out of all parts, they are nasty...............pics in a few.