Spark Plug Gaskets - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

rty · 10-25-2009, 04:38 PM

I'm changing the spark plug gaskets on my 1MZ-FE and they are rock hard and won't come out. When I was taking them out they ripped in two and the outermost piece of the gasket is still sitting in the valve cover and won't come out. Anybody have any tips for getting these little fuckers out without destroying my valve cover?

bcp477 · 10-25-2009, 04:46 PM

Sorry, there are no "tips". You'll just have to CAREFULLY scrape away the remaining material, that's all. Hopefully, you are doing this with the valve covers REMOVED. If not, remove them before going any further. A "tip" for the future - when installing the new ones, spread a thin coat of gasket compound on the new ones before insertion - they'll come out easier, next time.

rty · 10-25-2009, 06:27 PM

Okay. I think I scraped all the old shit off. How do you install the new spark plug gaskets? They are way too big.

rty · 10-25-2009, 06:33 PM

I think I figured it out. The gaskets are reinforced by steel on the edges and you have to get that out.

rty · 10-25-2009, 09:59 PM

I finally put everything back together and hopefully there won't be any problems.

If you are replacing your valve cover gaskets my advice is:

Don't bother replacing the spark plug gaskets unless they are in fact leaking. It is a pain in the ass to them them out and put new ones on. I wish I knew that before I started.

bcp477 · 10-26-2009, 04:09 AM

I'm glad you were successful, in the end. Oddly enough, I just replaced the valve cover gasket (and spark plug tube gaskets) on my 5SFE (4-cyl) yesterday (10/25)...... and had no problems getting the old ones out...and the new ones in. Same design.....and I think that they are in fact the same part....(the spark plug tube gaskets, I mean). Yours must have REALLY been stuck ! They are "oversized" so that they will fit tighly in the holes (in the valve cover)....and not leak. As I said, if you spread a thin coating of gasket compound on the new seals, they will pop loose without tearing, next time.

Gibson99 · 10-26-2009, 11:52 AM

uhh, no, if i'm remembering right, the 5sfe plug tube seals are not the same design as the 1mzfe. the 5s's are held on with the big 30mm nut at the top of each tube, so you can do them with the valve cover still on the car (though there's nothing else holding the VC on to the engine once you remove those 4 big nuts).

on the 1mzfe there's no possible way to remove them with it still on the car, as they are essentially pressed in from below, as rty discovered. adding rtv won't really help getting the new ones in, but axle grease might. and no, there's no easy way to get the old ones out - you gotta pry them out and destroy them in the process. i've heard of people freezing the new ones prior to install to try and shrink them a little so they'll go back in easier. i'll have to try that next time (prolly another 100k since i just did mine this summer).

***BMR*** · 10-26-2009, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rty

If you are replacing your valve cover gaskets my advice is:

Don't bother replacing the spark plug gaskets unless they are in fact leaking. It is a pain in the ass to them them out and put new ones on. I wish I knew that before I started.

Man, I dunno. It would REALLY suck to do all that work on the V6's and then have them leak a short time later. When I did mine the old seals were brittle as hell; they crumbled at the least bit of persuasion. It isn't super hard to replace 'em once you figure out the trick; that there's a metal hoop embedded in the gasket that must be bent/destroyed to get it out.