Help-Taking intake manifold off 3VZ-FE

[amerikim]

Hi all,

I am tired of smelling burnt oil from the leaky cam cover dripping onto the rear exhaust manifold. So I am planning on replacing just the gaskets on both heads. While the front head looks easy, the rear looks tough. It looks like the Intake manifold must come off.

This is specific to this V6 and these are my three general questions;

1) What gaskets do I need to buy besides the obvious 2 camcover gaskets and gasket for the intake manifold?

2) Is it better to stay with Toyota gaskets or suggestion to shop aftermarket/OEM?

3) Difficulty factor, am I going to hurt myself again? Special tool hints or anything appreciated.

BTW, Toysrme. That is one sickly clean engine you have I saw posted somewhere in on this site. That is also what is inspiring me to attack my messy six pot.

Thanks in advance.

[mcelligott]

Go to autozone and order the valve cover gaskets -- a fel-pro set will come with the 2 gasjtes and 6 spark plug resoirvoir gaskets. If you are not taking your lower intake manifold off there's not much of a need to buy an IM gasket. The rear gasket cover can be a real pain in the ass so take your time and make sure you have removed all the bolts holding it down before tugging it for 10 minutes then realizing one is still on (no i dont know this from personal experience ). Only out of the ordianry tool you need is a larger alan wrench to get 2 of the intake manifold bolts off. when you have all of the IM bolts off youll need to tilt it backwards to gain access to the 2 lower EGR bolts on the manifold. Lot of people cant figure out why the manifold wont come off and generally those 2 are the culprits.

[amerikim]

Sweet, thanks for the pointers mcelligott..
I got lots of allen key wrenches I bought for my bike so I should be good to go.
I hope it's not going to leak coolant and crap all over the place.

[mcelligott]

Oh I drained my oil when I did mine, btw.

[Xevuhtess77]

drain your coolant too, i took off my intake manifold without draining it, and it spilled a little into the cylinder.

[Toysrme]

Make sure you have a wrench that you can unbolt the EGR pipe with. I believe it was something large like 1-1/16" SAE.

6-14mm nuts hold the manifold on. A deep well socket has a much easier time getting them on and off without bottoming out.



IMHO it's much easier if you just take the rear head completely off. That takes the manifold off. This could be the perfect time to change every gasket above the block... Have, or do head porting. Change the head gaskets ect.

You will have to unbolt 2-14mm nuts from under the car where the manifold meets it's downpipe.

Like MCE said about the EGR bolts on the upper intake air chamber, you gotta get the 2 bolts on the EGR pipe. Don't forget the support you pull the motor with also!!!

[amerikim]

Okay, I was planning to do an oil change at the same time cause I have the head open, but guess a second coolant change this year will give me practice. Any recommendations on coating surfaces with any magic formula or just bare laydown of gaskets.

I can't pull the whole rear cylinder off as that would be really jumping off the deep end. I have not the tools or experience to be screwing around with cams, valves, etc.
Plus I will be doing this outside in 40 degree weather.

I really appreciate the pointers as once I have started, I am going to be committed and won't have the ability to back out or ask questions. What I will be using I will have to carry with me as I am going to be doing it at the parking lot where I work.
My freak landlord won't let anyone wash or work on their vehicles. She is a cantankerous old lady who glares at everyone. I swear you can scare kids good with her around. .Imagine the wicked witch of the East, this is her even more evil twin.

[Xevuhtess77]

i used some gasket/copper spray on my gaskets. not sure if its absolutely necessary though

[mcelligott]

Make sure you buy some blue rtv sealant as well

[JetspeedCamry]

I need to do my front rocker cover as well. My number 6 cylinder spark resovoir gasket it leaking and i always get oil down there...stuffs up the acceleration and power big time! Also my cam seal?? weeps a tad. Just a bit of oil residue after a couple of drives. Are these hard to replace? There both at the front.

Mine has RTV sealant on at the moment. Will i need to replace it if i break the seal and remove the rocker cover? How do you apply it?

(BTW. I tried changing my rear rocker gasket. Be patient because it's tricky to manipulate it out. Also, make sure you tension the bolts correctly. Because of the awkward position, I didnt get one of the bolts down tight enough and consiquently had oil leaks!)

[mcelligott]

Originally Posted by JetspeedCamry

I need to do my front rocker cover as well. My number 6 cylinder spark resovoir gasket it leaking and i always get oil down there...stuffs up the acceleration and power big time! Also my cam seal?? weeps a tad. Just a bit of oil residue after a couple of drives. Are these hard to replace? There both at the front.

Mine has RTV sealant on at the moment. Will i need to replace it if i break the seal and remove the rocker cover? How do you apply it?

(BTW. I tried changing my rear rocker gasket. Be patient because it's tricky to manipulate it out. Also, make sure you tension the bolts correctly. Because of the awkward position, I didnt get one of the bolts down tight enough and consiquently had oil leaks!)

When you have the cover off you will see spots with little marks that are square (usually where the metal take a turn or rises) These are the spots that you put a dab of rtv sealant on before putting the cover back.

you shouldnt have much trouble at all with the front bank, it's quite easy. the rear bank is what gives everyone issues.

[es250nut]

Interesting.... Just did my valve cover gaskets yesterday... Took me 12hrs. Of course a big part of that was the time it took me to clean off the old gasket material from the intake manifold surfaces...

I also cleaned out the crap that had built up in the intake. Managed to break those little plastic vacuum line nipples on the BVSVs (those little tempature sensing vacuum vaves connected to the EGR) which really sucked. Hope the ones off of a 3sfe work ok.

At any rate the gasket kit I got came with the silicone valve cover gaskets (2) spark plug well seals (6) valve cover bolt grommets (12) and an intake manifold gasket.

Got to steam clean the engine yet to see if my gasket job is any good...

[amerikim]

Well, to fess up, I was thinking of painting the heads if I got the chance.
Maybe gunkote or one of those cool paints, instead of bright colors.
Same with the exhaust headers. Going to steamclean before I start too.

[Toysrme]

$4 cans of high-temp spray paint @ Autozone Just don't use the clear for anything.

Still gotta clean very well before you paint.


Gonna look kinda silly if you dont't ake the heads off and paint them too tho IMHO.

[Xevuhtess77]

sorry- what is this rtv sealant stuff and waht is its purpose