Hi everyone, half way through a head gasket and just got to the cam housing, i am reading some people have encountered trouble with the cam housing bolts snapping on them however it seems unlucky, maybe those people are not following the correct sequence or not cleaning the holes or something? looks like most people that do head gaskets on these are just reusing the original bolts without any issues, any tips here what to watch out for, to do or not to do? Also some are saying to apply rtv around the whole perimeter of the mating surface but the instructions in the Toyota workshop manual posted on here misses the front edge where the timing cover meets, i am going to do it that way unless someone here says otherwise. Cheers Matt
I would follow Toyota's guide for replacing the head or head gasket that should be available per engine model pretty much everywhere I would think It's just the steps that Toyota recommends for any gasket sealant RTV things like that this assumes that a cylinder head is coming back from the machine shop or in house has been cleaned up properly and that's another whole thing on its own. So these guides assume things that maybe someone else might not someone that doesn't work on things in other words so if you're not having your head cleaned up shaved checked for flatness cracks any of that then you're I guess going to be doing this manually hole by hole as you go. Because that's how things break when they get bound up in a hole that's full of crap because processes weren't followed or what have you.
If you haven't found it already, last link in my signature is the full engine section from Repair Manual. (on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures)
Thanks Tim ...& Mendel, nice to see you are still here slaving away at the keyboard helping others I need to do the timing cover next, seems a bit finicky! gasket masters fit the tensioner on the timing cover before they fit the cover to the engine, this seems overall easier but some extra dance moves required
The sealant Gasket Masters use seems a good alternative to the Toyota product, much more leisurely cure time, which helps with timing chain cover install. Permatex Ultra Black IIRC, a North American product. Also IIRC, you should wait 24 hours before oil refill and running engine. Something else a YouTube genius did: printed out the repair manual page that shows all the cover bolts and their torque values (looks to be 11”x17”), taped it to cardboard, pushed and awl through at each bolt location, then pushed the appropriate bolt through as well. the sealant application pic is something else worth printing out. Gasket Masters sensibly applies the sealant to the loose cover, doing a series of dabs and then smearing it to a continuous bead with a finger. Then applies the sealant directly to the in-situ engine split-lines. normal crankshaft rotation is clockwise, but to get chain tensioner to release after install you need to rotate counterclockwise a few degrees, presumably till you hear it release. all of the above “armchair mechanic” thoughts.
Thanks Mendel, I have JB Weld RTV black gasket maker which is effectively the same as permatex, application set & cure times are the same anyway, will get everything cleaned up today but it's supposed to rain around mid day and I'm working outside so might not get it actually sealed for another day or two. Will watch a lot of YouTube videos and do a heap of reading while it's raining to get myself up to date with the process Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
