bone collector

ok so i cant ignore my leaking valve seat much longer. im loosing oil more rapidly now and im 99% percent its number 6 exh valve seat. bluish smoke upon start up and oil loss are the primary symptoms. so im starting this thread to double check myself on what i need to do while im in there getting it done. truck has 118k miles on it

so here it goes:
full gasket kit
knock sensor/wire
timing belt and pulleys
exhaust crossover elimination
oil pump?
water pump?

im also considering oversize valves while im there anybody have dealt with these people or used these valves??
http://www.ebay.com/itm/88-95-Toyota...sories&vxp=mtr

thanks for lookin. any tips or info are appreciated

scope103

I assume you mean valve "seal" not "seat."

You don't need a new knock sensor, but you do need a new wire. You don't have to replace the timing belt pulleys if they're okay, but since so many go bad at that age it wouldn't hurt. But you could save some money by feeling them first. You should replace the water pump; it's probably okay, but you'll feel bad if it goes south soon after you button it up.

Your "full gasket kit" won't include the crush washers for the fuel lines. Don't reuse the old ones, no matter what anyone tells you. They're a dealer item, but they're cheap.

Most "full" gasket kits don't include the injector gasket/seal sets; you'll want those. (Also not expensive.)

Get a new PCV valve AND the grommet for it (your current one is rock-hard).

I assume you plan to drop the heads off at a machine shop and have them do the precision work.

Alas, this is the kind of job that's difficult to completely plan for. You might find the pintle caps on the injectors are fried. They can be replaced, but you might want to just go deluxe and send them out for servicing. You might find that you break the TVV at the back of the head despite your care. Just be prepared for the unexpected, and try to be intelligent about what you replace and what you just carefully tie up with zip ties.

But tell me: why do want to mess with the exhaust crossover?

BirdDogg

Timing belt tensioner is a recommended replacement.

And, It may go without saying, but don't forget its a good time to do some of the simple things:

thermostat
Plugs
Wires
Cap/rotor
Belts

BirdDogg

Why do you guys say the knock sensor wire needs to be replaced?

iselloil

The knock sensor wire is a cheap part,and one that will go bad.The engine will already pulled down this far.Also change the water hoses on the back of the engine.You'll never do it on the side of the road on a 95 degree day.

bone collector

scope, you are correct i meant seal not seat. thank you for the heads up about the crush washers and injectors. so where would you send them to be serviced?? and yes i do plan to send them off to a machine shop to have them check, deck and set up the heads for me. any ideas or opinions on the oversize valves??
i want to the exhaust crossover elimination because from what i can tell the problem is at #6, right where the passenger dumps into the driver side. since i plan on keeping this truck a long long time im thinking of it as preventative maintenance.

thanks iselloil i didn't even know there was water hoses back there!! i will definitely do that.

birdogg: thermostat and plugs are on the list... cap and rotor are fresh.

thanks for all the replies can anyone think of other stuff to do?? port the intake maybe?? just wondering

scope103

If you use oversized valves, don't you have to replace the valve seats (not seals) as well? That sounds like a very big job.

I did NOT service my injectors. But some on this list have reported good results with http://www.witchhunter.com/ .

You might want to keep in mind that you have an 18yr old truck. No matter how much money you put into it (new exhaust, port-and-polish, replace everything made of rubber, remachine every bearing surface), it's still an 18yr old truck. You should replace what you need to (the head gasket, the crush washers), the cheap stuff that is hard to get to (the knock sensor wire, the PCV grommet), and the cheap stuff that avoids a nasty failure (the hoses on the water bypass). There's no limit to the "nice-to-haves" (your injector connectors will probably crack; but they can be held on with zip-ties, and are difficult to replace well). Stuff like a new exhaust or polishing the intake: it's your ride, you can spend money on whatever you want.

bone collector

Unfortunately the budget will dictate how many of the want-to -haves I get vs the must haves. I have a feeling the oversized valves and the port n polish will definitely be off the list. The timing belt kit gasket kits and machine work will eat up all my $$$$$$. And the little things will add up too. Thanks again for some more insight

Lex.Luther

I have overhauled both of mine and had them apart to fix various leaks, etc. too many times to count. I have never replaced any of the fuel line washers or the injector grommets and have not seen any problems whatsoever. I check them and they look fine; so back on they go. Sorry to differ with other posts, but empirical data tells me this is not something you need to worry about, particularly those brass washers on the fuel line - what's to wear out there?

I agree 100% about the knock sensor 'pig tail.' You want to replace that for sure as those wires will be baked to a crisp. The knock sensors don't tend to wear out - I agree with that as well.

I highly recommend getting some type of wiring wrap, a couple or rolls of the best electrical tape you can buy, and bunch of different size wire ties and using all of this to bundle/wrap the heck out of your wiring harness and various leads, particularly those going to your injectors. The wiring harness takes a beating on these motors as it seems maybe not to have been adequately heat-protected from the factory. Everything gets brittle as crap over time and you cannot buy a replacement (junk yard only.) So, if you plan on keeping this motor, it is a great chance to spend some extra time and a couple of bucks to prevent what will otherwise be an inevitable deterioration.

Other must haves for this job have probably already been covered. Make sure you buy Genuine Toyota everything, particularly the head gaskets. It's expensive as the devil (unless you know someone,) but worth the extra cost long term.

Did anyone mention adjusting the valves? That is a must do. If you don't have a shop manual for the 3VZE - you should borrow/steal/buy one. Those are worth their weight in gold and tell you how to do things like adjust the valves. You will use a feeler gauge to measure the gap at each lobe and then see if it is within tolerance. It won't be on some of them. The bad news is you have to go buy the replacement shims to get the right tolerance. Now, this is a time where it makes sense to 'play nice' with the boys at the dealership...cause they have a whole box of shims of every gauge that they have removed from customer engines during adjustments. You might even talk them into trading out your old ones for the ones you need. They don't wear out. Otherwise, you will need to have them order new ones and, like all Toyota stuff, they are surprisingly pricey. But DO NOT think for a moment adjusting the valves is not important. Not only will it calm down that 'valve-y sound' we all know and hate on these engines...much more importantly, it will affect how the motor runs. I missed one valve adjustment by just a touch on my last overhaul and the engine ran as if that cylinder was not firing at all. I finally took it to the dealership and one of the master mechanics first congratulated me on a beautiful overhaul and then told me I had just missed a valve adjustment by a smidgen. It purred like a kitten after he popped in a new shim to give the right clearance.

Finally...it is a great time to replace vacuum lines. The old ones get brittle and look like crap. Buy several feet of the various sizes and I also use the two sizes of radiator hose (don't remember them off-hand - 9/16 and 3/4 maybe) to replace some of the larger lines. You can use a heat gun to custom curve them a bit where/if required. Ditto for the fuel hoses. It's cheap, cleans up the look of the motor and is just solid PM practice. As far as clamps for the bigger hoses and fuel lines go...to be honest those pain-in-the-butt factory clamps tend to last forever and work just fine in my experience. But...I have replaced a bunch of them too...it's a matter of personal preference and budget.

One other thing I did on the '88 when I had it all apart like you will have yours was to remove the power steering lines that go to the steering box and take them to a parts store that rebuilds custom high pressure lines. They will preserve the hard line portions and press them into new high pressure hosing. Those hoses will eventually start to leak and even before that happens will weep in foreign material into your PS fluid. That is probably out of your budget but something to think about for others doing this job. You probably have a parts store that builds these hoses nearby you but just don't know about it. I think the one I use is a NAPA.

Most importantly, have fun! No... seriously...take your time and do it right and you will impress yourself and those around you when that baby fires up on the second or third crank and purrs like a kitten. Oh, one other thing, make sure you take tons of digital pictures as you tear it down - print a few key ones out for reference and putting it back together -- particularly 'vacuum line city' -- will go so much smoother.

Roofmaster

Label everything with masking tape especially vacuum city,and write directly on the tape that youre labeling and at the least take a picture before dissasembly and after.Video is better,but pics are fine.Tag and bag every part that comes off the truck and lay it down in the order it was removed.And have fun dude,seriously I just did a head gasket replacement and every other gasket O rings,water pump,oil pump,timing belt,etcetera etcetera.Ive done half a dozen head gaskets on other vehicles from 59 ford dump truck to 86 Toyota 22re,but nothing compared to this.The closer I got to getting everything back together the more anxious I got that I did something wrong,forgot something,put a vacuum line in the wrong place,whatever.But the combination of pics,video,bagged and tagged items that came off and placed in sequence,and most important,Yotatech at youre fingertips,it was a complete success.Aside from the dead battery from leaving it on the ground for the entire time I did this project solo,the truck started(after recharging the battery)on the first crank,smoked a lot from the engine compartment for 3 minutes,stopped,now its driving sweet.Already put 150 miles on it and I just turned the key yesterday.These guys on Yotatech are %@&*ing invaluable.You'll be fine bro,and successful.Good luck.Oh yeah have funr with those exhaust nuts,lots and lots of heat and PB.

Roofmaster

Completely differant animal than the half dozen other head gasket jobs.But it all boils down to knowing how to put back together what you just tore down.Because the 3.0 has so much stuff to take off just to get to the heads it seems overwhelming but its not.

bone collector

thanks guys for the great info. I have done several other head gasket jobs so i know my way around most engines, ive just never had my 3.0 down that far and was asking about some things to do while im there. I like the ziptie idea better then my usual masking tape idea. i was going to send the heads off to a shop to be decked/checked and adjusted.

one other thing. i was gonna go with felpro gaskets from rockauto. i have used fel-pro in the past with good results. any argumets for or against that idea??

BirdDogg

HEAD STUDZ!

I hear that you should never reuse old head studs....

Some people say to use better than OEM....DOA has a set http://doaracingengines.com/
but they are pretty expensive...

Does anyone know where to get some good quality but a better price? Ive actually been looking for some myself.

Asuarez737

i just contacted ARP to see if they offer head studs, and as soon as i know i will let you guys know. I like ARP and for their price, its actually really worth it since theyre really good products. And for the head gasket i would use an MLS head gasket. i dont know if felpro makes mls gaskets but i sure use felpro on my tranny and it works great