I am preparing for a valve cover job as I seem to gather it is hard to screw up. I have the gasket, plugs, and grommets of which the current ones are somehow causing a leak. There could be a breach in the gasket, although from what I can discern, the front plug is still pliable. However, the one uncertainty I still have at this point is whether or not to silicone around the plugs or if they are sometimes installed dry.

 

By plugs I'll assume you mean the 1/2 moon seals.
The FSM does recommend a small amount of fipg/sealant be placed on the curved section of the plug. Make sure the area on the head is free of any oil residue before using sealant.
The torque spec on the valve cover nuts is pretty light, about 48 inch/pounds iirc. Don't overtighten.

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20120813...68cylinder.pdf page EG2-80
As I read the FSM, the sealant goes just at the edge of the 1/2 moons, where the valve cover gasket has to make a sharp rt angle turn. 48 inch-lbs is correct. Your 1/2" drive torque wrench won't go that low. Yes, it's worth dropping $19 for a 1/4" drive torque wrench. If you over tighten the bolt you'll just pull the threads out of the aluminum head.

Jimkola is not kidding about removing all oil/dirt residue where you're putting the sealant. I've had to redo this job at least once because the rtv wouldn't stick.

 

you have the 22re, right? toyota has improved their fsm over the years, for instance in their 1987 fsm they did a much better job of clarifying how and where to put sealant on the valve cover gasket, vs. the half-baked job they did on the 1985 fsm... this 1987 fsm shot is not the best pic, but i think we can see enough to tell.

i have not had good luck with aftermarket valve cover gasket sets, consider replacing all of the rubber gaskets including the half-moons with factory toyota.

as an aside, when crankcase pressure is excessive it can blow oil out of places you'd least expect it.

 

Seems fancy owning a FSM, are they fairly expensive if even available?

Fel-pro is the replacement valve cover gasket I've had on hand, maybe I should do that today -- hopefully it is comparable to the OEM seals ..

 

i bought a beater fsm, i think that it was $75? plan on maybe carrying it on long trips, even tho it's a year later than what i own.

 

Are the FSM manuals so involved that it takes as long to sift through and organize all the information as it does to perform the actual work? In this case, I might prefer to do some things half-blind or continue to post specific inquiries online ..

Would a 92 pickup FSM be sufficiently applicable to a 94 base 2.4L?

 

Would i pay $75-$100 for the wrong FSM?. No
If I saw one at a garage sale for $5 that was a year or two off I'd probably buy if in decent condition.
Would I tie up shelf space for a free copy of a Chilton or Haynes manual? No

Yes, the factory manual takes some learning where to find some info, like torque specs. But while looking, you discover other stuff you didn't even know about.
What's priceless to score is the factory EWD for your vehicle. It's WAY more than just diagrams.

 

i don't know enough about the later models to say.

in general, electrical tends to make the biggest differences, but it helps to know where the big changes are in specific years before purchasing... for instance '88 was a strange year with changes, i wouldn't want an '88 manual for my '86.

another factor in looking for a manual would be ecu capability, in my case '86-'87 tend to use the same ecu, but it changed in '88... looks like '92 is different from '94?

 

The biggest changes from year to year within a model's generation was typically emissions. Toyota builds into each newly released engine the ability to improve emissions periodically to meet federal requirements on annual basis. Often it was just the parameters getting tighter (thus, the different ECU's).

But sometimes there would be BIG changes in a vehicle from the prior year, enough to warrant a new manual. So I always recommend getting the right year FSM so you never have to second guess.

 

the good news about printed fsm is that since they've been re-printed the prices have come down... ebay currently has a 50% off coupon, i just found the '86 electrical diagrams manual for $32 shipped, yeah i bought that one

i don't care about the '86-specific main manual, because i'm running the superior '89-up intake, t100 booster, fj80 master/rotors, w56c trans('89-'91), etc.; it all passes california smog, and with the same ecu as '87, what's left isn't a lot different from '87.

even tho i have a solid axle swap i wouldn't want the '85 fsm, because as indicated with the valve cover gasket the '85 manual isn't as detailed, in fact it's poorly done in places.

if i was new to toyota i wouldn't know what i had, so getting the year-specific manual would be the way to go, especially with '88 and up, where things get complicated... the carbed trucks can also be difficult, with smog pumps and such.

 

I just did the upper intake manifold swap and got rid of that older IACV. A lot cleaner and more stable idle.
$32 for the EWD is a score. nice.

 

The 91 manual could probably be a decent reference for my 94; I would just take it with a bit of salt, crosschecking other material to ensure a match. Seems the FSM may not have all the electrical diagrams?

To get back to the half moon seals for the valve cover, I am sourcing the proper RTV silicone sealant and looking among these. My guess is that any will work here, but would it be more professional using clear or black here? Also what is the difference between ultra and regular black?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/15615268559...mis&media=COPY

here’s some service manuals for a 1994. I buy the factory service manual for all my cars. They are invaluable if you are getting into deep repairs. If you are just changing your oil, you can probably get by without it. But if you are going to keep the truck it’s a good investment. You’ve spent $150 on dumber things haven’t you?

 

Use the Ultra. and make sure surfaces are clean and oil free. I use the Ultra for just about everything

 

Thank you so much for the instruction.