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Valve Train Photo's

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by edthefox5, Mar 3, 2019.

  1. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    My bought new 07 ran M1 10-30 for about 70,000 miles then moved over to Redline 10-30 for about 65,000 miles with a 5K OCI. Redline oil is very high performance oil. Car has 135,000 miles on it.

    I replaced the plugs at 120K and saw it had motor oil in one spark plug well so went back in later and replaced the valve cover gasket so had the valve cover gasket off thought I would take some pics showing oil performance. Took out the plastic water dam under the windshield and the bottom plate to gain access to the valve cover so replaced all the gaskets on those also.

    I checked the 2 rubber hoses from the valve cover to the throttle body that I had replaced with stock tubing last year and found one had cracked again where it attaches to the throttle body. I had bought new oem hoses so replaced those.Those hoses crack often.
     

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    #1 edthefox5, Mar 3, 2019
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  2. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Thanks for sharing these pics.
    Fun to see.
     
    #2 ericbecky, Mar 3, 2019
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  3. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Any pics of those cracked hoses?

    Are those the same hoses that you use to bypass the throttle body?
     
    #3 SFO, Mar 3, 2019
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  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Valve train looks great.

    Are the PCV hoses the ones that you just replaced? So you have replaced those hoses twice, once with generic hoses and the second time with original equipment?
     
    #4 Patrick Wong, Mar 3, 2019
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  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Yes exactly Pat.
     
    #5 edthefox5, Mar 3, 2019
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    No no these are the 2 pcv hoses that go from the valve cover (one is the pcv valve) to the throttle body. On the throttle body there is one front hose connection and one back side from the valve cover. The tb coolant hoses are much lower. For the tb coolant bypass I just bought a 3/8 PEX barrel pulled the coolant hoses off and using that barrel connected the 2 coolant hoses. Bypassed the TB.
    Never an issue in winter. But last winter I think I wore a coat for 3 days total so....

    Yes I saved the hoses I will post a pic.
     
    #6 edthefox5, Mar 3, 2019
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  7. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    Nice pics! Can you share torque specs and tightening order for replacing the valve cover gasket?

    Pulled my plugs today and found #1 dripping with oil, #2 & #3 some oil, but not as bad. #4 dry. As much as I’d like to pretend it’s from the fill tube, at 208+k miles, that would be foolish.
     
    #7 tommymommy, Mar 10, 2019
  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    valve cover gasket failure or seepage is pretty common. I didn’t use a torque wrench I just tightened them down let them sit for a while and then tightened some more.

    But we’re the plugs dripping with oil because the gasket leaked or because the engine is blown? Did you look in the Spark plug wells before pulling the plug? It’s critical to look in the well and clean out the debris before pulling the plug if not lots of crap will fall thru the plug hole into the cylinder when you take the plug out.
    Compressed air and choke cleaner.

    I can guarantee you both valve cover hoses will need to be replaced And the lower seal on the bottom catch pan under the windshield dam. You will destroy that gasket pulling that pan off.
     
    #8 edthefox5, Mar 10, 2019
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I once made a gizmo to help cleaning spark plug wells. This was on the assumption you could gently extract the spark plug without disturbing the dirt, then screw this gizmo in in it's place, to seal the hole, then go at it with compressed air or whatever. I hacksawed just the thread portion off an old plug, then bonded it to a long/thin wooden dowel with two-part epoxy. Screwing this into the spark plug hole, it lacked the "shoulder" of a typical spark plug, which would block air blast.
     
    #9 Mendel Leisk, Mar 10, 2019
  10. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Remove cops then flush well with carb cleaner then blow it out with compressed air. Sqeeky clean. Takes 15 seconds.
     
    #10 edthefox5, Mar 10, 2019
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  11. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    8688867C-AA8F-4C22-B7EB-F0D7E29C66D0.jpeg

    Everything was fine at 170k miles, when I last changed plugs. Originally changed at 65k miles. Noted sudden loss of mileage over this past winter (not too uncommon in winter to go down to 46/47mpg but this was low 40’s). I make a habit of vacuuming off the top of the engine to clean up any debris after I unclip the wiring harness, but before opening it up. I confess I did not look inside all the wells prior to pulling the plugs. All the more reason to remove the windshield dam, which I’ve done in the past, but didn’t do this time. At least that gives a straight shot view down the well vs using a mirror. However, I did look down #2, before pulling it, and saw a bit of oil pooled at the bottom along the depressed ring around the hole. The plugs came out really easy. So, initial thought was I’d not tightened sufficiently last time I changed them and it’s seepage.

    Here’s a photo of the plugs after I pulled them. #1 is at the top, 2, 3, tpthen 4 at the bottom.

    I also have weeping on the ICE water pump. Will be replacing that, too, next weekend.
     
    #11 tommymommy, Mar 10, 2019
  12. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Yep valve cover gasket is shot, those are some ugly plugs. I change my cops too at 100000 miles. New oem cops new oem plugs never have to worry about it again.
    Cops at
    Cops are a high failure item they seem to be better on this engine though.
     
    #12 edthefox5, Mar 10, 2019
  13. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    Replaced plugs and coils yesterday. It’ll sit in the garage until my parts arrive. I’ll be fixing all that and replacing the ICE water pump this week.

    I’m betting my ‘06 looks the same, except for the water pump. So, it’ll be a twofer.

    I have crap break on my ‘07 that has never broken on the ‘06.
     
    #13 tommymommy, Mar 10, 2019
  14. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    Ok...I’m stuck. How do I get this wiring harness out of the way? It looks like the plastic cover should come off, but I can’t get it apart. What am I missing here?
     
    #14 tommymommy, Mar 15, 2019
  15. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I assume you are trying to remove the valve cover. It seems that you have the engine wiring harness sufficiently out of the way for access to the valve cover.
     
    #15 Patrick Wong, Mar 15, 2019
  16. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    Thanks Patrick,

    I was afraid it would still be in the way. I don’t want to mess this up.
     
    #16 tommymommy, Mar 15, 2019
  17. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Unbolt the bolt that's on the bottom of the big black hose cover its behind the orange hose. I can see it in your picture. Once that bolt is off it will give you more room to stretch that hose/wire assy out of the way. Then unbolt the mount that holds the brake fluid reservoir and wire or rope that reservoir up and out of the way. You can see by my pictures everything is out of the way.

    You have pulled the 2 hoses off that go from the throttle body to the valve cover so check out the hose ends for cracking. If there cracked they will leak. Also since there off look into the tubes on the throttle body they feed and you will see how gunked up they are.The pcv system must be sealed and working well or the engine will not run good.
     
    #17 edthefox5, Mar 16, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2019
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  18. tommymommy

    tommymommy Member

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    Gotter done. Replaced PCV and hoses. ICE water pump was a b*tch. Car is running well and leak free.

    Thank you for your help!
     
    #18 tommymommy, Mar 16, 2019
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