frank rabbets said:
Hi All
I'm tempted to take my inlet manifold off to clear all the rubbish out. Is it much of a job [marks out of ten]. Are their waterways involved? If so I might chicken out as it's not an essential job ........ yet.
Frank
Frank,
I posted these on the other site a while back, may as well repost here
I had a busy day Saturday, I'd ordered up the following Genuine parts required to do the valve clearances:-
* Rocker Cover Gasket
* Seal Washers (The ones Toyota supplied were not suitable, had to re-use existing)
* RTV Sealant
* EGR to Exhaust Manifold Gasket
* Intake to Inlet Manifold Gasket
I also wanted to change the alternator drive belts as I recently had to replace the aircon belt as the old one snapped. I presumed the alternator belts were possibly due to be changed. Again I used Genuine Toyota parts.
A few tips for anyone else who is considering doing these jobs, first it's a lot easier if you remove the guard just above the steering damper, I also dropped the nearside end of the damper c/w the triangular mounting bracket. This makes rotating the engine on the crank a lot easier & also gives better access for removal/fitting of belts.
I also found that to actually make it possible to see to line up the timing marks on the crank pully & timing cover & to lever the alternator over, it was necessary to remove the aircon compressor. I just removed the four mounting bolts & swung the compressor out of the way. I tied it back to the bonnet strut with tie-wraps.
When I had removed the air intake pipe c/w EGR valves I was absolutley shocked to see how much soot had built up inside I would say about 1" thick all the way around. the internal diameter of the intake must have been reduced by about 50% at least!
To remove all this muck I scraped most out with a small paint scraper/putty knife, then washed the inlet out with solvent, I used a babys bottle brush to clean right around all the little knooks & crannys I'm not sure if it would hurt, but I avoided getting solvent down to the heater assembly.
I don't think the valve cover had ever been off my engine, a clue was the type of sealant used in three positions between the block & valve cover. Toyota use a type of instant gasket they refer to as "Instant Grey" it's part number is referenced in the manual if any purists wish to use it but at £55:00 a tube I would say most garages or home mechanics opt for normal RTV sealant!
If I am correct that the valve cover had never been off my engine, the valve clearances were not far out considering. They had all opened out a bit but not a great deal.
An added bonus of doing the job, I recently posted that my engine had started making the renowned "H series Tick" after it's recent oil & filter change. This has completely gone since setting the clearances correctly.
All in all it's not a bad job, looks a bit daunting with all the vacuum pipes & intake etc. But it's made a lot of difference to my truck, it's got to be worth it just to clean all that crud out of the intake!
Oh, yeah, my old alternator belts were perfect They'll make good spares!