valve stem seal DIY

So I was able to get the plunger to lock!!!

I have a new problem kow though....

The bolt on the camshaft end was a nightmare to access and eventually when I tried several times by hand to loosen it the frikkin bolt was somewhat rounded out. What happens next? Am I able to loosen all of the bolts on the camshaft and still remove the whole thing? Help please View attachment 186916

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Rounded out camshaft bolt!!! Zero room to maneuver that 14mm tool in there.

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Mmm, yes, that's going to make your job longer.

You might be able to get somewhere with the appropriate size of an extractor socket:

Irwin bolt extractor set, 5-piece

Those say they are suitable for an impact wrench, which I might try, but not set on its highest torque setting. I think I would want to drive a tight-fitting extractor socket on there pretty firmly and then set the impact wrench for giving a large number of little love taps in a CCW direction, using patience rather than brute force.

Ideally, if using impact, the handle of that crescent wrench holding the shaft steady will be right against something solid and immovable. If you're holding it with your hand, some of the impact energy can be lost. On the other hand, don't let the crescent wrench handle mar the edge where the valve cover has to seal.

In the absence of extractor sockets, I have gotten myself out of some situations like that with beefy Vise-Grips chonked down very tightly, and something like a hammer to tap on the handle, but that's more iffy.

It is possible for pretty much any approach to fail and make matters worse, so this is the kind of situation that's never over 'til it's over. Good luck.

What kind of socket were you using? I like to reserve my most-snugly-fitting, six-point sockets for uses like that, just hoping to avoid this kind of headache.

 

Were you using the cresent wrench to try to remove that bolt???
You can stuff a rag under the bolt, and take a file and try to flatten out the round edges.
If it was a 14mm, try a 13mm. 6 point if possible. Or maybe a craftsman 14ish mm.

 

It looks to me as if the crescent wrench is on the hex flats of the camshaft to hold it from turning while dealing with the bolt. That's what I would do.

 

Yes, I saw that. But it looks like it was used on the camshaft bolt also.

 

Question : you've already removed the cams and replaced the valve stems seals?

 

I imagine that's still on hold for the sprocket to come off.

 

Guess I've missed that part about why the sprocket needs to be removed, as I was under the impression that each cam and the attached sprocket were removed as one piece. Now I'm even more confused

 

Hmm, good catch. Checked again in my Gen 1 manual (roughly same 1NZ engine) and you're right, the lifter adjustment procedure doesn't say to remove the sprocket from the exhaust cam, just to slip the chain off it.

It does say to remove the timing controller from the intake cam (maybe because it's just too fat to slip the chain around).

So maybe the process can be completed with just leaving the rounded exhaust sprocket bolt alone as a piece of living history.

But try to use a snugly-fitting six-point socket on the timing controller bolt if that's to come out, lest history repeat itself.

My Gen 1 manual doesn't show a torque for the controller bolt anywhere in the lifter adjustment or head R&R procedure at all. I could only find it in the Service Specifications section in volume 1 (where, shockingly, it was 64 N⋅m just like the exhaust sprocket bolt).

 

So I have NOT removed the cam yet. I am trying to go past removing the bolt right there but before proceeding tonight i want to make sure i dont make matters worse.

Tonight(no Phil Collins song here):
I'm going to remove the camshaft with the sprocket on there. I think I can do it without removing the sprocket which is why I stopped and tried to make sure first.

I do believe I can file it down as suggested but goodness that tight space still leaves little room to remove and install with a torque requirement.

I dont see any chance of using an impact wrench or other tool to remove it unless I completely removed the camshaft and did it on a table

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If there was a reason to remove the cam and sprocket from one another, then they both must be keyed/notched/marked in some way for when they go back together, so as not to lose the static timing between the two pieces.

 

I will proceed to remove with rounded bolt still on there. I feel like I can get the chain off with a tight angle

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There's a pin.

 

Almost done with replacing valve guide seals. I have timing cover off along with the whole valve cover pieces. I've done maybe 4 of the 16 guide seal replacements which have been pretty easy so far just a lot back and forth to make sure I'm doing it right.

As stated before I need to do this repair on three 2007 prius all burning 1 qt every 1,000 miles with a bad catalytic converter code

This will be absolutely the best way to determine if this indeed is the best fix vs replacing with another engine. I had a salvage yard shop guy nice enough to tell me all he does is replace the seals and sells the engines as that's the only issue he ever sees on cores.

So far the valve guide stem seals old vs new are very different.

I will post pics and a guide to do this faster and better but as of right now it looks like I can easy chew on the new ones because they look so rubbery whereas the ones I removed were cracking. I can easily see these being an issue with the oil and engine building heat.

I will follow up with pics and results this week.

 

They used to keep valves closed with compressed air through sparkplugs to do valve stem seals.

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Yes but I have been using the 6 ft of rope through the spark plug housing trick.

 

Thanks for updating us.
I believe the seals are the biggest problem with oil burning, with most engines...

 

This is what these look like after I think this car has 170k miles. I pulled all 16 off and I noticed 2 of them were so shot they pulled off without any help from my tool. Normally you need pliers or a tool to pull them off but the 2 I saw were completely done they slipped right off. Some of the ones here in the pic came off damaged as shown in the pics or they I pulled them up twisting and pulled a chunk off with very little force. Clearly these allowed oil to burn on pistons which burned my cat which killed my oil fill ups 1qt per 1k miles.

No cleaning solution helped so dont bother buying them.

Pcv change didnt help either

I've done 1 of 3 cars with same problem and same year about same mileage.

Now we will see what happens from here on out.

Invest in the right tools to do this a lot of them you can buy in the local area and the job takes a good afternoon but isnt hard at all.

Tools investment: $100 in your area for pick up

Time: 5-6 hours maybe less if you had someone walk you through it(message me for help anytime)


Pictures:
1. Single new seal
2. Off 2007 Prius 170k miles


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GREAT! Thanks for the photos! I've always believed the seals were the biggest problem.
Only time will tell. It is possible that the oil rings could be weak also, allowing some oil through.
Thanks for the updates!