As tedious and time consuming as some of these repairs are, I don't know how you don't lose control, toss tools, throw your hands up and scream "I'M DONE! NEVER AGAIN!" I've frequently been very impressed with your patience and control all while maintaining your professionalism. Good job, Sir!
Some of his earlier vids at the chevy dealer, he talked about the importance of maintaining composure when faced with aggrevation. That being said, I'm sure there's moments he loses it too, but he has mostly contiguous vids that make me believe these are rare.
Honestly, I'm still impressed with Ray's patience. I would have pulled my hair out already by the time it was suggested I need to pull the throttle body. SO complex. Also, i'm very impressed with Ray's memory for where things go when they get put back together. I would have lost all the bolts before I even did any actual repairs.
i mean the parts only have 1 place to go, but remembering where every bolt went it the scariest part of these. im never worried about getting it apart, its back together that id be bothered by
Try pulling your engine out of your car and tearing it down to the block to rebuild it! There was a point when I had it mostly back together and I'm holding onto this one huge bolt thinking "where did this come from?" I was about to panick when I realized it was a motor mount bolt that didn't need to go in yet. It can be very stressful.
Yes it is admirable when people maintain a cheery disposition in the face of challenges. Usually a product of competence with the skills required to do the job.
Just another reason why I’m glad I take my vehicles to you Ray. Sorry that back cover gave you issues. But I knew you would get it. Not sure where you get that patience! Thank you as always for your awesome workmanship. See ya soon!
Just once I want ray to just drop the engine, and during the dropping of the engine, explain the finer points of why he doesn't do it, how much extra work vs convenience of extra working space, etc. But it would potentially be extra time and the owners may not appreciate it. I like it when he says half way through "should have taken the engine out"
You must shite yourself watching him work on your own car. Imagine the camera picks up a big, dirty b@st@rd of a rust hole and Ray just starts shooting dollar signs out of his @rsecheeks 😅❤ Thankfully, there was no rust. That's a good excuse for a beer though lol 🎉
Ray, I think I heard you saying, "shhhh..." and caught yourself just in time before finishing the word on the third attempt to get that valve cover gasket back in place. You have earned the 'brass biblogy', as Jean Shepherd would have said. Not only are you a phenomonal mechanic you have amazing self control during serious stress. Terrific video.
To be honest the gasket didn't seem to snap in very well I would have been tempted to put some sort of adhesive but I know Ray he don't like to use fluids and stuff unless he absolutely has to have a great day
@@michaelpressman7203 I've heard him say that as well. Seems that gasket had a pretty sloppy fit to be constantly falling out so easily. However, for as many times as it took him to get it in there I am impressed by his sticktuitiveness and high standards.
If you noticed, he did attempt to stick it with some liquid gasket maker. The only problem is time and those silicon gaskets are super slippery, plus that grey high temp RTV takes forever to setup.
I was going to say there are adhesive sprays that should work. These go on very thinly and shouldn't interfere with the gasket. If I did such work I would consider such an adhesive indispensable. It's good that Ray inspected the installation from the back, but I saw a lot of dirt on the gasket. That can't be good. Imagine the car comes back with an Exxon Valdez situation in a week or two or a month. With such an immense amount of labor involved, I would take zero chances. This job seems like a nightmare. The thought of doing it twice is making me crazy...
I am no mechanic and I have no desire to work on my own car, yet I find this channel entertaining and engaging. I am also impressed you remember where all the parts go and not have lots of spare parts after assembly.
You should learn. Even if you don't want to work on your own. You'll not only learn (which knowledge is power), but by knowing how cars work, if you had to take your car to a shop, they can't take advantage of you because you'll catch things. But most importantly, you'll save money.
@@fusionsportdaily1650 exactly.. But most people these days are afraid to get their hands dirty... Allot of man are half woman these days only worry how they look
I managed to put a beetle engine together and was very impressed at the amount of ‘spare’ nuts and bolts i had left over 16 and 4. Ran well for a couple of years after that
I've found that using a variety of Bungie cords and small cargo straps to hold wiring harness's and loose components out of the way made jobs like this much easier. I've even removed the engine torque mount and used a ratchet strap to pull the engine forward to increase access to the firewall side. That always worked great for replacing spark plugs on V-6 GM products
Cut a thin piece of cardboard to the outside dimensions of the cover. Place undet the gasket. Tape cardboard to 2 side of the cover. Position the cover/gasket just above the head. Pull tape off. Slide cardboard out. Had to do that process with a steel rule when hand assembling door latch cover plates 2 keep the spings from exploding latch guts.
Doing the same thing time and time again changing nothing and expecting a different result? Not criticizing Ray, but I agree with your ideas of trying to get that wiring harness out of the way!
No disrespect intended (Ray's amazing), but there is an adhesive made just for holding gaskets in place, it's called "Permatex High Tack". And agreed, using straps to hold harnesses etc... are a common third hand when I'm working on cars.
You are a blessed man Ray. You have a beautiful wife who is very supportive of you, and precious children. I like watching you interact with your children. Brings a smile to my face. Makes me miss the times when my children were young. And miss my grandkids. They live far away.
I work in automation, can definitely understand the frustration. Quit smoking cigarettes years back but started carrying a pipe. When frustration comes in I step out for a smoke, couldn't tell you how many times it has solved similar frustrations. Come back after some thought and fixed it.
Ray, doing the same on the exact same engine (3MZ-FE) on a 2008 Highlander Hybrid. My valve cover gasket started leaking at 288,000 miles. I feel your pain. I ended up using painter’s tape to secure the gasket, starting the bolts, then pulling the tape out with pliers. I think some grease in the groove would provide enough stiction to prevent the gasket from falling out. You can zip tie the harness up to the cowl mounting tabs to prevent the harness from falling down. I am also replacing all the coils, intake manifold gasket, and throttle body gaskets given the age (all are original). I have done 3 timing belt changes on this engine plugs, water pump, and tensioners changed at same time). That said, this has been an excellent vehicle and drivetrain. Last, remember to disconnect the hybrid battery for safety….it is 288v DC, so not something you want to accidentally short. For the wiper, if you push the mounting arm flat, they will pull right off with no puller required. Love your channel and attention to detail. Gravity.
At work we use Dow 111 silicone grease to hold gaskets and orings in place... It's sticky but melts away on the first engine cycle. The other option is plain old Vaseline, it dissolves in oil, but it's a bit awkward when people notice a big jar of Vaseline in the tool box 😉 Oh and the silicone/o2 sensor thing is because plain silicone SEALANT has acetic acid (vinegar) in it to help it cure, which eats up the catalyst in the sensor. Silicone grease doesn't have that.
Used to use fishing line. Tie short lengths through valve cover bolt holes to retain gasket. Can cut and remove fishing line once bolts are loosely installed. Then torque to spec. No glue residue. Cheap easy and effective 👌. Happy 2023.
A trick for gaskets is to use zipties loosely through the bolt holes, secure the cover in place, then cut and pull the zip ties out as you install the bolts.
I’ve always used Borden’s rubber cement to hold gaskets in place, works great and cleans up by just rubbing it off. Works on any gasket and the decals on my riding mower when I power wash them off. I keep a bottle of it on my workbench for all kinds of stuff.
What's ironic is, I just did a set of valve cover gaskets on a 2004 Lexus ES 300. Which is essentially the same engine. It is nearly impossible to install a new valve cover gasket on to the rear head without it falling off. I know it's time consuming, but the only way to make the valve cover placement seamless is to free up the wire harness so it can be moved out of the way. Otherwise, you will have to finagle the gasket back into place while the valve cover is in mating position. Much easier said than done.
Greetings Ray, Thank you very much for your videos. watching and learning from them has increased my confidence as a home mechanic on my truck. I do have a suggestion on your gasket falling out issue. Using teflon coated dental floss, tie the gasket in place loosely in two places. Now holding the loose loops of the dental floss above the cover, and letting gravity pull down on the valve cover and thus keeping the gasket in place, maneuver the cover and slowly let it down. If there always is tension on the floss, the gasket will remain in place. Once it's all in set in place, cut the floss and just gently pull it out from under the cover and gasket. (this is why you use teflon floss to make it slide easy and not contaminate the gasket with any threads from say string or other cotton based materials. Floss is quite strong and this tecnique can be used for many other situations too. (I use it in woodworking for testing the fit of inlay pieces.) Cheers!
I cannot believe how bad these cars have to come apart. The designers ought to be ashamed of themselves. Keep on trudging through Ray. You sir a great professional mechanic and a great husband and father. May God bless you and your entire family. PEACE
I would think that many repairs to any engine would be much easier if the engine were removed from the compartment. However, this is a procedure not available, or feasible, for every-day mechanics. This is one reason why repairs are so expensive... time and labor to disassemble and reassemble.
well you have to consider, they gotta have 6 cylinders in there somehow, and with these being front wheel drive that means it has to be side ways, so one side is GOING to be awful to get at no matter what you try.
@@bradhaines3142 Anyone who had a Chevy Monza would remember having to pull the engine to change the rear two plugs. The back have of the V8 was under and behind the fire wall.
I hate it when Ray struggles with removing or reinstalling a part, I find myself clenching my jaw, until he has ultimate success. But what it really does for me is it lets me know that, if someone with Ray’s experience struggles sometime, it’s okay that I struggle when trying to remove or replace a part, gives me more patience.
Such an action packed experience it literally throws you our of your lazy boy chair...Lays potato chips fall off of your enormous stomach and you drop to the floor and wiggle like a fish out of water...
This is exactly why I pay my wrench slinger what is on the bill because to be willing to keep us all on the road is priceless and honest guys like Ray are getting harder to find Florida is lucky state
Long ago I had some engine I could not get valve cover gasket to stay put, I was temped to smudge some grease to hold it still, in the end I put 6-7 little dental floss "bridles" and once it was sitting on mating surface I cut them and pulled them out. Worked perfect
I was literally wanting to shout through screen to do the same,and let it tack up ,as a side note ,places where the 'experts'recommend RTV usually ,I don't. The rubber usually compresses enough and RTV squeezes out doing nothing but making a mess.Torquing down covers properly suffices in most cases- FOR ME.
Ice cube trays (remember those?), and if you know anyone working in an OR, we use nifty magnetic plastic sheets and boxes for needles and other sharps.
If it doesn't interfere with things, I will put them back where they went or in the case of a water pump, put the bolts in the new part as they come out and transfer to the old part when it's out for fitting to the new part. Some bolts, as you know can be slightly longer than another. Some jobs get a piece of cardboard with a drawing and holes in the cardboard. Anything to help remember where everything goes is good.
You're a patient man, Ray. The trick is to use United EZ Turn Lubricant on the gasket to hold it in the valve cover. Here's the product description: "EZ Turn is a specialty lubricant/sealant used for fuel and oil line valves & is resistant to high temps. Especially effective where high octane fuels and aromatics are present. EZ Turn is also extremely efficient as a gasket paste & anti-seize agent. EZ Turn will not gum, crack or dry out. Each shipment is independently tested. Excellent for tapered plug valves, aircraft engine manufacturing, and marine applications. EZ Turn is the functional equivalent of fuel lube." It's super sticky, you'll find yourself using it for tasks the manufacturer never dreamed of. I refer to it as gorilla snot. We use it all the time working on aircraft and of course, now use it when working on our cars. Put a little dab in a socket, put your fastener in and it will hold it in the socket when you turn the socket upside down to place in that deep, tiny hole that you can't get your fingers into, but need a fastener to go into. Holds gaskets in place like a dream. Don't bother buying the 5oz tube, go with the 1lb can. A little goes a long way. The 1lb can is cheaper per ounce and will last forever.
My dad used to tie sewing thread ( your choice of color)😁through holes for bolts to help keep gasket in place. It worked for as long as I remember & I've done it a few times on covers as well (oil pan ,trans. timing cover etc).
Woot! Thank you! I need to do both the valve covers and the timing belt on my regular RX. This is the invite I needed to work up my confidence for this job. I can’t wait to see the rest of the work on this.
I just did a full engine swap on mine along with a full timing job, gaskets and seals replaced, a transmission drain and fill and gear oil in the rear diff and t case.
Hey Ray, I am a BIG fan of a VERY light coat of Blue RTV in the trough that holds the Valve Cover Gasket! When the RTV gets a "Skin" on it, it holds the gasket in the Valve Cover. An "Old School" trick is to use sewing thread in the bolt holes, this also works very well on Valve Covers that are Hard to place. Both my wife Jean and I love your Vids, as always. This was a character builder, that's for sure! Earl and Jean Harrell.
@32:00... If you're doing the timing, leave the valve cover off. Easier to line up the cams with it off. This also allows time for you to put a couple dabs of sealant in the groove, set the gasket it and let it dry before installing the valve cover.
@@forgetfulme1719 Huh? Your comment makes no sense. You obviously don't know how labor overlap works. If you do two jobs that overlap, the labor charge is reduced for each.
What a horrendous job! I was getting stressed watching it, so I can’t imagine how you managed to deal with it so calmly and patiently. Putting it back together should be interesting!😮
I am always amazed when Ray pulls connectors off. 99% of the time, I break a piece of plastic. Of course, this video shows he struggles with them too. Shows he keeps it real for his videos.
When it comes to the rear valve cover gasket I have tried this. Take four pieces of the blue painter s tape and make two straps. Place two pieces sticky side together and leave a little bit at each end to stick to the top of the cover. Repeat for the other side, Place them between the plug tubes and away from the RTV. Place the valve cover on gently, unstick the far end, , fold over on itself so there is no sticky, and gently pull through. Homemade straps.
Aside from a great repair, I think your new hi-def camera is a huge improvement. Very nice. I can almost read the label on the quick view you show of brake clean.
I'm watching you put this gasket in place and I believe that a couple of strategic drops of sealant to help the gasket stay in place would be advantageous.
What I've found to be helpful in this situation with this style gasket,is a couple of all spots of grease to hold the gasket in its groove. Just a thought. It's always worked for me. Love your patience.
In my youth, when cars were easier to work on yourself, any repair I wanted to make usually came with the first instruction in the Chilton's as "1. Hoist engine out of the way and using special order tool DY4892 remove the...."Now a days I leave my car repairs to the pros and young warrior, you are among the best.
@@vitorleite8449 yes, also electric water pump and electric A/C compressor as well. And no alternator .. which the insurance adjustor quoted when my car was totalled.... it was hilarious too.
Old Toyota mechanic here, sorry to say it, but at 30:32, you had the first seal in correctly (seal lip facing the oil side), and you started to put the second one in correctly, but then at 30:34 you flipped them over and put all 3 in backward. It's easy to do with the new(ish) style seals. The seal will stay put if the cover is bone dry, and the cover is easier to install if you loosen the driver's side manifold support and swing it to the driver's side, then use a long zip tie to secure the harness to the brake line out of the way.
Hey ray been watching you for a couple of years now. Keep up the good work bud. Everyday I wake up and get to watch one of your videos kinda like when we were kids and would wake up to watch cartoons… same concept here your the man. Love yah bro
I have used a small spot of sealant in a few places on the valve cover to hold gasket in place. You need to clean groove so sealant will stick to valve cove.
What I usually do on that type of valve cover gasket is to put a few drops of 3M super weather strip adhesive in the groove in several spots on the valve cover itself to hold the gasket in place. I've done this for a number of years and I've never had any leakage issues doing it that way . The backside valve covers on most of those v6s can be a real bear to get at sometimes and using that method has saved me a lot of cussing!
With the first failure of keeping the valve cover gasket in place I thought why not use a little vaseline in the groove as a temporary adhesive. It would hold it from dropping and eventually the vaseline would burn off, hopefully before doing any damage to the gasket itself. And if not vaseline (since I'm not sure exactly how that substance would react to the gasket material) I'm thinking there ought to be some sort of grease-like substance that mechanics use to hold the gasket in place for these kind of maneuvers. Clearly you found something that has worked already to stem the issue.
@@spaceflight1019 Obviously it's for trim and your correct, it won't hold up to oil, but it doesn't have to. I only use a drop here and there to hold the gasket/o-ring in place long enough to install a part that's awkward to install without loosing the gasket, not as a sealer. In cases ,,like here in this video, the "o-ring" style gaskets don't require sealant and the 3M adhesive works awesome to hold them in place temporally. High Tack is fine if you have all day to wait for it to harden enough to hold a gasket in place, but us professional mechanics don't have that luxury , plus you don't use High Tack on O-ring type gaskets either. To date I've used this method for >55 years as a professional mechanic and it's one of the best hacks I've found for that purpose. And considering I'm still restoring high end classic cars and am a curator of a >2 1/2 Million dollar classic car collection @ the moment as well I think I've proven this method works very very well, so I'll continue to do so.
@@twa2471 I'm glad that your way is working for you. Hi-Tack doesn't take "all day" to stick, and for O-rings Vaseline works well...for me. Thanks for your experience.
Suggestion to help with the valve cover gasket- Kite string! Put the gasket on, on the bench, Loop the string around both the placed gasket and valve cover- draw it tight and knot. Then install it in position, and tighten a few screws lightly. Snip the string in a few places and pull them out. tighten accordingly.
as an old shade tree mechanic i have learned one or two things if you take some silicone on your finger and rub it on the side of the gasket that go in the groove of the valve head cover to hold it in place just a thin cost on the gasket works or some a coat of greese will help keep the gasket in place long enough to get it in place that sayedyou are doing a phenomenal job on everything you do keep it up
By no means am I a mechanic but through the necessity of working on my own junk, to hold a valve cover gasket such as this one, I use a few dabs of super tacky grease to help hold the gasket in place. I try to keep as much loose silicone out of my engine as possible as to where the minimal amount of grease will break down into the engine oil and cause no harm. Thanks for all you do buddy! Love the channel!
I would probably use the old trick of using permatex spray high tack on the valve cover side ever so lightly. Just enough to secure it. I’d let it stand for about 5 minutes to get a good hold. Don’t know if it’ll have a problem with the gasket material but I’d do it anyway. Used this kind of stuff for over fifty years.
Clean the cover, few dabs of supaglue in the groove. put the gaskit in and spray with the glue activator when sure it is seated OK, fit the cover. Probably a thousand reasons not to do this, but it was the only way I could refit a cover on a boat engine with very limited access. Great vidio and great workmanship!
Hey ray, I've heard a good way to keep the the head gasket sitting in it's groove while you in carefully install head is to add some gasket sealer to the groove, let it set up until it is slightly tacky, then set your head gasket in the groove with the gasket sealer then it should now stay seated in it's groove without it falling out very easily.
Suggestion: In situations like this, take a couple of very long zip ties and loosely wrap around the harness and solid objects at two points to put tension on the harness away from the area of interest to give as much clearance as possible. You could put them on every harness wire that attempts to interfere. When there is as much as a clear access as possible, dry run the assembly without the gasket and then apply the sealant and the cover with gasket. Probably would have taken the same amount of time. Blessings Albert
That was my thinking. I probably learned the idea from Ray in the past. I'm not sure why he didn't do something like that. That cable was a real pain in the arse.
A. remove the harness at the non-belt end. B. put a few dabs of silicone adhesive in the rocker cover seal groove to retain the seal during installation. or C. run a few thin ty-wraps (or large rubber bands) around the rocker cover to retain the seal during positioning, then cut and remove at bolt down. I always choose B. myself.
I've found that old speaker magnets are handy when l'm working on vehicles. They are handy little nut/ bolt/ screw holders whenever l'm working under the hood or on the work bench and they help keep specific nuts and bolts specific to one area, separate to another area. I've been know to attach the magnets to zee underside of the zee hood, firewall and inner guards. You can pretty much stick then anywhere. Nice job Ray. Great patience brother.
never general adhesive, gotta use something for oil like permatex. even if its just to stick it, you dont want the oil to eat it and thus the engine to eat it
HI Ray. Fantastic video. I believe that the maintenance is not really considered when designing modern vehicles. It is more a case of ease of assembly/manufacture. The engine trans, ancillaries, front struts and suspension are quite often all one complete unit lifted up complete and bolted in. Hence the requirement to remove nearly all the contents of the engine bay to get to the component in question. Sometimes, you cannot even remove bolts completely as there is no room to get past the body / chassis. I use a stethoscope to isolate the source of a squeal, squeak or rattle. Before I bought the mechanics stethoscope, I used to use a big screwdriver and push the handle against my ear as I probed different spots with the 'pointy bit'. Works almost as well as a stethoscope.
Old timers like me used to use gasket cement to hold gaskets in place. Don't know how it would work on the new silicone gaskets, but it sure was sticky. Could be removed with alcohol when replacing. I think it was based on shellac.
Just a thought to consider, for holding those cover gaskets in place. Back in the day I found this 3M spray adhesive worked well for holding gaskets in place. There may be something better nowadays or similar that you know of. It wasn't used for sealant, just to hold in place. With that gasket falling out like that, maybe it would work for you. Just a thought...
Something to point out at the 34:00 min mark the 2 cam gears, the exhaust cam gear is cut in 2 and you have to fit the gear with 1 tooth preload on the halves of sprung loaded sections of the gears this stops gear chatter, this set up is common on VW T4/5's and also transit diesel pump gears
I don't recall one? Be interesting to see him work on an EV. They still have bearings, some have AC systems, and they ALL have complicated electrical systems.
What I normally do when doing valve cover gaskets on those. I take that rear cover off and put some silicone just to hold the gasket in place and let the silicone dry and continue with the front cover and while I’m doing de front cover, the silicone is drying and will hold the gasket Then put the rear cover back on at last without issues
I so understand that pain of the gasket. I went through same problems of it falling out on my 05 Altima 2.5L It took me 5-6 times to finally get it to seat proper, drove me nuts. Good on you Ray for not losing your cool.
Hi Ray. You can *just* barely squeeze that wiring harness over the middle intake manifold brace, which will hold it out of the way while you install the valve cover. I think you have to disconnect the rear O2 sensor wire first though. While you're in there, it'd be nice to check the valve lash. They're shims on buckets and pretty durable, but they do start to come out of spec at higher mileage. While you're there, you might also inspect the plate below the lower intake manifold that likes to weep coolant at high mileage (you can usually spot stains dribbling down on top of the eCVT). Top off that job with a new thermostat... PS: I'm glad you bent those tabs on the spark plug tubes
My father, bless his cotton socks, taught me to make a cardboard template and punch holes where every bolt fitting should go, initially it seemed time consuming but paid off as the exact bolt was located in each hole nuts where wired on as well as clips then all the cards were stored on a shelf having been marked for which job it was for so if you got interrupted (frequently on a farm) it didn't create a problem coming back to a job later. He said he learnt to do that when his dad decided to tidy up a work bench and put all the neatly laid out bits in a box.
I would use Cobond (sp) from FelPro to hold gaskets in place during assembly. A clear adhesive that took up little to no clearance. Made my tech life so much better. Great content, Ray. Keep em coming!
+ 1 for the patience and determination shown here. The widespread adoption of CAD assembly modeling software has made after sales service and repair a complete nightmare on most new vehicles. Just because a part or assembly CAN be made to fit on a workstation screen in a Design Engineering office doesn't mean it SHOULD be. Add the increasing number of cheap flimsy, single use and plastic parts and the chances for good quality, timely and reasonably priced repairs gets slimmer every year.
Always impressed by Ray's patience and attitude! IF I ever had to take half the engine compartmet apart like this, I'd need to have it on video! Not for TH-cam but jsut to remember where everything went!
In days of old, when gaskets refused to stay put when trying to install things, a solution was to use the tiniest bit of an adhesive, 3M-8001, to keep the gasket in place. "Gorilla Snot", the affectionate term for 3M's noble product was a life and limb saver, not to mention it kept you from losing your mind trying to out think an unruly gasket..... Used sparingly it sets up in about a minute or two and will keep the gasket in line with the covering. Especially useful for gaskets that have been creased in the box instead of laid flat. To paraphrase an old Brylcreem commercial, "A little dab will do ya...."
abundance, someone has suggested a tack spray to hold the gasket in place, I was thinking 1" wide shiney paper strips wrapped around the cover and gasket to form a handle then once in place bolts holding not tight cut and pull out should leave gasket exactly where it should be. just my way of thinking from across the pond.
Install the gasket Dry no oil at all on the valve cover gasket channel. Also put Vaseline on the spark plug tubes so the seals don't stick to them on install. it will cause a oil leak later down the road .
old time mechanic here--when ever I had tough gasket locations like that I would use yellow 3m weather adhesive put a couple of dabs apply and pull gasket up and down while blowing on it --it becomes super tacky almost dry. --with cork for paper gaskets it holds them like they were stuck on for yrs
Those white metal tabs with the holes in them below the windshield would be a great place to run tie wire through to wrap around the wiring harness and pull it up and out of the way so you could hold the gasket in place as you replaced the cover without interference from the wiring harness.
I'm impressed Ray is still alive after his last video... Inserting pictures of the Wife Unit was hilarious (Dude, buy gasket glue, permatex tack spray works much better than room temperature vulcanization cream)
Howdy Ray, I was contemplating your nemesis, the wiring harness and cover gasket debacle and was thinking WWRD (What Would Ray Do) when it struck me that Ray would use some type adhesive, short term stuff, to aid in the installation process. So, while I was trying to figure out what you would do I came up with a couple of "ideas". One would be to link a couple of tie-wraps together to make it around the cover/gasket combo long enough to get said cover in place. Another idea was maybe a drop of silicone sealant artfully placed along the groove in the cover which would hold the gasket in place. If that didn't work then resort to good ol' Super Glue and a drop here and a drop there and... Ray's your mechanic! After watching this I'm glad my back can't do that stuff any more! You deserve some time off for that one. Are any fish running?? Take care!
Did a similar job a few years ago pain in the butt gasket i'm no expert but we tried a very small amount of gasket goo on the top side of gasket and held it in nicely so the part could be put on safely , I do admire your patience LOL Love the videos i have learned heaps ...Cheers from Australia Mate LOL
Here is an FYI info if you ever want to change the battery in some of these hybrids cars. Go to a channel called Chris fix and the video is 4 years old hi changes the battery out of a Toyota Prius. It might help you do something like this. Thank you from WV.
If you move the bracket at the back middle of the valve cover you take it out and you can move the harness behind the head out of the way and makes it so much easier. not trying to go under the harness and over the spark plug tubes which is probably where the back side of the valve cover gasket is coming out.
Ray, that was a great idea to use the hydraulic jack handle, as an assist to a wrench or breaker bar! Love it. Great show mate. Here's a tip for you. If a hose is sticking while trying to remove it, first try pushing it on a little more while twisting, then remove it, this will probably work most of the time, works especially with water hoses, even if there is a stop node it still might release it by pushing it on. I know it sounds counterintuitive but as you know its all about breaking the bond between the hose and pipe. Hope you and your family are all well.
As tedious and time consuming as some of these repairs are, I don't know how you don't lose control, toss tools, throw your hands up and scream "I'M DONE! NEVER AGAIN!" I've frequently been very impressed with your patience and control all while maintaining your professionalism. Good job, Sir!
He has a great substitute for tool throwing.... Just listen to what happens to empty brake cleaner cans!
He would not show that on video, I bet more goes on than we know.
Some of his earlier vids at the chevy dealer, he talked about the importance of maintaining composure when faced with aggrevation. That being said, I'm sure there's moments he loses it too, but he has mostly contiguous vids that make me believe these are rare.
I have a brother in law who onced worked with my father in law and use to get angry and throw tools across the shop He was fired
Just spent 2 hours to change a heater hose on my Montana and not once did I say please. But I did say click!
Honestly, I'm still impressed with Ray's patience. I would have pulled my hair out already by the time it was suggested I need to pull the throttle body. SO complex. Also, i'm very impressed with Ray's memory for where things go when they get put back together. I would have lost all the bolts before I even did any actual repairs.
i mean the parts only have 1 place to go, but remembering where every bolt went it the scariest part of these. im never worried about getting it apart, its back together that id be bothered by
Try pulling your engine out of your car and tearing it down to the block to rebuild it! There was a point when I had it mostly back together and I'm holding onto this one huge bolt thinking "where did this come from?" I was about to panick when I realized it was a motor mount bolt that didn't need to go in yet. It can be very stressful.
@@fixingitrightish To be fair, Ray does have a "photographic" memory... 😀
Yes it is admirable when people maintain a cheery disposition in the face of challenges. Usually a product of competence with the skills required to do the job.
That's why he records the jobs.Frist ev car I can look at.
Just another reason why I’m glad I take my vehicles to you Ray. Sorry that back cover gave you issues. But I knew you would get it. Not sure where you get that patience! Thank you as always for your awesome workmanship. See ya soon!
Just once I want ray to just drop the engine, and during the dropping of the engine, explain the finer points of why he doesn't do it, how much extra work vs convenience of extra working space, etc. But it would potentially be extra time and the owners may not appreciate it.
I like it when he says half way through "should have taken the engine out"
no one asked.
You must shite yourself watching him work on your own car. Imagine the camera picks up a big, dirty b@st@rd of a rust hole and Ray just starts shooting dollar signs out of his @rsecheeks 😅❤
Thankfully, there was no rust. That's a good excuse for a beer though lol 🎉
@@hauntedfright your mums your dad mate 🏳️🌈
Ray, I think I heard you saying, "shhhh..." and caught yourself just in time before finishing the word on the third attempt to get that valve cover gasket back in place. You have earned the 'brass biblogy', as Jean Shepherd would have said. Not only are you a phenomonal mechanic you have amazing self control during serious stress. Terrific video.
Jean Shepard was one of the greatest of all times. I think he was on evenings on WOR before the Nebel couple. Anyway thanks for the memory.
SSHHineola
The brass figlagee with bronze oak leaf palm??
To be honest the gasket didn't seem to snap in very well I would have been tempted to put some sort of adhesive but I know Ray he don't like to use fluids and stuff unless he absolutely has to have a great day
@@michaelpressman7203 I've heard him say that as well. Seems that gasket had a pretty sloppy fit to be constantly falling out so easily. However, for as many times as it took him to get it in there I am impressed by his sticktuitiveness and high standards.
I have always used Permatex Tack Spray on gaskets to hold them in place during installation. It works really well.
If you noticed, he did attempt to stick it with some liquid gasket maker. The only problem is time and those silicon gaskets are super slippery, plus that grey high temp RTV takes forever to setup.
And a dental mirror to sneak a peek at those hard to see areas, like the back of that gasket.
Super-Glue the gasket to the cover, let set, add silicone sealant to the head parting pieces, then install.
@@opendstudio7141 literally 24hrs to set, i believe 2hrs before its tacky according to the tube i have
I was going to say there are adhesive sprays that should work. These go on very thinly and shouldn't interfere with the gasket. If I did such work I would consider such an adhesive indispensable.
It's good that Ray inspected the installation from the back, but I saw a lot of dirt on the gasket. That can't be good. Imagine the car comes back with an Exxon Valdez situation in a week or two or a month. With such an immense amount of labor involved, I would take zero chances. This job seems like a nightmare. The thought of doing it twice is making me crazy...
I am no mechanic and I have no desire to work on my own car, yet I find this channel entertaining and engaging.
I am also impressed you remember where all the parts go and not have lots of spare parts after assembly.
You should learn. Even if you don't want to work on your own. You'll not only learn (which knowledge is power), but by knowing how cars work, if you had to take your car to a shop, they can't take advantage of you because you'll catch things. But most importantly, you'll save money.
@@fusionsportdaily1650 exactly.. But most people these days are afraid to get their hands dirty... Allot of man are half woman these days only worry how they look
I managed to put a beetle engine together and was very impressed at the amount of ‘spare’ nuts and bolts i had left over 16 and 4. Ran well for a couple of years after that
I've found that using a variety of Bungie cords and small cargo straps to hold wiring harness's and loose components out of the way made jobs like this much easier. I've even removed the engine torque mount and used a ratchet strap to pull the engine forward to increase access to the firewall side. That always worked great for replacing spark plugs on V-6 GM products
Double sided velcro works great too....
Yes, good idea. I was going to suggest the same thing.
Cut a thin piece of cardboard to the outside dimensions of the cover. Place undet the gasket. Tape cardboard to 2 side of the cover. Position the cover/gasket just above the head. Pull tape off. Slide cardboard out. Had to do that process with a steel rule when hand assembling door latch cover plates 2 keep the spings from exploding latch guts.
Doing the same thing time and time again changing nothing and expecting a different result? Not criticizing Ray, but I agree with your ideas of trying to get that wiring harness out of the way!
No disrespect intended (Ray's amazing), but there is an adhesive made just for holding gaskets in place, it's called "Permatex High Tack". And agreed, using straps to hold harnesses etc... are a common third hand when I'm working on cars.
You are a blessed man Ray. You have a beautiful wife who is very supportive of you, and precious children. I like watching you interact with your children. Brings a smile to my face. Makes me miss the times when my children were young. And miss my grandkids. They live far away.
I work in automation, can definitely understand the frustration. Quit smoking cigarettes years back but started carrying a pipe. When frustration comes in I step out for a smoke, couldn't tell you how many times it has solved similar frustrations. Come back after some thought and fixed it.
Ray, doing the same on the exact same engine (3MZ-FE) on a 2008 Highlander Hybrid. My valve cover gasket started leaking at 288,000 miles. I feel your pain. I ended up using painter’s tape to secure the gasket, starting the bolts, then pulling the tape out with pliers. I think some grease in the groove would provide enough stiction to prevent the gasket from falling out. You can zip tie the harness up to the cowl mounting tabs to prevent the harness from falling down. I am also replacing all the coils, intake manifold gasket, and throttle body gaskets given the age (all are original). I have done 3 timing belt changes on this engine plugs, water pump, and tensioners changed at same time). That said, this has been an excellent vehicle and drivetrain. Last, remember to disconnect the hybrid battery for safety….it is 288v DC, so not something you want to accidentally short. For the wiper, if you push the mounting arm flat, they will pull right off with no puller required. Love your channel and attention to detail. Gravity.
At work we use Dow 111 silicone grease to hold gaskets and orings in place... It's sticky but melts away on the first engine cycle.
The other option is plain old Vaseline, it dissolves in oil, but it's a bit awkward when people notice a big jar of Vaseline in the tool box 😉
Oh and the silicone/o2 sensor thing is because plain silicone SEALANT has acetic acid (vinegar) in it to help it cure, which eats up the catalyst in the sensor. Silicone grease doesn't have that.
Used to use fishing line. Tie short lengths through valve cover bolt holes to retain gasket. Can cut and remove fishing line once bolts are loosely installed. Then torque to spec. No glue residue. Cheap easy and effective 👌. Happy 2023.
A trick for gaskets is to use zipties loosely through the bolt holes, secure the cover in place, then cut and pull the zip ties out as you install the bolts.
Could have also used some zipties to hold the wire harness out of the way
@@daliuskal sometimes a little grease will make the gasket sticky enough to hold on...just sayin!
That will work on some, but not on this one. The gasket doesn't have bolts running threw it.
@@WOMANIZERJERRY "Through" Threw is what you did with your wrench across the shop.
I’ve always used Borden’s rubber cement to hold gaskets in place, works great and cleans up by just rubbing it off. Works on any gasket and the decals on my riding mower when I power wash them off. I keep a bottle of it on my workbench for all kinds of stuff.
What's ironic is, I just did a set of valve cover gaskets on a 2004 Lexus ES 300. Which is essentially the same engine. It is nearly impossible to install a new valve cover gasket on to the rear head without it falling off. I know it's time consuming, but the only way to make the valve cover placement seamless is to free up the wire harness so it can be moved out of the way. Otherwise, you will have to finagle the gasket back into place while the valve cover is in mating position. Much easier said than done.
Greetings Ray, Thank you very much for your videos. watching and learning from them has increased my confidence as a home mechanic on my truck. I do have a suggestion on your gasket falling out issue. Using teflon coated dental floss, tie the gasket in place loosely in two places. Now holding the loose loops of the dental floss above the cover, and letting gravity pull down on the valve cover and thus keeping the gasket in place, maneuver the cover and slowly let it down. If there always is tension on the floss, the gasket will remain in place. Once it's all in set in place, cut the floss and just gently pull it out from under the cover and gasket. (this is why you use teflon floss to make it slide easy and not contaminate the gasket with any threads from say string or other cotton based materials. Floss is quite strong and this tecnique can be used for many other situations too. (I use it in woodworking for testing the fit of inlay pieces.) Cheers!
Video Posted just 38 seconds ago. Just finished the last video. My toughts: Anothaaaah
OK, back on your meds. 😂
@@clintprice2123 His videos are my meds
🤣
I cannot believe how bad these cars have to come apart. The designers ought to be ashamed of themselves. Keep on trudging through Ray. You sir a great professional mechanic and a great husband and father. May God bless you and your entire family. PEACE
I would think that many repairs to any engine would be much easier if the engine were removed from the compartment. However, this is a procedure not available, or feasible, for every-day mechanics. This is one reason why repairs are so expensive... time and labor to disassemble and reassemble.
well you have to consider, they gotta have 6 cylinders in there somehow, and with these being front wheel drive that means it has to be side ways, so one side is GOING to be awful to get at no matter what you try.
@@bradhaines3142 Anyone who had a Chevy Monza would remember having to pull the engine to change the rear two plugs. The back have of the V8 was under and behind the fire wall.
It's as if the designers don't even think about it! LOL.
@@SivaFolsom Designers don't want their designs repaired. They want you to buy a new one.
I hate it when Ray struggles with removing or reinstalling a part, I find myself clenching my jaw, until he has ultimate success. But what it really does for me is it lets me know that, if someone with Ray’s experience struggles sometime, it’s okay that I struggle when trying to remove or replace a part, gives me more patience.
Amen....
Me to I have to take a pill
Such an action packed experience it literally throws you our of your lazy boy chair...Lays potato chips fall off of your enormous stomach and you drop to the floor and wiggle like a fish out of water...
This is exactly why I pay my wrench slinger what is on the bill because to be willing to keep us all on the road is priceless and honest guys like Ray are getting harder to find Florida is lucky state
Long ago I had some engine I could not get valve cover gasket to stay put, I was temped to smudge some grease to hold it still, in the end I put 6-7 little dental floss "bridles" and once it was sitting on mating surface I cut them and pulled them out. Worked perfect
You need to put a small dab of weather strip adhesive in several spots around the valve cover to hold the rubber gasket.
I was literally wanting to shout through screen to do the same,and let it tack up ,as a side note ,places where the 'experts'recommend RTV usually ,I don't. The rubber usually compresses enough and RTV squeezes out doing nothing but making a mess.Torquing down covers properly suffices in most cases- FOR ME.
I used "3M" Trim Spray
Yeh, I was thinking the same. Easy fix.
A few dabs of 3M. Yup
I used 3M yellow trim adhesive (in a tube) for many years on all gaskets. Dries fast and holds gasket in place. No problems.
Every time I watch you or Eric O work on this stuff it reinforces why I want something from the 60's or 70's. lol
a small inspection mirror comes in handy to see the back side of that valve cover-or other hidden things... they sell telescopic ones pretty cheap!
Here in Oz we call them Occy Strap (Octopus Straps), you call them Bungie Cords, Excellent extra hands to help you hold stuff out of your way.
Hey Ray, I found that using muffin baking pans work great for holding vehicle hardware on big jobs.
Ice cube trays (remember those?), and if you know anyone working in an OR, we use nifty magnetic plastic sheets and boxes for needles and other sharps.
I personally like to use magnetic trays otherwise I will lose track of all my nuts and bolts have a great day
@@mred8002 I will start using Ice cube trays.
I use old speaker magnets on a white board to hold nuts bolts ect and use a sharpie to write where they came from
If it doesn't interfere with things, I will put them back where they went or in the case of a water pump, put the bolts in the new part as they come out and transfer to the old part when it's out for fitting to the new part. Some bolts, as you know can be slightly longer than another. Some jobs get a piece of cardboard with a drawing and holes in the cardboard. Anything to help remember where everything goes is good.
You're a patient man, Ray. The trick is to use United EZ Turn Lubricant on the gasket to hold it in the valve cover.
Here's the product description:
"EZ Turn is a specialty lubricant/sealant used for fuel and oil line valves & is resistant to high temps. Especially effective where high octane fuels and aromatics are present. EZ Turn is also extremely efficient as a gasket paste & anti-seize agent. EZ Turn will not gum, crack or dry out. Each shipment is independently tested. Excellent for tapered plug valves, aircraft engine manufacturing, and marine applications. EZ Turn is the functional equivalent of fuel lube."
It's super sticky, you'll find yourself using it for tasks the manufacturer never dreamed of. I refer to it as gorilla snot. We use it all the time working on aircraft and of course, now use it when working on our cars. Put a little dab in a socket, put your fastener in and it will hold it in the socket when you turn the socket upside down to place in that deep, tiny hole that you can't get your fingers into, but need a fastener to go into. Holds gaskets in place like a dream. Don't bother buying the 5oz tube, go with the 1lb can. A little goes a long way. The 1lb can is cheaper per ounce and will last forever.
It never ceases to amaze me the depth of Ray’s knowledge of all the different vehicles he works on. You’d think he’s been doing it for years.
My dad used to tie sewing thread ( your choice of color)😁through holes for bolts to help keep gasket in place. It worked for as long as I remember & I've done it a few times on covers as well (oil pan ,trans. timing cover etc).
Woot! Thank you! I need to do both the valve covers and the timing belt on my regular RX. This is the invite I needed to work up my confidence for this job. I can’t wait to see the rest of the work on this.
I just did a full engine swap on mine along with a full timing job, gaskets and seals replaced, a transmission drain and fill and gear oil in the rear diff and t case.
Hey Ray, I am a BIG fan of a VERY light coat of Blue RTV in the trough that holds the Valve Cover Gasket! When the RTV gets a "Skin" on it, it holds the gasket in the Valve Cover. An "Old School" trick is to use sewing thread in the bolt holes, this also works very well on Valve Covers that are Hard to place. Both my wife Jean and I love your Vids, as always. This was a character builder, that's for sure! Earl and Jean Harrell.
15:53 good edit cover the strong blinding light :)
and engine room looks like 2liter 4cylinder would fit much better than a bulky V6.
@32:00... If you're doing the timing, leave the valve cover off. Easier to line up the cams with it off. This also allows time for you to put a couple dabs of sealant in the groove, set the gasket it and let it dry before installing the valve cover.
2 different labor charges, he is honest doing it this way.
@@forgetfulme1719 Huh? Your comment makes no sense. You obviously don't know how labor overlap works. If you do two jobs that overlap, the labor charge is reduced for each.
What a horrendous job! I was getting stressed watching it, so I can’t imagine how you managed to deal with it so calmly and patiently. Putting it back together should be interesting!😮
I am always amazed when Ray pulls connectors off. 99% of the time, I break a piece of plastic. Of course, this video shows he struggles with them too. Shows he keeps it real for his videos.
Those RX's are really nice. Timing belt maintenance is a definite must though otherwise engine will be very sad.
@@jeffh.9999 Yes it certainly does have a timing belt. It's under the plastic side covers.
Overengineered garbage. Mitsubishi > Toyota
not nearly as bad as the V8 starters UNDER the INTAKE!!! I wonder who started that first... Cadillac or Lexus!
When it comes to the rear valve cover gasket I have tried this. Take four pieces of the blue painter
s tape and make two straps. Place two pieces sticky side together and leave a little bit at each end to stick to the top of the cover. Repeat for the other side, Place them between the plug tubes and away from the RTV. Place the valve cover on gently, unstick the far end, , fold over on itself so there is no sticky, and gently pull through. Homemade straps.
Aside from a great repair, I think your new hi-def camera is a huge improvement. Very nice. I can almost read the label on the quick view you show of brake clean.
17:46 i remember old chilton's manuals in which the first step was 'remove engine'. seemed to apply to everything before 1960.
I'm watching you put this gasket in place and I believe that a couple of strategic drops of sealant to help the gasket stay in place would be advantageous.
They make the gasket spray adhesive its thin like hair spray dosen't bother the seals
What I've found to be helpful in this situation with this style gasket,is a couple of all spots of grease to hold the gasket in its groove. Just a thought. It's always worked for me. Love your patience.
The inside of that valve cover was really impressive for the mileage on that car. Goes to show how regular maintenance can extend engine life.
In my youth, when cars were easier to work on yourself, any repair I wanted to make usually came with the first instruction in the Chilton's as "1. Hoist engine out of the way and using special order tool DY4892 remove the...."Now a days I leave my car repairs to the pros and young warrior, you are among the best.
maybe the alternator ? 🙂 I have a prius and I was laughing when a shop wrote that I refused the recommended power steering flush !
Priuses use electric power steering?
Do they flush the electrons?
Never go back to that shop.
hope you reported that to higher ups, that's either fraud or incompetence
@@vitorleite8449 yes, also electric water pump and electric A/C compressor as well. And no alternator .. which the insurance adjustor quoted when my car was totalled.... it was hilarious too.
Old Toyota mechanic here, sorry to say it, but at 30:32, you had the first seal in correctly (seal lip facing the oil side), and you started to put the second one in correctly, but then at 30:34 you flipped them over and put all 3 in backward. It's easy to do with the new(ish) style seals.
The seal will stay put if the cover is bone dry, and the cover is easier to install if you loosen the driver's side manifold support and swing it to the driver's side, then use a long zip tie to secure the harness to the brake line out of the way.
Hey ray been watching you for a couple of years now. Keep up the good work bud. Everyday I wake up and get to watch one of your videos kinda like when we were kids and would wake up to watch cartoons… same concept here your the man. Love yah bro
I have used a small spot of sealant in a few places on the valve cover to hold gasket in place. You need to clean groove so sealant will stick to valve cove.
The way modern engines and their ancillaries are crammed in, would drive me nuts. You are a star Ray 😀
Ancillaries; now that's a word few people use. Very good. 😎
Loctite makes a great sticky spray.. wonderful stuff i use it on gaskets on old Ammonia compressors valve cover and all auto pan gaskets
What I usually do on that type of valve cover gasket is to put a few drops of 3M super weather strip adhesive in the groove in several spots on the valve cover itself to hold the gasket in place. I've done this for a number of years and I've never had any leakage issues doing it that way . The backside valve covers on most of those v6s can be a real bear to get at sometimes and using that method has saved me a lot of cussing!
With the first failure of keeping the valve cover gasket in place I thought why not use a little vaseline in the groove as a temporary adhesive. It would hold it from dropping and eventually the vaseline would burn off, hopefully before doing any damage to the gasket itself. And if not vaseline (since I'm not sure exactly how that substance would react to the gasket material) I'm thinking there ought to be some sort of grease-like substance that mechanics use to hold the gasket in place for these kind of maneuvers. Clearly you found something that has worked already to stem the issue.
Weatherstrip adhesive is for holding trim pieces in place, not around oils. Permatex Hi-Tack is the ticket for holding gaskets and such.
3M adhesive. The Yellow Peril. Really tacky and stringy. Always had strings of adhesive flying everywhere.
@@spaceflight1019 Obviously it's for trim and your correct, it won't hold up to oil, but it doesn't have to. I only use a drop here and there to hold the gasket/o-ring in place long enough to install a part that's awkward to install without loosing the gasket, not as a sealer. In cases ,,like here in this video, the "o-ring" style gaskets don't require sealant and the 3M adhesive works awesome to hold them in place temporally. High Tack is fine if you have all day to wait for it to harden enough to hold a gasket in place, but us professional mechanics don't have that luxury , plus you don't use High Tack on O-ring type gaskets either. To date I've used this method for >55 years as a professional mechanic and it's one of the best hacks I've found for that purpose. And considering I'm still restoring high end classic cars and am a curator of a >2 1/2 Million dollar classic car collection @ the moment as well I think I've proven this method works very very well, so I'll continue to do so.
@@twa2471 I'm glad that your way is working for you. Hi-Tack doesn't take "all day" to stick, and for O-rings Vaseline works well...for me. Thanks for your experience.
Suggestion to help with the valve cover gasket- Kite string! Put the gasket on, on the bench, Loop the string around both the placed gasket and valve cover- draw it tight and knot. Then install it in position, and tighten a few screws lightly. Snip the string in a few places and pull them out. tighten accordingly.
For that tricky gasket, just turn the car upside down and it will try to fall into its proper seating. 🙃👌
🙃
I have found some spray adhesive on gaskets help them to stay in the groove on the valve cover
Years ago I had a mechanic use a broomstick as a stethoscope to listen for bearing noises from crankcase.
That Truly works great 👍
just need a hard stick, that was probly just what was handy
My dear old dad could tell you what's what with a long screwdriver the same way, of course engines were a lot simpler in those days.
@@bradhaines3142 true true
as an old shade tree mechanic i have learned one or two things if you take some silicone on your finger and rub it on the side of the gasket that go in the groove of the valve head cover to hold it in place just a thin cost on the gasket works or some a coat of greese will help keep the gasket in place long enough to get it in place that sayedyou are doing a phenomenal job on everything you do keep it up
Every month or so Ray brings out another tool I need 😉🤣
Do you have an electron drain pan? From what I have heard no one will take used electrons.
There's a black market in selling them to ev owners.
I use a old tube tv dealy to drain those electrons, it doesn’t do anything but looks professional pmsl
By no means am I a mechanic but through the necessity of working on my own junk, to hold a valve cover gasket such as this one, I use a few dabs of super tacky grease to help hold the gasket in place. I try to keep as much loose silicone out of my engine as possible as to where the minimal amount of grease will break down into the engine oil and cause no harm. Thanks for all you do buddy! Love the channel!
I would probably use the old trick of using permatex spray high tack on the valve cover side ever so lightly. Just enough to secure it. I’d let it stand for about 5 minutes to get a good hold. Don’t know if it’ll have a problem with the gasket material but I’d do it anyway. Used this kind of stuff for over fifty years.
Clean the cover, few dabs of supaglue in the groove. put the gaskit in and spray with the glue activator when sure it is seated OK, fit the cover. Probably a thousand reasons not to do this, but it was the only way I could refit a cover on a boat engine with very limited access.
Great vidio and great workmanship!
Looks like you're stripping it for parts. Bless your patience and professionalism.
Hey ray, I've heard a good way to keep the the head gasket sitting in it's groove while you in carefully install head is to add some gasket sealer to the groove, let it set up until it is slightly tacky, then set your head gasket in the groove with the gasket sealer then it should now stay seated in it's groove without it falling out very easily.
Suggestion: In situations like this, take a couple of very long zip ties and loosely wrap around the harness and solid objects at two points to put tension on the harness away from the area of interest to give as much clearance as possible. You could put them on every harness wire that attempts to interfere. When there is as much as a clear access as possible, dry run the assembly without the gasket and then apply the sealant and the cover with gasket. Probably would have taken the same amount of time. Blessings Albert
That was my thinking. I probably learned the idea from Ray in the past. I'm not sure why he didn't do something like that. That cable was a real pain in the arse.
A. remove the harness at the non-belt end. B. put a few dabs of silicone adhesive in the rocker cover seal groove to retain the seal during installation. or C. run a few thin ty-wraps (or large rubber bands) around the rocker cover to retain the seal during positioning, then cut and remove at bolt down. I always choose B. myself.
Ray? Why do you not have a stethoscope? They are super inexpensive. Or a long screwdriver
I've found that old speaker magnets are handy when l'm working on vehicles. They are handy little nut/ bolt/
screw holders whenever l'm working under the hood or on the work bench and they help keep specific nuts and bolts specific to one area, separate to another area. I've been know to attach the magnets to zee underside of the zee hood, firewall and inner guards.
You can pretty much stick then anywhere.
Nice job Ray.
Great patience brother.
I use them too, put them onto steel white board and write bellow them what parts they belong to
@@tonyadams1521 aaaah... never thought of doing that.
Thank you.
On the valve cover gasket...is it ok to dab some general trim adhesive into the slot to tack it into place? Or would that cause a leak? 🤔
never general adhesive, gotta use something for oil like permatex. even if its just to stick it, you dont want the oil to eat it and thus the engine to eat it
RTV
@@Boilerking76123 that would work too. Or GMS.
HI Ray. Fantastic video.
I believe that the maintenance is not really considered when designing modern vehicles. It is more a case of ease of assembly/manufacture. The engine trans, ancillaries, front struts and suspension are quite often all one complete unit lifted up complete and bolted in. Hence the requirement to remove nearly all the contents of the engine bay to get to the component in question. Sometimes, you cannot even remove bolts completely as there is no room to get past the body / chassis.
I use a stethoscope to isolate the source of a squeal, squeak or rattle. Before I bought the mechanics stethoscope, I used to use a big screwdriver and push the handle against my ear as I probed different spots with the 'pointy bit'. Works almost as well as a stethoscope.
Stay tuned..... because this.......... is going to be a good video.
Old timers like me used to use gasket cement to hold gaskets in place. Don't know how it would work on the new silicone gaskets, but it sure was sticky. Could be removed with alcohol when replacing. I think it was based on shellac.
When do we meet the new employee?
I know who it is 😂
@@FollowingtheCliffNotes Juan from the old shop? Now Lauren has to supervise for 2 ?
Peeeeta
@@clbcl5 I’ll let Ray say
Just a thought to consider, for holding those cover gaskets in place. Back in the day I found this 3M spray adhesive worked well for holding gaskets in place. There may be something better nowadays or similar that you know of. It wasn't used for sealant, just to hold in place. With that gasket falling out like that, maybe it would work for you. Just a thought...
I think removing the tail light assemblies would have helped🙄
This is definitely one of those videos to give a Like, just because of all the effort it took Ray to get this repair done. Good work- as always!
I love my prius. I put 34 bucks in it and i go 420 miles. its peppy and fun to drive too. Excellent grocery go-getter.
I get the same in my 2023 Cadillac CT4
Something to point out at the 34:00 min mark the 2 cam gears, the exhaust cam gear is cut in 2 and you have to fit the gear with 1 tooth preload on the halves of sprung loaded sections of the gears this stops gear chatter, this set up is common on VW T4/5's and also transit diesel pump gears
First hybrid on this channel?
I don't recall one? Be interesting to see him work on an EV. They still have bearings, some have AC systems, and they ALL have complicated electrical systems.
Hylomar Blue non setting gasket jointing compound. Best stuff ever for sticking/keeping a gasket in place.
Ray removes half the engine for a timing belt.. lol
As a tech in the old gasket falling out catastrophe, I used to put Dan's of sealant in the groove where the gasket sits in order to keep it in place
but too easy will not create video footage for entertainment.
@@forgetfulme1719 this is true!
4 Non-Blonds sounds better in high-speed 😀
What I normally do when doing valve cover gaskets on those. I take that rear cover off and put some silicone just to hold the gasket in place and let the silicone dry and continue with the front cover and while I’m doing de front cover, the silicone is drying and will hold the gasket Then put the rear cover back on at last without issues
Ray, how tall are you?
I'm thinking about 6ft 5 inches..Ray?
You saw the customer posted video that asked that question?
@@clbcl5 Yes. Based on what the guy said, it made me curious. I didn't think Ray was that tall.
@@richardsmith2721 Might seem tallish because of the skinnyish.
I so understand that pain of the gasket. I went through same problems of it falling out on my 05 Altima 2.5L
It took me 5-6 times to finally get it to seat proper, drove me nuts. Good on you Ray for not losing your cool.
Remove engine
Hi Ray. You can *just* barely squeeze that wiring harness over the middle intake manifold brace, which will hold it out of the way while you install the valve cover. I think you have to disconnect the rear O2 sensor wire first though.
While you're in there, it'd be nice to check the valve lash. They're shims on buckets and pretty durable, but they do start to come out of spec at higher mileage. While you're there, you might also inspect the plate below the lower intake manifold that likes to weep coolant at high mileage (you can usually spot stains dribbling down on top of the eCVT). Top off that job with a new thermostat...
PS: I'm glad you bent those tabs on the spark plug tubes
My father, bless his cotton socks, taught me to make a cardboard template and punch holes where every bolt fitting should go, initially it seemed time consuming but paid off as the exact bolt was located in each hole nuts where wired on as well as clips then all the cards were stored on a shelf having been marked for which job it was for so if you got interrupted (frequently on a farm) it didn't create a problem coming back to a job later.
He said he learnt to do that when his dad decided to tidy up a work bench and put all the neatly laid out bits in a box.
I would use Cobond (sp) from FelPro to hold gaskets in place during assembly. A clear adhesive that took up little to no clearance. Made my tech life so much better. Great content, Ray. Keep em coming!
+ 1 for the patience and determination shown here. The widespread adoption of CAD assembly modeling software has made after sales service and repair a complete nightmare on most new vehicles. Just because a part or assembly CAN be made to fit on a workstation screen in a Design Engineering office doesn't mean it SHOULD be. Add the increasing number of cheap flimsy, single use and plastic parts and the chances for good quality, timely and reasonably priced repairs gets slimmer every year.
Always impressed by Ray's patience and attitude! IF I ever had to take half the engine compartmet apart like this, I'd need to have it on video! Not for TH-cam but jsut to remember where everything went!
In days of old, when gaskets refused to stay put when trying to install things, a solution was to use the tiniest bit of an adhesive, 3M-8001, to keep the gasket in place. "Gorilla Snot", the affectionate term for 3M's noble product was a life and limb saver, not to mention it kept you from losing your mind trying to out think an unruly gasket..... Used sparingly it sets up in about a minute or two and will keep the gasket in line with the covering. Especially useful for gaskets that have been creased in the box instead of laid flat. To paraphrase an old Brylcreem commercial, "A little dab will do ya...."
abundance, someone has suggested a tack spray to hold the gasket in place, I was thinking 1" wide shiney paper strips wrapped around the cover and gasket to form a handle then once in place bolts holding not tight cut and pull out should leave gasket exactly where it should be. just my way of thinking from across the pond.
Install the gasket Dry no oil at all on the valve cover gasket channel. Also put Vaseline on the spark plug tubes so the seals don't stick to them on install. it will cause a oil leak later down the road .
old time mechanic here--when ever I had tough gasket locations like that I would use yellow 3m weather adhesive put a couple of dabs apply and pull gasket up and down while blowing on it --it becomes super tacky almost dry. --with cork for paper gaskets it holds them like they were stuck on for yrs
Those white metal tabs with the holes in them below the windshield would be a great place to run tie wire through to wrap around the wiring harness and pull it up and out of the way so you could hold the gasket in place as you replaced the cover without interference from the wiring harness.
I'm impressed Ray is still alive after his last video... Inserting pictures of the Wife Unit was hilarious
(Dude, buy gasket glue, permatex tack spray works much better than room temperature vulcanization cream)
Howdy Ray, I was contemplating your nemesis, the wiring harness and cover gasket debacle and was thinking WWRD (What Would Ray Do) when it struck me that Ray would use some type adhesive, short term stuff, to aid in the installation process. So, while I was trying to figure out what you would do I came up with a couple of "ideas". One would be to link a couple of tie-wraps together to make it around the cover/gasket combo long enough to get said cover in place. Another idea was maybe a drop of silicone sealant artfully placed along the groove in the cover which would hold the gasket in place. If that didn't work then resort to good ol' Super Glue and a drop here and a drop there and... Ray's your mechanic! After watching this I'm glad my back can't do that stuff any more! You deserve some time off for that one. Are any fish running?? Take care!
Did a similar job a few years ago pain in the butt gasket i'm no expert but we tried a very small amount of gasket goo on the top side of gasket and held it in nicely so the part could be put on safely , I do admire your patience LOL Love the videos i have learned heaps ...Cheers from Australia Mate LOL
Here is an FYI info if you ever want to change the battery in some of these hybrids cars.
Go to a channel called Chris fix and the video is 4 years old hi changes the battery out of a Toyota Prius.
It might help you do something like this.
Thank you from WV.
If you move the bracket at the back middle of the valve cover you take it out and you can move the harness behind the head out of the way and makes it so much easier. not trying to go under the harness and over the spark plug tubes which is probably where the back side of the valve cover gasket is coming out.
Ray, that was a great idea to use the hydraulic jack handle, as an assist to a wrench or breaker bar! Love it. Great show mate. Here's a tip for you. If a hose is sticking while trying to remove it, first try pushing it on a little more while twisting, then remove it, this will probably work most of the time, works especially with water hoses, even if there is a stop node it still might release it by pushing it on. I know it sounds counterintuitive but as you know its all about breaking the bond between the hose and pipe. Hope you and your family are all well.