Toyotakarl case: Northstar valve cover gasket

[Its me]

So I am now the owner of a 1999 Deville, equipped with the infamous Northstar engine… Which works great when it works, but is known as a PITA engine to work on which can suffer from pulled head bolts, thus leading to head gasket leaks. Also these are known to suffer from oil leaks from the case seals and rear main…

The problem with the head gasket leak can be fixed permanently by studding the engine (Timeserts and Bigserts have been shown to fail shortly after replacement). Studding the engine is a time consuming process because the whole engine needs removed to do this (no access to pull the rear bank)… The prescribed way to repair this is to drop the entire engine cradle and pull the engine. Also the engine is known to leak at the case seal joints… The problem has been fixed by removing the gaskets and using anerobic sealer. Yet another expensive and time consuming project… But hey, my labor cost is cheap… 😛

All of this is usually more expensive than the car is worth, hence why you can find grandma condition, garage pampered Cadillacs on Craigslist for $700-$1000, but these require much work, specialty tools and the know how to fix it right.

I got my Caddy as a trade for two empty toolboxes… A good deal in my opinion… This Cadillac was improperly diagnosed as a bad headgasket.. It was overheating, but was not a headgasket problem, the waterpump pulley (which is on the back side of the front cam) was melted away and the belt came off… thus the waterpump was not working… A $50 fix and I had a great running car with only 115k miles on it. These Northstars are powerful smooth engines… Definitely a treat to drive if you have ever drove one..

The Deville I have is in immaculate condition and I intend to drive it for a while… But I am not forgetting my Toyotatude… I bought a 1996 RAV4 2door, 4WD, 3S-FE powered for my niece. The RAV needs a new head (old one cracked)… Also will put a new clutch in it… The whole powertrain has to come out the bottom for the clutch on a 4WD so I hope to show you this project in the near future…

Anyway, back to the Northstar… I noticed some oil burning smell from the backside of the engine and saw where oil was getting out on the rear bank.. So I replaced the gasket..

The job is simple:

Remove beauty cover, remove stiffener bar, remove plastic cover over radiator, remove coil pack and rear plug wires, disconnect EVAP connector, disconnect PCV valve, disconnect front engine dogbones, remove both cooling fans, Jack up car and support, unbolt exhaust and push away, remove small plastic splash cover under engine, then put jack under front engine cradle, remove two front engine cradle bolts, lower front section slowly, remove valve cover attachments, disconnect rear O2 sensor plug, pry the coolant pipes for room to remove two rear bolts then remove the valve cover…

It took me about 50 minutes to have everything off… All totaled about 2 hours for the job…

Here are the pics..

Here is the engine all torn down to my prize…..

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_155605_zps5c75d26f.jpg[/IMG]

Fans removed

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_155830_zpsd758bedc.jpg[/IMG]

(TIP!) Drivers side fan could not be removed unless this cooler line is removed..

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_155838_zpsfddffd63.jpg[/IMG]

View from under…

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_155625_zps45493574.jpg[/IMG]

Close up… Note the coolant pipes, those are in the way of two of the bolts… Gently pry it back for room to remove them, then remove the valve cover….

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_164403_zpse9d26ddf.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_155638_zps7cf05e4b.jpg[/IMG]

Prep for install

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_162505_zpsbacba17f.jpg[/IMG]

Torquing the bolts to 89 in-lbs

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_164329_zpsa1e2ae0c.jpg[/IMG]

Sewing up the patient..

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_171219_zps9dde4d9b.jpg[/IMG]

All back together…

[IMG]http://i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r584/karlh2345/20140328_175820_zps45e688cb.jpg[/IMG]

Topic

[Bill]

Excellent job T.K.

[Lorrin Barth]

The engine looks better without the cover.

[Author]

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