Kiwi Newbie
Recently purchased a Two door io,1999 1.8 DOHC 4g93. Auto
Previous owner didn't give it too much love,I have just spent $1200 replacing the cam belt,cam shaft front oil seals,crank shaft front oil seal cam belt tensioner and idler bearing along with the alternator belt.
It's back in the shop on Tuesday to have the passenger side engine mounting replaced to stop the violent shaking when on stationary tick over when in gear.
Then we have to tackle the spark plugs and the cam cover gasket,I may have to do this myself as my budget is about to run dry, I can't believe the amount of things you have to remove to change the cam cover gasket.
Discovered another problem today.......the drivers side seat mounting beside the fuel release lever has rotted out.....I guess these are the pitfalls of buying 16 year old cars.
All in all though we will give this little beastie a new lease of life and hopefully it will show us some gratitude for saving it from its previous cruel owner !
Was hoping to find a thread on how to tackle the cam cover gasket but have had no luck !
Have to change it because it is leaking oil into the spark plug tubes !
Shimmi
Yes we changed the water pump too ! That was where the coolant leak was coming from that eventually caused all my savings to leak out of my bank account !
Thank you
Thanks for your reply,I think your engine is different to mine,I have to remove the whole intake manifold apparently in order to change the gasket on the DOHC 1.8 engine for some reason. ( I haven't had this confirmed yet )
I can't find any pictures of my engine anywhere.
engine
Does yours look like this, in post 10
http://pajerio.com/forum/aidans-pinin
If it is, it is a GDI. And I cannot help you here as I never worked on them....
Happy io
Well Done
Thank you so much,that is the first picture I have seen of the DOHC engine,I have trawled the internet for info on this we beastie but this engine seems to be in the minority.
I just wanted to see what I was up against before starting to pull things apart.
I know that the intake manifold is choked up and will need cleaning ( I have peared in through the throttle body when I was cleaning the throat out)
I am good with nuts and bolts and the mechanical stuff,but all this electronic wizardry is smoke and mirrors to me,so I am just a little concerned about screwing something up on the engine management side.
I had a bad experience from just cleaning the throttle body throat out,when I re started the car and took it for a run it drove real rough......I stopped after about 5 K and switched off and on again and it miraculously cured itself !
Anyway thanks again for your help,people like you are exactly why I joined the forum,when I tackle the gasket and change the plugs I will start a thread on the forum and detail my progress,unless of course I manage to find the process already embedded somewhere here.
gdi
The io wasn't sold in Australia (that I know off!) with the GDI. So most of us won't be able to explain how to do this gasket. Still they are a few proud GDI engine owner within the forum that might give you a few advices...if they have done this work....
Not a bad experience, rather a good one if it "miraculously cure itself!"
It will be good to see your work on progress, if you don't work out how to put some pics on your post, read this how to . http://pajerio.com/forum/how-attach-images-post
Happy io
Yes - the intake does have to come off to get to the gasket.
On the GDI engines the intake throats are vertical, the manifold comes up & over the intake camshaft and so it has to be removed to access the cam cover.
Please be aware - there are two types of GDI cam cover - early engines are one piece, later have two separate pieces - intake & exhaust - of course the gaskets are different, so make sure you have the correct gasket set. If you have the two piece, it may be possible to remove the exhaust side cam cover without removing the intake - but, if it is the intake side that is leaking, that doesn't do you much good.
This is a "pain in the butt" type job, I have done it, but I cannot give you a how to - I can give you a couple of pointers however - the intake manifold has several heat shields & brackets around the throttle body area and where the EGR bolts to the throttle body, you're going to have to feel for the bolts because you cannot see them - this makes reassembly a fun job. There are also two bolts that secure the intake to a brace that bolts to the side of the block - they can only be reached from underneath - as in lie on your back, under the car, and stretch your arm through the gap, past the axle, and hope they are not too tight.
Consider making a blanking plate to block the EGR passage - if such things are legally permissible in your corner of the world - the EGR is the primary source of the carbon in the intake.
By the way - it takes a lot longer to get everything apart than it does to reassemble - reassembly is going to look easy. Give yourself plenty of time - I started on a Wednesday evening, and finished on a Saturday, but I did not work more than an hour or two on any day except the Saturday, which is when I reassembled - I also took the intake manifold apart (my car had a two piece metal intake, some are one piece plastic) and pressure washed it to get rid of the carbon.
Whilst you have it apart - there are a couple of coolant hoses under the intake - the ones that lead to the throttle body - replace them before reassembly, whether or not they are leaking - I don't remember if they are 3/8" or 1/2", but you can buy a few feet of whichever size and cut to length - it would not be fun having to take all that apart again to replace a leaking hose.
Thank you
Thanks for taking time to reply,the car went in today to have the near side engine mount replaced,reasonably easy enough job but at the moment my garage is occupied by another project and the weather here is a little too unpredictable to be working outside.
Had a quote from the garage to do the gasket and clean out the intake manifold and replace the plugs for around $850.00 NZ which considering the amount of work is about right,but after reading your summary of the nuts and bolts of it,I feel confident I could tackle it later on when I have put my current project back together.
At least the io doesn't shake rattle and roll anymore when it's idling in drive.
I must admit the io is nice to drive and it is in remarkable condition considering it is 16 years old,The climate in Auckland is quite kind to our cars,the sun does tend to bite the paintwork a little but I think this car must have been garaged for a good deal of its life so it has avoided the clear coat scars of time.
When I get around to doing the gasket I will photograph the procedure and post it in the relevant area of the forum,the GDI does not appear to have strong support on here so I guess it would be well worth the effort in order to encourage someone else to pick up the spanners.
Oh well it's beer O'Clock here so I am going to have a cold one.
Thanks again FORDEM for your input,this appears to be a very helpful forum.
Photos, how did the rocker cover gasket change go.
Hi there. How did you go removing the intake ect to get to the rocker cover? Any photos you could chuck up? Also I think my engine mount is starting to go as I'm sometimes get the vibrating through the engine when stopped at stop sign,thanks
Syndicate
pajero io rocker cover
Welcome to the forum.
I have done the timing belt kit and also the rocker cover gasket at the same time, for the same reason as you, oil in the spark plug tube. It is not a hard work to do, nothing hidden or trap to avoid. I have only taken a couple of picture. From memory, you have to remove the air hose/tube that is after the air filter, the section on the top of the rocker cover, 2 collar and one or two bolt that hold it on the cover and a smaller hose at the back of it. Disconnect the 2 coil pack. Remove the coil pack, 2 bolt each and the spark lead and spark plug. From there you should be able to remove the bolt that hold the cover. Remove the hold gasket, an small flat screw driver can help to remove it from the groove. Remove the hold rubber on the top of the spark plug tubes. Degrease the top of the tubes and the section where the new gasket will sit, you can pass a fine grit sand paper or steel wool if you have old sealant left (I prefer fine steel wool as it leave little to no scratches). degrease/clean again. Degrease the inside of the cover where the new rubber is going to be but also where the rubber spark plug's tube are going to be.
Fit the new gasket and new rubber on the top of the spark plug tube. I used no sealant on mine at all (my choice, other rightfully do put some) put the cover back on, tight the bolt by hand, then add about a full turn. The correct torque is 3.4 NM and if you over tight it, this is where it will fail (leak oil)
Notes
Check where the spark plug lead are connected before removing them ! Maybe have a feel on how tight are the rocker cover bolt before removing them (undo a bit then tight to the original position to have a feel) DO not over tight, Do not make big scratches on the head, degrease properly.
Why I use no sealant, this is mainly because it didn't have any before and it didn't gave me any problem for about 200000kms.
You might need new lead as oil may have damaged them, and why not get new plug at the same time (I use the irridium and except the price I am happy with them)
Again, this is from memory and I may have forgotten something. I am sure that other will add to complete or correct me if needed.
I hope this will help you....
Happy io
Unplug the coil pack
Cover removed
Top of the spark plug tube where the seal fit
Sorry no other pictures.
My io is now SOLD Thankshttp://pajerio.com/forum/claudes-io-2002-zr-built-thread-onlyhappy-io