Valve covver gasket pic and rear brake shoes

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My 2003 Corolla has been making some growling noise for about 9 months and getting worse. Buddy of mine said it was a wheel bearing. I jacked it up and did the diagnostic by trying to pull the tires to see if they wiggle. None of them wiggle. Took it to a local tire and repair shop about 5 months ago. They said the wheel bearings all were fine and it might be the tires but the tires looked fine so.... come and get and take it home no charge. Took it to another shop yesterday and they diagnosed a rear wheel bearing. They also said it needs valve cover gasket, rear brake shoes, and new rotors. I bought new rotors 2 years ago but never installed them. Changed my brake pads last month and the rotors seemed fine but they seem to have warped since I installed the new pads.

Changing a bearing seemed a bit daunting to me so I had the shop do it. $300. I changed out my valve cover gasket and rotors today. Both were pretty easy to do. The rotors just took a lot of sledge hammer hits to loosen up.

Been studying how to replace rear brake shoes and I'm intimidated. Looks very easy to screw that up with all the springs and clips and whatnots. Is it as hard as it looks?

Here is a picture of the valve tops.

zlesdw.jpg
 
Wheel bearing are a piece of cake. Easier than a valve cover IMO.

Top end looks great!

Drum brakes are the devil. I despise them. It was a pre-req for my last car purchase that it had 4 wheel disc brakes. I'll never own another vehicle with drum brakes. No doubt the wheel bearing is an easier repair than the shoes.

GL. Don't really have any tips other than don't punch the wall too hard.
 
Leo99:

What kind of maintenance routine have you followed to get such a clean cylinder head valve train?

Type of oil and filter?
 
I hate drums so much, that rather than do a brake job on the rear wheels of my Alero, I have seriously considered going to the pull-apart and picking up a set of disc brake/hub assemblies, and changing out the drums for discs.

But, if after paying for the bearing job, you don't want to drop more cash on the brakes, and you decide to do them yourself, they are doable. You will need to pick up the right tools, to remove and install the springs. Another very important hint. Only disassemble one side at a time. Then, you can use the other side as reference. Also, before disassembling, take lots of pics with your smart phone or tablet. It's also important to turn the drum, to remove the ridge. Or just replace the drums.

For me, the change out isn't the hard part. It's getting them adjusted right. Arghhh!
 
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Originally Posted By: Throt
Wheel bearing are a piece of cake. Easier than a valve cover IMO.

Top end looks great!

Drum brakes are the devil. I despise them. It was a pre-req for my last car purchase that it had 4 wheel disc brakes. I'll never own another vehicle with drum brakes. No doubt the wheel bearing is an easier repair than the shoes.

GL. Don't really have any tips other than don't punch the wall too hard.



Thanks. I should have had them do the brakes and I'd tackle the bearing. My other car, the Rav4, has rear discs and I'm tackling them next weekend.
 
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
I hate drums so much, that rather than do a brake job on the rear wheels of my Alero, I have seriously considered going to the pull-apart and picking up a set of disc brake/hub assemblies, and changing out the drums for discs.

But, if after paying for the bearing job, you don't want to drop more cash on the brakes, and you decide to do them yourself, they are doable. You will need to pick up the right tools, to remove and install the springs. Another very important hint. Only disassemble one side at a time. Then, you can use the other side as reference. Also, before disassembling, take lots of pics with your smart phone or tablet. It's also important to turn the drum, to remove the ridge. Or just replace the drums.

For me, the change out isn't the hard part. It's getting them adjusted right. Arghhh!


When I bought the valve cover gasket at AutoZone, I took a glance at the brake tools. The guy that worked there was far less than encouraging about rear shoes. I'm going to pay someone to do the shoes.
 
Originally Posted By: 147_Grain
Leo99:

What kind of maintenance routine have you followed to get such a clean cylinder head valve train?

Type of oil and filter?


Various quick lube places for the first 200k miles with a 5000 miles OCI. Pennzoil yellow bottle and Bosch filter for the past 27k miles at 5000 miles OCI.

I have no reference points for what a valve train looks like dirty or clean so thanks for the praise!
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Throt
Wheel bearing are a piece of cake. Easier than a valve cover IMO.

Top end looks great!

Drum brakes are the devil. I despise them. It was a pre-req for my last car purchase that it had 4 wheel disc brakes. I'll never own another vehicle with drum brakes. No doubt the wheel bearing is an easier repair than the shoes.

GL. Don't really have any tips other than don't punch the wall too hard.


Ford was nice enough to put drum brakes on the rear of my Escape.
mad.gif
There is N O reason why in the 21st century drum brakes should be on any vehicle. I haven't even changed them yet and Im already frustrated with them!
 
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I need to do the valve cover gasket on my 2005 Scion tC. Toyota 2.4. I was wondering what the condition of your gasket was? I'm really worried that when I open it up it'll just crumble and fall inside.

Am I just paranoid?
 
Originally Posted By: sky
I need to do the valve cover gasket on my 2005 Scion tC. Toyota 2.4. I was wondering what the condition of your gasket was? I'm really worried that when I open it up it'll just crumble and fall inside.

Am I just paranoid?


I will be cardboardcrumbly....just be careful when lifting the valve cover...
 
You guys are a bunch of wusses. Drum brakes aren't THAT bad. My advice for doing them: Remove both wheels and drums, but take apart only ONE brake. Leave the other one fully assembled so you can see how everything goes together. 'Cause you almost certainly will not remember how it goes back together. Once one side is 100% done and reassembled, then start taking the other side apart and do that side.
 
Originally Posted By: sky
I need to do the valve cover gasket on my 2005 Scion tC. Toyota 2.4. I was wondering what the condition of your gasket was? I'm really worried that when I open it up it'll just crumble and fall inside.

Am I just paranoid?


It wasn't crumbly at all, just hard. The old gasket came out in one piece very easily. The gasket sits in the cover and it came right off and stayed in the cover. Then it just pulled right out.
 
Yep this is the way I started doing my drums. Not to bad of a job, just figure some extra time the first time you do them.

Originally Posted By: exranger06
You guys are a bunch of wusses. Drum brakes aren't THAT bad. My advice for doing them: Remove both wheels and drums, but take apart only ONE brake. Leave the other one fully assembled so you can see how everything goes together. 'Cause you almost certainly will not remember how it goes back together. Once one side is 100% done and reassembled, then start taking the other side apart and do that side.
 
Replace the wheel cylinders if doing the brake shoes, or they'll more than likely start leaking down the track. Honestly, if you haven't dealt with drums before, you're better off having it done at a shop.
 
Originally Posted By: jk_636
Originally Posted By: Throt
Wheel bearing are a piece of cake. Easier than a valve cover IMO.

Top end looks great!

Drum brakes are the devil. I despise them. It was a pre-req for my last car purchase that it had 4 wheel disc brakes. I'll never own another vehicle with drum brakes. No doubt the wheel bearing is an easier repair than the shoes.

GL. Don't really have any tips other than don't punch the wall too hard.



Ford was nice enough to put drum brakes on the rear of my Escape.
mad.gif
There is N O reason why in the 21st century drum brakes should be on any vehicle. I haven't even changed them yet and Im already frustrated with them!


There is one reason. Cheap. While disc/rotor brakes are cheaper on the front axle, it is more expensive on the back, because of the emergency / park brake. And when a car company is figuring how to keep the price down on an entry level car, they will go cheap on everything they can to save a buck here and a buck there.
 
Originally Posted By: exranger06
You guys are a bunch of wusses. Drum brakes aren't THAT bad. My advice for doing them: Remove both wheels and drums, but take apart only ONE brake. Leave the other one fully assembled so you can see how everything goes together. 'Cause you almost certainly will not remember how it goes back together. Once one side is 100% done and reassembled, then start taking the other side apart and do that side.


Exactly. And have a good pair of vise grips and a brake tool to lever/pull/pry springs....
 
I hate drum brakes. hate 'em. Ugly, oldschool, heavy, uninspired tech. I have changed out a handful of them and it's certainly doable - they are fussy to adjust and there is a particular assembly sequence, but not quite rocket science. Disc brakes are quicker and easier by far.

I went so far as to give away my drum brake tool. I vowed to never own a vehicle with drums again. Problem solved. Or so I thought.

Turns out, all of my disc-brake-equipped cars have a miniature set of drum brakes inside of the rear discs. The parking brake. You can't get away from drum brakes. At least the parking drum brakes are mechanical rather than hydraulic, and they last a long time. I begrudgingly bought another drum brake tool at a garage sale for $1.
 
Just got it back from the shop. $180 for the new shoes and a new hardware kit installed. If changing out brake shoes were going to be in my future again, I might have taken the time and endured the frustration to change them out but I expect to never to need to work on them again.
 
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