Cylinder head assembly [Toyota RAV4 XA20]

1. Working with the first valve, dip the new valve stem seal into clean engine oil, then carefully push it onto the valve stem end of the guide bushing using a suitable socket or a piece of metal pipe as a drift. Please note that although theoretically valve stem seals should be color-coded to match their intended purpose, in practice, the color of the seals does not always match Toyota documentation. For example, intake valve stem seals for engines produced before 2000 should be gray or brown, while exhaust valve stem seals for the same engines should be black. On late production engine caps, from 2001 onwards, an identification mark can be seen on the top of the cap (you may need to use a magnifying glass to do this). If you look closely, you can see the EX mark for the exhaust valve caps and the IN mark for the intake valve caps (see Figure 11.1).

Note: Intake valve stem seals are different from exhaust valve stem seals - don't get confused them during installation.

2. Lubricate the valve stems and place them in their places in the head. If you install new valves, place them in the places where they were ground in (see Figure 11.2).



3. Install the spring seats, then install the springs with the upper plates.

4. Compress the valve spring with a compressor and insert the crackers into the groove on the valve stem. Release the compressor to compress the valve springs and repeat the procedure for the remaining valves.

(The original text is posted on Toyotaman.ru)

5. After completing the installation of valve springs on all valves, place the head on wooden blocks so that the valve plates do not rest on the blocks. With a hammer through a wooden block (as a mandrel) tap lightly on the ends of the valves so that the crackers fit tightly into the grooves.

6. Now you can install the cylinder head with the remaining components as described in section A, B or IN this chapter.