GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi,

The other day as I was changing oil in a 2003 base vibe, 1zzfe, I decided to look into the opening under the fill cap... and it looks like something is broken, or chipped. Can anyone confirm if it is, and if so, what this thing is, and how one might fix it? Picture attached.

Thanks!

That is different. Looks like its been cut, can't figure out how that might have happened. The tear/cut is in a piece of sheet metal under the valve cover, I think its a baffle to keep oil from splashing around off the camshafts too much, but I could be wrong about its purpose. I think that sheet metal baffle is permanently attached to the underside of the valve cover, so the replacement part may be the valve cover assembly.

There may be a valve cover replacement how-to here, I didn't look, but found one at http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/132-c ... -pics.html while looking for pictures of the underside of a 1ZZ valve cover.

Are you the original owner or did you get it used? Any car history that might explain it?

On one hand I'd say don't worry about it, its not a moving or critical part, but I can't tell from the picture, and if there is a triangular piece of that sheet metal missing and not just bent, then that is something you do not want floating around inside the engine.

The baffle gets bent downward by careless oil change techs as they jam the oil gun down in the filler hole. The bent baffle can get in contact with the camshaft which causes a ticking noise and damage to the baffle. IIRC Toyota had a TSB about this.

Hopefully there isn't anything of significance floating around in there!

Can you reach in there with a needle nose pliers and pull it out or at least pull it up out of the way? Does it move when you push on it?

I haven't pushed or pulled the thing, just took a photo I suspected it wasn't normal since it looked jagged.

As for history, it was bought now by my wife but she/we took it to various places for oil changes, so it could have been the metal fill hose. I did only the last 3 changes myself and I used a plastic funnel.

I guess I'm mostly worried that there might be a fragment floating around in there, but since it hasn't been an issue thus far, i won't get bent out of shape about it. If I can locate the TSB that would be good. As for checking it out in detail, maybe if/when I try to adjust the valve clearance.. thanks for the DIY (though I don't see this part in there).

I had never heard of the rough oil fill issue tsb before. Found a copy and attached it

In that thread from toyotanation, there was a picture of the underside of the valve cover. I copied the picture, and drew a red box over the area that is under the oil fill cap. The one pictured looks bent a little, don't know if that's normal, but the picture does show the baffle, it looks like its not something that can be replaced separate from the valve cover, really only useful to show wwhat part appears torn in your picture

Thanks joatmon. If that is indeed a hole in the baffle and not a bit that is bent back, then there must be piece of metal in there somewhere as I don't see how it would get out. I like how the TSB says to fix it if it's broken.. but as you say, seems like it would require replacement of the whole thing.

It's more likely that the hole was created gradually with the cam hitting the baffle. The metal shavings most likely went to the bottom of the oil pan or may have been caught by the oil filter. Since the engine seems to run fine there is likely no notable damage.

I know it's older - but thanks so much for this thread! It helped me understand what Jiffy Lube did to me to catalyze my oil uptake finally getting plugged enough that it cutoff oil flow. No more quick lube places for me, but I was able to sleuth together what made a quiet - perfectly running Vibe into a ticking/clacking vehicle in a few days after an oil change. I also wasn't convinced they put the right weight oil back in either. All trust went out the window with them.

You could actually see where the damage was because it was shiny from hitting the cam! The rest of the cover has that light patina from the oil heating up and coating it.

So for anyone who doesn't have a good location to service your oil, like me. Go to a dealership and avoid these kinds of places unless you want to end up with a bent baffle. Here is what I went through to resolve this issue: viewtopic.php?p=533906#p533906