quarx300

Follow - up in case anyone else has a similar problem: The inside of the OCV finally came out by sliding a #8 Truss-head 2" machine screw in head first, fiddling with it until the head was firmly placed in one of the OCV's grooves, and pulling with a 16" pair of channel locks (Not enough power with the 8").

1999 RX300 with ~215,000mi. Intermittently rough idle, worse when warm, and CEL code p1354. Searched CL forums and symptoms seemed consistent with a sludged bank 2 OCV. Picked up a new one from the dealer, but when I tried to remove the old one it wouldn't slide out. Seemed to freely rotate circumferentially, but wouldn't budge when trying to pull it out. As a check I loosened the bank 1 OCV which slid right out without any problems. Tried more force prying on bank 2 OCV's mounting tab with a screw driver - caused the whole OCV to break in half. Now half of the OCV is stuck in the engine head and I can't figure out how to remove it. Tried to grab the lip with channel locks, then tried to sliding in a machine screw to use as a hook for pulling it out from the inside. Neither caused it to budge. Searched the internet and I found this happening to a Toyota Yaris owner who said he resolved the problem with a screw extractor, but I'm worried that metal filings could get loose in the head and mess things up. Broken OCV next to new OCV Old OCV close-up Other half of OCV is stuck! Do any creative mechanics out there have a good solution to get this thing out? Thanks so much in advance! -Mark