Arcturus

Hello,

I was looking under the hood of my 2003 LS430 the other day and noticed some oil weeping under the bolts of the valve cover gasket on the passenger side. Driver's side seems to be okay.

Although it only has 114,000 kms. I have heard that this is a common trouble spot on this car.

Although it's not bad right now (no smoke or heavy oil consumption), I would like to replace it at some point.

I've done this before on an V8 pickup and it was relatively easy. However this car has significantly more stuff in the way.

Anyone have a step-by-step for this vehicle? Something to tell me what things I need to remove to access it? I have the service manual but can't seem to see instructions relating to this.

Thanks!

Brewmyown

I've never got the idea at all that the valve cover gaskets are known to leak. I have 191,000 on my 2002 and they've never been changed and don't leak a drop. I have meticulous records from the previous owner (all work done at Lexus) and they weren't done up to when I got it with 125,000 on it.

writes123

i've seen a few 01-03's where the valve cover gaskets need to be replaced due to age. rubber wears out eventually. some may depend on driving environment.

Brewmyown

Have you tried to "snug" the bolts up some? Don't force it but give it a try. Especially it its from right around the bolts. Many times leaks are found in some cars when you go to change your plugs. I was doing plugs my neighbors BMW 535 and when I pulled a plug boots some of the holes had an inch of oil it it.

LSBen

I had small amounts oil drips on the floor of my garage which was coming from the valve gasket covers. I could of lived with it and just refilled the oil when it gets low but had a Indy Toyota shop replace it along with the spark plug seals. Paid $414. Done at 137k miles on my 01 LS430

Boomer01

I had similar leaks around my gasket covers and just had the Toyota dealership replace both. From reading up on it, it seemed like a long and tedious job.

LSBen

My shop charged me 4.5 hours

Tom57

Replaced valve cover gaskets (and spark plug seals) on my 2001 this year at about 235K miles. Started noticing drips on driveway in December - January during one of the coldest winters on record in IL. Weather conditions do have effect on longevity of these type of gaskets. Perhaps I could've snugged up (re-torqued) the valve cover retaining bolts as a temporary fix, but after seeing the condition of the old gaskets, the new gaskets won't leak for the remaining life of the car.

Brewmyown

What area of Illinois do you live? I'm in Cystal Lake if you know where that is.

JoshuaaXD

It's very straightforward. Most guys on the ls430 forum don't know how to work on cars. If you buy me a valve cover set, I'll do a step my step diy on how to do it.

Arcturus

Normally valve covers are just a few bolts to unscrew and pull out. Clean up the surface, replace the gasket and reinstall with a torque wrench.

However I'm sure on this car there's a bunch of cr*p in the way. Just curious if someone has done this job with pictures. Seems like this is a very common problem on this car and it'd be good to know if there are any special tricks to getting at the bolts or any things to remove to make life easier.

Otherwise I'll tear into them one weekend and post the job myself!

Arcturus

Not yet. I'll give that a try. Looks like oil seepage so it's not super bad yet. Maybe just tightening the bolts will fix it.

Brewmyown

Considering the plugs go right through the covers and the plugs are simple to change, the covers shouldn't be too bad at all.

KawiLex

My buddy, Bram the Butcher, and I routinely talk about putting a Chevy LS engine in our LS's when the time is right. It'd be nice to have 500 HP under dare boys!

Arcturus

I recommend starting with this:

http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/nal-19201333