The drivers side was a pain. There is a bolt and pipe in the bottom of the cam area that caught my gasket and then when I installed it, it ended up tearing.

I had oil everywhere, I went to fill up with gas and people thought my radiator had a leak.

I took it off and swapped the old one back on. I will replace with a new one once it comes in.

The spark plug tube seals were a needed replacement. they were hard and scorched. they broke into pieces as I popped them out.

Watch out for the lower bolt with the tube. Inside the cover. When reinstalling lower the bottom over and below this bolt and then the job will go smoothly.

 

Yes no one escapes Valve cover gaskets on our cars. They all leak sooner or later...usually sooner. The passenger side is the biggest pain, but important to do both at the same time. Also... while in there do the plugs even though mine looked hardly worn after 125,000 miles!

 

I did this job over the past couple days. I've turned some wrenchs in my day but its been awhile. It was quite a pain. I did the driver side first. This is an 83000 mile 2003 LS. The first thing was the bolts were finger tight. I've seen the post that say tighten, but some you have to remove so much stuff, you might as well do the job. Both sides, the hardest part was getting enough slack in the large wire harness at front of valve covers. The driver side- Removing the oil dipstick tube bolt isnt that hard, but installing the same bolt required taping the bolt into a socket and removing the plastic underbody crap by the front tire to get a more straight shot. The rear lower valve cover bolt is also a pain. After the driver side, I went to O'Reilley and the had a whole kit of 10 MM sockets, universals, and lenghts that made the passenger side eaier to get the bolts out, and torque them. Drivers side would have been easier with this assortment. The passenger side is a little more cramped.The hardest part is figuring out how to position the cover back in place. You have to line up all 4 spark plug tubes, while fighting the damn harness up front while getting it in right place all without dislodging gasket. Luckily the gasket fits in cover well. I still tacked it in place with weatherstrip adhesive in a few places.; Also get the real Toyota FIPG, stuff is amazing, turns to rubber overnight.

The gasket itself was fine. Rertorqing probably would have worked for awhile. But, the spark plug seal tubes crumbled, even though they did not leak. Overall I am glad I did it. Also changed spark plugs. Original plugs still had original gap and were in excellent shape. I guess that iridium stuff really works.