Hi all. I just got my car back from the dealership. They said my rear brake pads are 2mm/10mm so I gotta replace them soon.

they also said I have a small leak from the valve cover gasket. I watched videos on YouTube and it looks like a very long long long job, but not too difficult. Do you guys recommend me doing this? I haven’t seen the leak myself but I’m assuming I’d replace the rubber seals for both right and left sides.

or do you recommend me to just tighten the bolts? If so, what torque amount to use? 53lb maybe?

Or should I just ignore it all together because it’s a small leak and I can just continue to add oil to it.

Any advice would be welcomed!

 

Remember, those are 53 INCH lbs, not foot lbs if you decide to just tighten the bolts.

 

oh perfect. Thanks! Any advice on whether I should replace the rubber gaskets though? Lol

 

First, how much oil have you been adding? I would remove the covers and look for yourself.

 

haven’t needed to add any engine oil. I checked the engine oil stick and I’m still in the good zone. Engine oil change was done 1k miles ago... and uhhh 4 months ago (haven’t driven it much due to pandemic).

 

When I did mine I also replaced the high pressure fuel pump gaskets. With the battery tray still installed and battery removed I was able to squeeze out the spark plug coil pack in that area. The battery tray flexed just enough. That saves some time.

One thing to watch for...
There are about a half dozen o ring type gaskets that will stick to the valve covers when you remove each cover. The orings should be pulled off the valve covers and held in place on the cylinder head in their correct groove with assembly lube. Otherwise its very easy to have one fall or get scraped off while reinstalling the cover.

At 175k miles my spark plug tube seals were also leaking badly. Fyi, only oem tube gaskets seal correctly. Ask me how I know . Since the coil packs will be out it's an easy time to replace them.

The entire process goes a lot quicker than you might imagine. Everything is pretty easy to access. Much easier than a v6 camry or es300.

Good luck!

 

is it easy to tell if the valve gasket is leaking vs spark plug tube seals?

 

Take the engine covers off and look. Take pictures of any oil you see and don't wipe it off until you take pictures first. We can all help you decide what you should do then.

 

I’d obviously take a look at it and make a decision. Keep in mind most cars on the road have something leaking or weeping a little bit here and there...an oil pan, a valve cover gasket, whatever...no need to run out and get it fixed. That thing may weep for ten years without it causing a problem, so I’d really only do it if it was an EASY job, an inexpensive job or if it was leaking badly. Otherwise I’d just leave it.

I once bought a Honda Accord brand new...oil pan gasket started leaking at 14,000 miles. For some reason I never bothered to get it fixed even when it was under warranty...that thing leaked all the way till the day I sold it with 289,000 miles. Never had to add oil because of it, never ruined my driveway or anything. In fact it protected the oil pan from rusting out. So it really depends.

 

Taking the covers off to inspect is practically the same amount of work as simply replacing the outer gasket and spark plug well gaskets. He's going to ruin the seal and likely damage the existing gasket doing the inspection. Then, he has to put it back on with FIPG in the correct spots.

May as well just replace the gaskets if taking off the covers. Gasket kits are cheap, typically include outer gasket, well gaskets and the o-ring gaskets for the bolts. Just add some Toyota FIPG and you have the materials. Then it's a matter of time and tools. Some of the bolts are going to be fun unless you have an assortment of wobble and universal joints. It's doable as a DIY, but I would tackle it only with some wrenching experience.

 

I asked them about where the leak was and they said it’s hard to see from the top, but they could see the oil dripping on the bottom covers. So I am definitely curious. I’ll try to see if I can take the black covers off this weekend and take pics to show.

 

Noooooo, Just the engine covers, NOT the valve covers. Just take off the plastic covers to see the engine..

 

If you have leaking spark plug grommets, you will have oil in spark plug wells.

If leaking oil gets on your starter or a sensor connector, it might eventually cause starter or sensor premature failure.

 

With the engine covers off, you can see the leak if its bad enough to deal with.

 

Man, I just noticed my coolant tank is low.