they are easier to work on than others. I have a long time Toyota friend who can do a lot of the work and that is a big convenience.

 

Adding this to the collective knowledge:

My mechanic replaced both my valve cover gaskets before Christmas. I drove it a little and noticed it smelled and then I caught Covid and didn't drive much for a few weeks. Once I finally got healthy and started driving it, I noticed the burning smell was pretty extreme & my oil level was low. I took back into the shop and my mechanic said one of the gaskets had failed (I guess it split or "disintegrated") and he replaced both again.

He said he'd never seen this before and couldn't understand what happened. I just picked it up yesterday and am assuming it's good.

 

Did he use OEM parts?

 

Even the cheapest gaskets are not going to be "split" and fail like that he botched the job I would never go back to that mechanic.

 

As long as the mechanic didn't charge you the second time. Standing behind their work says a lot. No one is perfect.

 

It is always best to use OEM parts for certain things, it is helpful if you know a little about mechanic stuff also this forum helps a lot.

 

I guess I forgot to ask if it was OEM (I was sick during that time and didn't even think about it). He did not charge me for the second round.

This shop is new to me (but recommended by a friend): I called them early in December to ask if I could bring my own pads and rotors and was told "Sure you can bring your own, but we can't warranty anything of yours." (which is fair). It was their gasket that failed, thank goodness.

 

Book time is 5.4 hours for this btw......I forgot to mention that sooner. Anything more than that and they are ripping you off

 

I'm super frustrated with my car. It was leaking oil and my new mechanic (highly recommend by a friend) diagnosed it as bad valve cover gasket(s). He replaced them in December but the car started burning oil pretty badly. I took it back and he said one of the gaskets had gone bad (something he'd never seen before) and he replaced both of them. Several hundred miles and it's burning oil again: I can smell it - especially when I'm stopped - and when I park it at home I can see the smokey haze coming from the engine bay.

I realize the issue is likely due to oil from the oil system leaking into 1+ cylinders but I'm shocked he couldn't fix this.

I'm not sure what to do. My options are:

1. Go back to this shop, although I don't want to. He's struck out twice so far
2. Take it to a Lexus or Toyota dealer and prepare to overpay. Not really an option I want to pursue.
3. Try another shop that my old-school tire guy recommends. It's a longer drive but I'm hoping they can fix it as they are a larger shop.
4. Drop some of that Bar's Leak sealant crap into the oil and sell the car.

What would you guys do?

 

I guess yo can diy check spark plug wells. If you (he?) just replaced perimeter gaskets but skipped plug well seals - there's your problem. Pull some coils, look down there. Coil tips covered in oil?

Oh, memories. While on my trusty LS430 several years ago I had a misfire from cyl3. Limped home. Horrid winter. Turned out - all wells were full of oil. Two coils cracked. Next day I was on my way to my then-mechanic (having replaced with spare coils and cleaned mess with screwdriver+cloth) with 8 well gaskets and 2 perimeter ones. Wham bam, went well (""), old well gaskets were hard as plastic. On my way home noticed the smell. Oil. Lots. One perimeter gasket was pinched and a small but steady stream of fresh oil was pissing straight on the exhaust. Cool story, eh? Mech SWORE that 'it's not possible! i felt it all by hand first! i will replace it again of course but... i dont think it's my fault but blah blah'. Uhuh. New mech time that was. So, it only cost me some nerve cells and one new gasket extra. But what a ride. It happens.

 

Did he actually replace them? It's not a gasket that is that easy to "roll" when reinstalling, the other possibility is that he tried to reuse the high pressure fuel pump gaskets. You can't reuse those.

 

To add, this is a 2012 with 108K miles.

During the second install, he replaced the plugs and tubes (or gaskets) so I'd like to rule that out. During install #1, he claimed to have replaced the fuel pump gaskets.

 

The fuel pump gaskets are visible from the top with the plastic motor cover removed. You should be able to tell if you got new ones installed.

 

I'm getting even more frustrated with this car. When I was younger and the car market wasn't screwed up, I would already have gotten rid of this thing:

• Car was still burning oil after my new mechanic replaced the valve seals twice.
• Took my LS into my new new shop. Owner calls and says "Who worked on this before?!" and tells me the previous guy did it wrong. Like some of you wondered: the gaskets on the fuel pump were not replaced & new new shop did this now (which requires tearing apart the top end of the motor.... again). I was talking to the owner when I got the car back and he told me how it's easy to NOT do the gaskets right: you have to align everything just right and button the motor up carefully.
• LS no longer leaks oil/burns oil but now I'm getting a slight whiff of gasoline. !@#$%^&*!

This new shop is good and I'm guessing they'll be able to fix the issue, but this will be the FIFTH time it will be in for repair and I'm super frustrated.

 

If the smell of gas does not go away soon, I would say that the high pressure pump(s) was not torqued properly or/and aluminum washers were (for pressure pulsation dampers) not replaced.