Valve Gasket Cover?

[JayMax03]

I went to the dealership two weeks ago to get an oil change and they did an inspection on my car and found that I need a ??valve gasket cover?? I told them I would handle it at a later date. Would that cause oil leaks and make the engine heat up quicker after cranking the car up. Usually it would take 20 minutes for the car to reach normal temperature, but after a couple of weeks I noticed it got there a little quicker than 20 minutes. I'd say about 13 mins tops I know I don't have a radiator leak. As of matter of fact I don't have a leak period. They're going to charge me $90 to deal with the problem I just wanted to clear all of this up first.

So what do y'all think. They said I have an oil leak and I needed an valve gasket cover to fix it. And is it really $90 dollars? I don't mind paying it, but if its something major I'd would expect it would be over $150???

[Mike Gerber]

The valve cover gasket will cause oil leaks. The job should be about 1 hour of labor plus the cost of the gasket. The $90 seems very reasonable for this job. It will have nothing to do with your problem of heating up.

Mike

[xtremeskier97]

You can do the valve cover gasket yourself for about $20. And it is VERY easy to do on the 4cyl 5F-SE engine.

[JayMax03]

Originally Posted by xtremeskier97

You can do the valve cover gasket yourself for about $20. And it is VERY easy to do on the 4cyl 5F-SE engine.

alright then what do I need?

[bronzemaxell]

Originally Posted by JayMax03

alright then what do I need?

i would recommend get the valve cover gasket and 4 gromets for the spark plug stem. last time i walked into a local toyota dealer, cost roughly about $30 after tax for the parts, and some silcone at auto store or walmart.

on 4 cylinder camry, the valve cover is held by 4 big nuts, i think 30mm or 32mm, i forgot the exact side. pull out all 4 spark plug wires. remove 4 nuts, and valve cover, pretty straight forward, remove old valve cover gasket, wipe surrounding dirt , apply some silicone onthe half moons, put new valve cover gasket in, put valve cover back on, tighten the nuts to spec, put spark plug wires back, done.

[Mike Gerber]

The nuts are 30MM. The tightening torque spec for those nuts is 17 FT LBS.

Mike

[Venom_5]

^ correct

i think i Posted info about the job when i did it ...

[{-_-}]

Originally Posted by JayMax03

alright then what do I need?

It's pretty easy. I did mine last week when I noticed a leak while changing my plugs. I used silicone because it was not planned and I did not have a new gasket at the time.

In addition to what others posted, you need to loosen the harness on the left of the cover (goes to the alternator). I was told to do this as bending it too much can break the wires. You will also need to remove two small hoses or the PCV valve on the cover. If the hoses are brittle I would suggest changing them too.

[Venom_5]

look up RedPhoenix`s DIY ... thats what i followed and had no problems

it was for painting the cover, but it tells you exactly how to remove the valve cover