Proper torque for the spark plug tube nuts

[ycartf]

My daughter's fiance had some oil seepage from the valve cover gasket on his 92 or 93 Camry wagon. I looked up the torque for the spark plug tube nuts (I have the pdf format factory manuals for the Gen 3 and Gen 4 Camry). These are both 5SFE engines, but the torque that is specified for the Gen 4 (like my wife has) is 33ft/lb, and the specified torque for the Gen 3 is only 17ft/lb. I torqued his to 17ft/lb, but there is still seepage from the valve cover. Does anyone know why the difference (or if there should be a difference)?

Thanks,

Tracy

[Mike Gerber]

I'm not certain of this, but I think the 33 ft/lbs is for installing the spark plug tubes themselves in to the head, without the valve cover on. The 17 ft/lbs is for the tube nuts. I think you can safely go up to 19 ft/lbs for the nuts without a problem.

Are you using a new valve cover gasket or trying to retorque the existing gasket?

Mike

[ycartf]

Originally Posted by Mike Gerber

I'm not certain of this, but I think the 33 ft/lbs is for installing the spark plug tubes themselves in to the head, without the valve cover on. The 17 ft/lbs is for the tube nuts. I think you can safely go up to 19 ft/lbs for the nuts without a problem.

Are you using a new valve cover gasket or trying to retorque the existing gasket?

Mike

Nope ... looking back it is 17 ft/lb for the nut (pg EG1-15) and 29 ft/lb for the tube (pg EG1-68) for a Gen 3 ... and 33 ft/lb for the nut (pg EM-57) and 36 ft/lb for the tube (pg EM-53) for a Gen 4. This is from the 5SFE pages of the pdf format manual stuff put out by Toyota. Both being 5SFE engines, the big difference in the torque for the nuts has me wondering.

I was retorqueing the original gasket (that was seeping) on his Gen 3, as I know that after doing my wife's new head gasket a couple years ago, I got another quarter turn out of 'em after waiting a few weeks and redoing 'em. I told him he will probably need a new one.

Tracy