2000 v6 camry oil leak on exhaust pipe

[canucklehead2004]

My 2000 camry V6 CE only has 74K miles. I started smelling oil in the cab (a faint whiff occasionally). the filter and drain plug show no signs of leak. then I saw some oil on my garage floor. I now see it drips onto exhaust pipe very close to CAT (I think that's the CAT??).

I did a search and found little, but another user posted oil leaks and I see someone replied the rear valve cover might be it. Are these a common problem? With relatively low mileage?

Is there an improved rubber gasket, or the OEM one?

I can't see the obvious location of the leak. Before I dive into a PITA valve cover gasket job, is there some way to pin-point this problem?

thanks!!!!!

[hodgoes2001]

I have this issue with my camry...

only not to that extent...

And mine has 245000km on the clock (don't ask me how many miles that is)

Anyway...

I am using it is a excuse to fix it and paint my tapit covers :P

[1996camry]

sound like a valve cover went bad ...a pic would be good, too

[canucklehead2004]

multiply by .62 to convert kms to miles. You have about 151K Miles.

I am in Canada, so i'm actually in KM aswell (115-120KM).

Not sure where i could take a pic from to show problem. I saw the exhaust pipe wet where I described, and a couple small oil stain/puddles on garage floor. From on top, it looked pretty clean. even the leaked oil was super clean (I did recent oil change...this problem started about 2 weeks later).

from the poking around I've done on these forums, it sounds like an awful job. do they use a gasket, or some type of liquid gasket material?

while the cover is off, is there any kind of valve adjustment that should be looked at? Do these covers come off to do timing belt? If so, I may wait and do it all at the same time.

[SirThomas88]

Sounds like it's your rear valve cover gasket leaking. Quite common. Mine leaks quite badly. Runs down my back exhaust header and burns off when I start the car, creating quite a bit of white smoke.

Just keep an eye on your engine oil level and put in a quart of oil when you need to.

[canucklehead2004]

so is this a job to tackle when i do timing belt? I was told Toyota says 150,000KM (about 90-100K Miles) for timing belt. I checked last night and I have 117,000 Kilometers.

do these require valve adjustments?

[carsrus]

The rear valve cover wont really be easier during the timing belt. I would recommend changing out the spark plugs and wires while your in there.

Valve adjustments aren't needed. You can check the clearances, but these Toyota engines are reliable because of there cam and valve design.

If you can get a hand behind there and tighten the bolts on the cover the seepage should slow down, also when it warms up the seepage will slow down.