1997 Camry LE V6 oil leak

[97camrydriver]

I have a 97 camry v6 and have an oil leak. I took it into a shop to get the oil changed (time constraint) and ended up having the mechanic tell me I had an oil leak in a valve cover gasket and said he would change it for $350 parts and labor. Im just wondering if this is a good price for the job and if any one knows any other respectable shops that can do this work in or around Orange County, California cause I would like to take my car into a shop with a good reputation in dealing with toyotas other than the dealership. Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

[shanzhu1]

I assume it is probably similar between 96 and 97. The Gasket costs $15 from
Toyota dealer.

Depending which valve gasket leaking on yours, rear one (more difficult to fix) or
front one, you might be able to do it yourself.

For me, I changed the rear one and it took me one and half day since I never did
that before.

If you are kind of hands-on person, you could do it yourself or you could shop around
and I think you should be able to find a garage charging less. You do not need
to go to dealers.

By the way, if it is rear one, you might want to consider changing spark plugs as well.
The coolant will normally need to be drained due to a water pipes disconnection
in the course of change the rear valve gasket, so you need to do coolant flushing
as well.

[PRG]

I had a valve cover gasket replaced for $100 or less on my V6 Chevy truck, so $350 seems kinda steep.

[JetspeedCamry]

Originally Posted by PRG

I had a valve cover gasket replaced for $100 or less on my V6 Chevy truck, so $350 seems kinda steep.

Your truck is RWD?? If so..then its an easy job.
FWD V6..if it's your rear bank thats leaking requires removal of the intake plenum and all assorted hoses etc. Some can do it without removing it, but im pretty sure most mechanic shops would go the whole hog. In which case..the labour charge is quite high.

[Eye8Pussies]

you can't do the rear bank on the 1mz without removing the intake plenum....

and labor + part at an independent mechanic should be about 200CAN or so


and as shanzhu said, you may as well change the spark plugs back there while your're at it

[GaviN]

Damn, do Camry's suffer from this ?? My aunt just had her oil pan gasket changed as well as her seals on her 00-le-v6 and I just had mine done AND my Uncle changed his seals back in December on his 94 SE..

[Eye8Pussies]

^ well, you know.....after 10 years.....


and mine actually didn't leak until about 2 years ago....but it's such a small leak, there's not much point in worrying about it....I'll fix it when I do my spark plugs and relocate my knock sensors...

[GaviN]

^^^Well what about my aunts 2000

[Eye8Pussies]

^ no idea?

must be a lemon


but think about it.....both you and your uncle just did you yours....his is a 94, and yours is a 93....

it is now 2005...not too shabby for a small leak if you ask me

[GaviN]

^^ Well being that teh fact that they were all Camry's I was just asking a simple question.. My aunts car isnt a lemon either, in fact I envy her car. One of the few V6-5sp's that I've ever seen for that body style. Its just that I've been reading a lot of oil leak stories on here lately. Im in no way knocking Camry's because mine has 232k miles and shows no signs of quitting anytime soon. I saw a Gen3 on ebay yesterday with 330k miles