Gasket, seal packing, and torq-ing in weird hard area???

[everchang]

Hi. Need some fresh advice.

I got a rubber valve cover gasket from the Toyota dealer.

1) Is it necessary to prep the gasket first with silcone (or whatever) before putting it on? Or should I just put the rubber gasket straight on, no prepping; just clean the mating surface?

2) Is it necessary to putting little dabs of seal packing on those common areas - "leak prone areas", like the half moon area, cam area place (sorry, don't know what they're call)?

3) What actually IS "seal packing"? Is it the black RTV gasket maker stuff??

Thanks for your help. This is my first time doing the valve cover gasket change on my '96 Camry LE V6. Man, the right side (rear, closest to firewall) is a pain in the A$$. Taking the Air Intake Chamber off/accessing that area is okay. But then, taking the right side valve cover off is a bittch because there is a group of wiring harness that goes over that valve cover. Moving it out of the way was nearly impossible. Accessing the 4 of 8 valve cover bolts closest to the firewall was a bittch too.

4) How do I torque those bolts to spec once I get my valve cover back on? There's no room and my torque wrench doesn't fit in that area???

[Toysrme]

1) Yes. Clean the mating surfaces with a liberal amount of isopropyl alcohol, or wipe it with acetone. Give it a couple of min to evaporate.
2) Yes you do. Read the manual. (The bearing caps do get sealer)
3)

• Ultra black RTV. Buy the 13oz spray can. It's 2/3 less expencive than the small tube.
• Buy a flex shaft extension. Crack the tension off the bolts with a normal wratchet, then spin them on & off with the flex shaft. A cordless impact driver is irreplaceable if you have one.

4) Do it by hand. A wratched sized torque wrench will fit no problems.