97 Avalon leading valve cover gaskets

[fasterblaster]

Youch. Just got notice from the dealer that my 97 Av has oil leaking from the valve covers. Didn't seem like a big deal to me. Put new ones on I say. Its a $100 for the parts and 5 hours labour ~$500.??????? What the.... I says.

I am thinking 1/2 hour each side. I have fixed lots of parts on lots of my cars over the years. Is this beyond the Sunday mechanic or is this one of those prescribed "book" costs when it can be done in 1-1.5 hours?

Any advice would be appreciated. Also does anybody know the torque spec for the valve cover bolts?

FB

[csaxon]

How bad is the leak? It might just need snugging the bolts up a bit.

It's easy to do but time consuming taking everything off and putting it back on.

[fasterblaster]

I was wondering about that.

Does anybody know the torque specs for the valve covers?

[csaxon]

Torque 8Nm, 80 kgf cm, 69 inch lbf.

[sloopercat]

Those bolts are also designed to breakaway if overtorqued. They did that to save breaking the head. So you will need to use the correct torque wrench. Your lucky you drive an Avalon instead of a Camry, if you decide to do that job yourself there is a lot more room to work on than a Camry. It is not a challenging job, just a lot of stuff to remove to get at the back cover. 5 hours flat rate, I am sure a decent mechanic can do it in 3 or less. You might ask around, discreetly of course, and see if any of the mechanics at the stealership moonlight.