Make sure all of the (4) nuts and the pcv are removed. Other than that it should come off easy. Have you tried to pry the front side and lift up from there? You will definitely have to use a new valve cover gasket. Please let us know how it go.
Add- sorry I read so fast that I wasn't awared of the question. I would just use force or pry it out and it will come out.

 

I managed to get a short flathead screwdriver back there to pry it off. It had been leaking oil for a long time but it stopped when I torqued the nuts to 33 ft lbs. I guess that is why it was stuck.

 

I hope the mating surfaces weren't damaged, remember to use Permatex Ultra Grey when reinstalling the "half moons"! I clamped a straight edge over the top of the insert to make it 100% flush with the head until the UG set up.

 

Do yourself a favor and spend $4-5 more and get Toyota FIPG. You will be glad you did!

 

some like FIPG black, but others swear by Permatex The Right Stuff (in spite of the cheese wiz applicator!) or Loctite 518 anerobic, but Permatex UG works ok in this application IME.

oil pan? maybe FIPG...

 

Clean off the semi-circular plugs with alcohol and reinstall as stated above so the RTV can stick well.

The Permatex Ultra Grey is fine and handles higher torque but it's rigid. For the valve cover area the softer Ultra Black or the high-temp Ultra Copper work well too. I think Permatex RTVs are excellent. They're all I use.

 

I don't have long term results yet but I've recently used ultra blue which I've had success with for decades in other stuff and I'd use the copper before I'd use the black. Leave the "Right Stuff" for where it's intended.......FIPG jet ski pump seals. :naughty:

Ultra Blue FTW!!! :thumbsup:

 

I replaced the valve cover gasket and the tube gaskets with Felpro. Cleaned the mating surface (but without alcohol because I didnt have any). I used Permatex RTV High Temp Red on the corners but none on the half moons. Tube nuts torqued to 17 ft lbs. I hope it doesn't leak!

 

to be clear, you MUST use some type of oil resistant sealant on the half moons! Did you just leave the old sealant in place? That's OK as long as no oil is leaking.

 

As I mentioned before here, I don't know exactly when or why anybody started recommending 17ft lbs but I don't like it.

If you decide to stay at 17 ft lbs, I would suggest retorquing almost daily for the first week and then weekly up until a month. Then I probably still wouldn't feel good about it.

Only after 20 ft lbs is about where a common 1/2" ratchet starts to snug pretty tight for bare hands and even at the 30 ft lb mark on my torque wrench, I saw that torque setting drop about 10 ft lbs in 2 weeks time. I'd highly recommend starting at 26 or 28 with a follow up retorquing up to the 30 ft lb mark about a week later and a final check at the next oil change just to be safe.

Just my $.02

 

If you decide to stay at 17 ft lbs, I would suggest retorquing almost daily for the first week and then weekly up until a month. Then I probably still wouldn't feel good about it.

I checked the torque this morning when the engine was cold and all 4 nuts had backed off 1/8 turn! I retorqued them to 17.5 ft lbs before leaving for work. I'll check again tomorrow morning. This sucks!

to be clear, you MUST use some type of oil resistant sealant on the half moons! Did you just leave the old sealant in place? That's OK as long as no oil is leaking.

The manual didn't mention anything about the half moons, so I didn't do anything to them. I left the old sealant in place, but I scraped off the overflow that was inside the engine. I now realize that overflow was actually for the half moon.