When to change valve cover gasket?

[wirelessF]

I've noticed some oil weeping from the valve covers in my 01 Toyota Tundra and was thinking of changing them out before the next OCI.

Or should I wait and let the oil burning on the exhaust remind me?

 

[Dakota1820]

id do it asap but im anal and keep my car tip top you can let it go as long as you like. but why would you

 

[oggb]

I always find it strange how often these gaskets in particular leak because they're under such little stress.

I'd do it whenever you get around to it. Next oil change. OC after that. Who knows.

 

[TFB1]

In '93 I bought a '87 Mustang with 4cyl that the valve(cam) cover gasket was leaking... I went around and lightly snugged the bolts which stopped the leak, was still fine at 192K mi when daughter sold it in '02...

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: JRed
I always find it strange how often these gaskets in particular leak because they're under such little stress.

I'd do it whenever you get around to it. Next oil change. OC after that. Who knows.


Valve cover gaskets aren't especially prone to leakage in comparison to other oil sealing gaskets made of similar materials. They may leak a lot more volume when they do leak because they're so very long and they can leak in places that are highly visible or that will cause smoke.

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: wirelessF
I've noticed some oil weeping from the valve covers in my 01 Toyota Tundra and was thinking of changing them out before the next OCI.

Or should I wait and let the oil burning on the exhaust remind me?


Are you sure they don't just need to be tightened 1/2 turn or so? Those gaskets start out pretty thick and sometimes they shrivel with age.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: TFB1
In '93 I bought a '87 Mustang with 4cyl that the valve(cam) cover gasket was leaking... I went around and lightly snugged the bolts which stopped the leak, was still fine at 192K mi when daughter sold it in '02...

This is what I did for slightly leaking valve cover gasket. Sometimes it's to be tightened 2-3 times to completely stop the leak.

 

[wirelessF]

You can't really torque these things. You can only get them snug at best without breaking bolts or cracking the (aluminum) valve cover which happened to me with a couple of cars.

I just retightened the bolts instead. Cleaned the oil trails with brake cleaner and hopefully it stops. I bought a gasket set and some black RTV just in case.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

I change them when I get tired of topping off, or just get bored.

 

[artificialist]

See if the valve cover gasket is leaking oil into the spark plug tubes. When that happens it quickly destroys the ignition wires.

This is a common problem on engines with 4 valve heads.

 

[stephen9666]

I replace them when they start to leak. I was proactive on my Nissan, and replaced it when it was just starting to weep.

I'll second the recommendation to check the torque on the bolts. When I replaced the gasket on my girlfriend's beetle, I was half way through the job when I noticed a bunch of the bolts had vibrated loose. I had already pulled the upper intake manifold, so I just went ahead and replaced the gasket.

 

[Rocko1]

Took over a family 78' Ford pickup truck that was extremely well maintained it's whole 87K mile life. Had many oil leaks in the engine-both valve cover, oil pan, trans pan, etc. Degreased and cleaned the engine and went around and tightened all the bolts-most of which were hardly more than finger tight. Stopped 95% of all the leaks.

 

[artbuc]

Originally Posted By: wirelessF
I've noticed some oil weeping from the valve covers in my 01 Toyota Tundra and was thinking of changing them out before the next OCI.

Or should I wait and let the oil burning on the exhaust remind me?


I would make sure my PCV valve isn't clogged.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Valve cover gaskets aren't especially prone to leakage in comparison to other oil sealing gaskets made of similar materials. They may leak a lot more volume when they do leak because they're so very long and they can leak in places that are highly visible or that will cause smoke.


True, but if this truck is like a bunch of Toyota cars that I am familiar with, it's at a angle which allows the oil to pool on one side (usually the back) of the valve cover meaning that the back side of the valve cover has oil pooling on the inside of it by design. This tends to make them leak prone.