Valve Cover Leaking Oil, 7A-FE Valve Cover Leaking oil Options

[mikeismad0408]

the bolt next to my oil cap is leaking oil terribly bad, i can drive up to my local shop which is about 3 miles from my house and i can look behind the valve cover and there is oil all over the place near my injectors, im just wondering if anyone else has had this problem or knows what it could be, i dont know if there is a washer that may be busted or what, but not being sure i dont really want to take anything apart until i asked some of you guys that would know

[Batman722]

step 1. tighten it

[Bitter]

if that doesnt solve it you'll want to replace the valve cover gasket, which is VERY easy.

[mikeismad0408]

yeah, i keep tightening it and it keeps leaking, what is a good brand of gasket so i know what to get when i go get it later today.

This post has been edited by mikeismad0408: Mar 28, 2007 - 12:19 PM

[playr158]

advanced auto or Auto zone should have them in stock

Advanced caries a brand called FELPRO which is what i used to replace mine and it did fine

[alltracman78]

OEM

[mikeismad0408]

thanks playr, i got the felpro and tomorrow first thing imma get out and change it, does anyone know what oem torque specs are for those bolts?

[mikeismad0408]

ok i got the bolts off and now i cant seem to get the valve cover off, im sure there is something simple that im missing, but i cant seem to find what im doing wrong, i dont want to try and pry it off and mess something up so i wanted to ask you guys first

[95CelicaST]

I wouldn't worry about hurting it. Its probably stuck from being on there for 10 years.

[playr158]

you have to make sure you removed ALL OF THEM

there are the ones directly ontop of the valve cover + you need to remove that plastic "cover" that runs across the top i believe there are 2 10mm bolts on each side
1 is back by the oil cap, 1 in the front + 4 on top?

so it should be 6 bolts...then lil screw driver pry action

This post has been edited by playr158: Mar 29, 2007 - 2:31 PM

[mikeismad0408]

yeah i had them all off, and when i tried to pry, haha my screwdriver tip broke, so im searching for a bigger screwdriver right now

[95CelicaST]

You could always try a soft-headed mallet to it

[Bitter]

DO NOT PRY IT OFF! you can crack the cover and gouge the metal gasket surfaces. use a soft hammer to tap at it from different sides and use a putty knife to go around the edge of the cover to cut the seal.

[alltracman78]

yeah

Be careful with that screwdriver.
If you are breaking the tip, you are probably gouging the sealing surface.
Which means another leak....

[mikeismad0408]

well i got it off and got the new one on with no problems, not leaks as of yet, and im going to go out first thing tomorrow and check, but i took a hammer and wrapped it in a hand towel and knocked it a couple of times and it came loose and i changed the gasket, but i have spark plug gasket things as well, and im not really sure how to get the old ones out, so i didnt mess with them as they appeared to be pretty new anyway...

[jason]

i believe the spark plug seals or whatever are just glued in, i think i read somewhere that installing new ones you have to apply adhesive first

[hurley97]

you should just be able to tap them out from the top and rubber mallet the new ones in from the underside

[mikeismad0408]

i didnt even bother changing them, didnt have any sealant or anything so i just left the old ones in, now i have an even worse leak coming from near my distributor, not really sure what the deal is, i now have oil all over my transmission and im burning oil kinda bad too, anyone know what would fix my burning oil problem?

[hurley97]

it was probably leaking from the distributor and the valve cover so when you changed the valve cover and it couldn't get out that way anymore it now all comes out of the distributor. probably the O ring, you have to take the distributor off to change it

[mikeismad0408]

how long does that take?