Valve Cover Gasket ???

noel

Uchiha Member
May 5, 2008
512
0
16
Miami, Florida, United States
88TSupra--------------------------
So the other day i looke at my spark plugs and notice there's alil oil in the hole i never changed the valve cover gasket i can see oil all around the gasket area im sure its time to change them

i being doing some research and from what i hear its best to change the screws for bolts with washers ... and when i buy the gasket to make sure they come with grommets

Why should i change to bolts and if so what size??

i was just going to change the wires/plugs and spark plug valley cover it looks nasty! and of course change the valve cover gasket. i wanna make sure im i get the right supplies before i dismantel the engine lol
 

Supracentral

Active Member
Mar 30, 2005
10,542
10
36
The screws were used to prevent over torquing. Replacing them with bolts is unnecessary and ill advised unless you are going to use an in/lb torque wrench to tighten them.

You can get a new set of screws/washers from Toyota - If I remember correctly they are cheap.
 

mkiii222

Member
Mar 31, 2005
697
1
16
Troy, MI
Now that you know why they used screws.

If you want to use bolts to clean up the look of it, M6 x 25mm available at any Autozone/ACE... Just don't tighten them too much.

Don't forget the '3rd valve cover'. You'll need a 14mm Allen head socket to take the plugs out (~$20-25 at Sears), but they are known to leak as well.
 

americanjebus

Mr. Evergreen
Mar 30, 2005
1,867
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wa.
Supracentral;1257081 said:
The screws were used to prevent over torquing. Replacing them with bolts is unnecessary and ill advised unless you are going to use an in/lb torque wrench to tighten them.

You can get a new set of screws/washers from Toyota - If I remember correctly they are cheap.

I 2nd this mans motion. I dont get what people mean by "cleaning up" the look when it isnt even noticeable, besides a rounded head w/ the half metal and rubber washer looks better IMO.

did this fix once in 04, havent seen a drop since.
 

jetjock

creepy-ass cracka
Jul 11, 2005
9,439
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Redacted per Title 18 USC Section 798
What those guys said. Replace with 6 x 25mm (use toothed locks above the grommets) only if you're going to use torque tools. Rather than a wrench I prefer a driver for such tasks. The Utica TS-30 or TS-35 come to mind. You can often find them cheap on ebay..
 

grimreaper

New Member
Jul 2, 2008
2,180
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Dallas
replace the third valve cover as well (covers the sparkplug valley). You can either replace it or use oil drain plug gaskets that fit on the hex head bolts (four big ones).