How hard is it to replace the valve cover gasket on my 2002 Camry, V-6, front bank? I have developed an oil leak and the dealer says that they will charge me over $300 just for labor. I figured that they want to replace all the gaskets to make sure they get the correct one but I believe it's just the front bank. Does anyone know what the labor hrs to replace just the front valve cover gasket is?

 

Front as in closest to radiator? Not that long. If you mean the rear cover, this take a lot longer to access.

The AutoZone website has a very good technical library for repairing cars. The site should have info on this job.

 

Ok, thanks for the info. I didn't know that about AutoZone. Good to know, thanks.

 

I just did my first valve cover replacement the other day on my 98 camry. It was incredibly easy. The hardest part was getting the pvc connections lose, which wasn't that bad. It took me less than 3 hrs and I had zero experience in doing one before. Very easy to do, do a search on this forum and you will get the jist of it. It is literally remove spark plug wires, pvc connections, and the 4 bolts and it the cover pops right off. I found that my 4 bolts were less than finger tight and they are supposed to have around 15 lb of torque. That may be the easy fix, to tighten the bolts first if yours are lose and monitor your oil level thereafter.

 

Good idea foxtrotterz, I never thought about checking the tightness first. Sure would save me a lot of time and effort. I've replaced plenty of valve cover gaskets before but always been on older cars. I just didn't want to open a can of worms. I checked Auto Zone's online repair manual and all they said was remove it. Thanks again for everyone's input, Tbone.

 

Here is my video on:
Camry Valve Cover Gasket Replacement