I am looking for any feedback on doing a valve cover gasket change. I have been putting this off and not really believing that I need to do it but the other day, I changed my oil and noticed, while under the car, that the firewall side of the 2.2L was wet with oil I never see oil on the garage floor but do smell burning oil now and then. I am thinking of going with a FelPro cover gasket kit versus the expensive Toyota gaskets. Do you just clean the groove and contact surfaces real good then install the gasket or is gasket sealer recommended? I understand the seal is essentially an o-ring. Is it recommended to also replace the spark plug tube seals? Thanks for any info

 

Your leak is typical.

The use of gasket sealer depends on the type of gasket material used. The use of gasket sealer may be stated on the box or it may state no sealant not required.

If an O'ring or gasket, the purpose is to form a seal between two surfaces.

A good idea to replace the tube seals. The valve cover gasket box can include or not the tube seals, check before buying.

If you not going to be removing the valve cover for some time suggest using a sealant such as Permatex 82180 Ultra Black Silicone gasket maker available at auto parts stores or check the auto department in department stores.

Clean the contact surfaces and apply a thin layer to the valve cover gasket and head. No need for the tube seals.

Reassemble the cover then torque the tube nuts in stages to the recommended torque valve. Keep torquing the nuts until the torque value stabilizes at the set torque.

The sealant has a limited working time before starting to cure, complete the job reasonable quick.

A couple of times per year re-torque the nuts.

 

Good information! Is there a specific torque sequence for the tube nuts? Thanks again!!

 

It was 17 lb-ft, then Toyota changed it to 33. Depends on year of car.

 

The Toyota Service manual says 17 ft-lbs for a 1995 2.2L. I have the thing apart now. I guess I will go ahead and bust the PCV out of the valve cover. The grommet is very hard and there is a risk of pieces falling into the head if you remove the PCv with the valve cover installed to the head. The gasket set I am using is a FelPro and the valve cover seal is NOT an o-ring. It has a "T" cross-section and is a one-piece gasket. I bought it at Autozone for $19. The set includes the 4 seals that go between the cover nuts and cover. The old seal was hard and leaking out the firewall side of the head. Hopefully, all of this work will correct the oil leakage problem

 

17 is correct for this year.

Make sure when torquing to run back and forth between nuts until the torque stabilizes.

If using a sealant suggest once the cover is installed don't start the engine but let the car sit overnight to allow the sealant to cure. The cure time info is on the tube.

The valve cover seal would typically be a gasket.

O-ring or gasket they both seal.

An o-ring can be formed in any shape, square, rectangle, etc. Some valve cover gaskets are made of a preformed rubber type materials. Might consider this a large o-ring but typically still would be called a gasket.

Gaskets are typically made of cork, paper, metal, etc and tend to not be very flexible. They also tend to have more contact area between parts.

 

Job is done. Here is some information for those looking at doing this job on their car. The gasket set was part #VS50304 R-1. It is made by Fel-Pro and cost me $19 at Autozone.

The PCV valve grommet was part #42058 and made by Dorman. It cost $2.99 and Autozone.

The PCV valve was part #PCV2300 and made by Champion. It cost me $4.99 at Autozone.

Will check torque on tube nuts again after the car has been run and up to temperature. Curious to see if the seals will relax with heat and cause the torque to drop off.

 

Great job!

Check the nuts once of twice a year, most likely they will need retorquing.