I have a 2001 toyota camry, 2.2L, I4 engine, california exhaust, japanese made.

Oil leaks on the distributor/transmission side of the engine, (cylinder #4) from the area between the headgasket and valve cover gasket behind the distributors' metal bracket that attaches it to the engine. Almost like the half-moon plug went bad. It leaks down the front of the engine on the drivers side of the exhaust.

So, I recently swapped out the coolant. But in the process there was air pockets which caused the engine to heat to about 225f. The overheating has now been corrected, but the oil leak only seems to happen when it reaches about 220f or so.

No codes, no symptoms, drives fine.

My question is, is there some sort of weep hole the oil seeps out of? Or is there a larger problem?

 

225F is not bad.

No oil weep holes.

There may be two half moon plugs on each side.

Try re-torquing the nut on the spark plug tubes.

 

>Try re-torquing the nut on the spark plug tubes.
Is there a such thing as, "too tight"? I have an electric wrench from dewalt that I use mostly for wheel removal that does 250 ft/lb force.

 

YES! Don't use a power tool.

Search the internet for the torque value which is something like 17 lbs but varied with head design. Check for your year.

Make several torque passes of the 4 nuts until all nuts can hold the applied torque without rotating.

 

Hanes manual says 33 ft lbs. Some youtube video said to tighten it down, drive 3 to 4 hours then torque them down again because the seals shrink or something. Also, had an engine vibration issue recently, so that might have shaken the seals loose enough for them to leak?

 

The 33 rings a bell. There were two settings, one apparently for pressed in spark plug tubes and another for screwed in tubes..

Valve cover leaks are common and needing to re-torque is standard.

If you do take off the valve cover reseal the half moon plugs with a sealant. Apply gasket sealant on areas of the head and valve cover areas the gasket mats to. Install the cover and torque nuts until there is no longer nut rotation then let sealant cure for 24 hours.