Ok, so I had some oil leaking from my valve cover seals on my 2001 Toyota 4Runner 3.4L SR5. At oil changes, the level would be at the low end of the dipstick. No biggie, it does have 190K miles on it so I figure I'll just replace them. Well today I get everything on top out of the way and go to loosen the bolts on the valve cover seals and they were all loose. I mean all 16 screws could have been unscrewed by my fingers! After discovering this I torqued them down to spec, 53 in-lb, and put everything back on. So my question is has anyone ever seen this happen without anyone touching it? Does anyone even think it's possible for all of them to completely loosen? I suspect foul play by a mechanic. Thanks for any input and have a good one!

 

It's common. I doubt there's foul play.

 

so did you put on the new gaskets or not? Just curious....