Hello,

I have a 2000 SR5 4Runner (2wd). About a year & a half ago, I had the valve cover gasket repaired and most of the remnants of the leak were cleaned up (there was quite a lot of oil all along the perimeter on both sides). However, the bolts remained someone greasy after they cleaned and repaired.

I recently went to another mechanic and they noticed and believed that the valve cover gaskets were leaking (again?). I'm not certain if they were thrown off by the grease on the bolts, or what. They were insistent that it was leaking, even though I didn't really agree what they were trying to point out as evidence (there remains some old oil marks from the original leak on the manifold I believe in addition to the greasy bolts). How long is a valve cover gasket repair supposed to last as I'm surprised it is an issue so soon?

I went back to the mechanic that originally fixed it and they said that there's no leaking since there's no new oil on the manifold and it would be obviously different appearance-wise (much more oil) along where the bolts are if it was leaking again. After this, he cleaned up the bolts with a degreaser/spray cleaner and then tightened them further. I drove for about 15 minutes home and popped the hood right after turning off the car and there was a small plume of white (very light; nearly transparent, but continued for about 5-10 minutes). I've never had the car smoke after turning the car off and popping the hood immediately after, even when the valve cover was leaking the 1st time. Could this smoke prove there is a leak, or could it be from remnants of oil that was de-greased off by the mechanic? Or could it have been the spray degreaser itself burning off? I'm not sure who to trust at this point.

Tyia

 

if there is no remaining oil on the perimeter of the gasket, i would drive it normally for a day to let any cleaner burn off then pop the hood and see if it is still leaking. If it continues then take it back to the mechanic

 

There is very little torque used on valve cover bolts. Most I've seen require 5 ft. lbs. to 7 ft. lbs of torque. Same with a lot of automatic transmission pan gaskets.

It does not take much tightening at all to get to that value.

My money says the tech who snugged down your valve cover bolts got heavy handed.

 

Thanks for the replies.

It stopped smoking after a bit of driving the next day. There does not seem to be any leaking at all/no new oil.