Valve Cover Gaskets Estimate

[ArmyofOne]

i just had an estimate from the City garage around the corner frm my house (they do AWESOME work, have been taking cars there for a while, as have my parents, and their friends) and i was quoted $311 labor only for front and rear Valve Cover Gaskets and PCV valve.

he said (and this is all true) that if the PCV valve is bad (or clogged) then it will push all the prssurized oil out through the seals. great (i knew that), but what does that do if i want to put synth in after i get the leaks fixed? how are the internal seals (valve seals etc) going to be if the PCV valve has been bad all this time? i can almost garuntee you that it is, the last owner drove 2 miles total every day, and never took the car over 3,000 RPMS.

he also said that i would need an UIM (Upper Intake Manifold)gasket, because the UIM, and TB have to be removed to get to the rear valve cover.

for only the rear valve cover and PCV valve, i was quoted $267 labor. i think this is the route i am going to go. while i could do both of them myself, it would take alot of something i dont have...time. i can do the front one in a few hours, but the rear bank is gonna be a B****.

so where can i get cheap gaskets??? i would thin autozone would be as good a place as any.

so that sounds about right for labor charges im thinking, what do you guys think?

__________________

[JPI]

Josh,

Call me if you need anything and we can talk about price. If you mind the drive :P

JPI

[ArmyofOne]

are you open today??? or i can call monday. thanks JP. :D it is quite the drive, and i may have to stop and add oil halfway there .

i wonder, can you also wash the GUNK off of my motor???

[brianpavlovic]

Hey Army,

I was wondering if your Lex is burning oil? I am the guy who had the post about the "Blue smoke from tailpipe right after startup". The lexus repair people said that they changed the PCV valve in my 94 es and flushed all the carbon out. Were you thinking about doing the same thing? Do you have the same problem? As soon as the car turns over after sitting over night, a puff of blue smoke comes out the tailpipe and then clears up. Did this happen to you?

-Brian

[MNJack]

my dealer quoted me $640 (SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY DOLLARS US CURRENCY) to change valve cover gaskets. That is $50 parts and 6.5 hours labor. When I expressed shock the service advisor explained how the engine had to be disassembled to change the valve cover gaskets. I have been cleaning up the engine and deferring that item for the time being.

P/S pump was quoted at $560 ($326 + 2. hours labor) but my p/s still works fine so I am deferring that one also. I own a 97 with 120k miles..........

[ArmyofOne]

Hey Army,

I was wondering if your Lex is burning oil? I am the guy who had the post about the "Blue smoke from tailpipe right after startup". The lexus repair people said that they changed the PCV valve in my 94 es and flushed all the carbon out. Were you thinking about doing the same thing? Do you have the same problem? As soon as the car turns over after sitting over night, a puff of blue smoke comes out the tailpipe and then clears up. Did this happen to you?

-Brian

naw man, she burns no oil that i can see. no smoke other than whats coming out of the rigth wheel wheel from dripping on the resonator. it goes away after a few minutes. and its white. if it blew blue smoke, i would not have bought the car. i had it checked by Park Place ;lexus, and they said it appeard to onlybe the valve covers, but they wouldnt know about things like the cam seals unless they took them off. should i pull the plugs and check em out?

BTW, i changed the oil todayand put in valv. max life (in the red containers) with a bosch oil filter #3330. runs much smoother. quiet.

anyways, when cam seals go, isnt there usually oil on the spark plug??

JP, i will call you tomorrow on your cell phone. you are like, on the other side of the city from me...but i will see if i can make it out.

i am SURE the car isnt burning oil. its just leaking...quite a bit.

JP, how much is your diagnostic Fee? cause after buying this car, i have like $100...that i really cant spend.

if you can fix this car for ~$350 parts and labor, i will let you do it...but i also understand completely (being a mechanic myself) that you cant diagnose it from 50 miles away. i would do them, but i woudl get in there and find something else terrribly wrong, and i dont know anything about toyotas...at all.

[sunman]

when cam seals go, there will be oil on the side of the engine behind the belts.

[ArmyofOne]

and jp, what is your name? i called that cell # in your sig and a woman answered...when i asked for JP, she siad i had the wrong #...

i called your shop and left a message on your machine. i will see if i can make my way out there tuesday, you have an email also BTW.

thanks for your help.

when cam seals go, there will be oil on the side of the engine behind the belts.

there doesnt appear to be anything coming from around there, bit i dod just notice today that the o-rings around the valve cover bolts are dry rotted and leaking...could this be the source rather than the cover gasket itself???

EDIT: JP i just talked with my dad, he said that we could do the valve covers...but...

i know that if it turns out its something else leaking too, and we fix the valve covers, we'll be wasting the $25 and the weekend becuase you will just have to break the gasket aagain when i bring it to you, and valve cover gaskets cant usually be reused. i dont have a TQ wrench, but i can rent one at autozone if need be.

also, its gonna take me a tank of gas to get there and back. i will get out your way eventually.

the leak seems to have slowed since i changed the oil this morning...drastically. it has just been leaking for so long (previous owner said about 3 years) that ther eis oil ALL OVER the underside of the motor. it will have to pulled to ever be completely cleaned. if i keep the car that may be something i consider...but with parts flying off in car washes (another story) imay not be able to afford to keep it!

EDIT#2: i can take much more detailed pix tomorrow if need be.