How Difficult Is It To Replace Valve Cover Gaskets On My 1993 Es300?

[pete rock]

simple and straight forward question guys.how hard would it be??i got my oil done recently and was told my valve covers are slightly leaking.if its difficult to DIY.how costly of a job would it be to take it to a mechanic??thanx guys

[tuanville]

It's pretty simple if you know anything about cars I guess...

I don't know if your local parts store like autozone have the gasket or not, but they're usually pretty cheap, no more than 100 dollars. Buy some high temperature rubber sealant for the gasket. Remove all the things that will get in the way of removing the valve covers. Remove the valve cover. Remove the old gasket, you might need to scrap it off. make sure nothing falls in. Use the rubber sealant and and apply it on the the block, then place the gasket on, finally apply more rubber sealant on top of the gasket and bolt back on the valve cover. Put everything back together. Wait 24 hours before driving.

To be sure you have a leak. Sometimes when you change your oil you might have dripped from recent or old oil changes. Spray the leaking part down with some break cleaner, and if you see a definite leak, THEN change the gasket.

[pete rock]

thanx tuan for taking the time to write that up for me.i know some things about cars im not an under the hood DIY'er by any means.but simple things id say i can do.ive seen valve cover gasket kits on ebay for around 30-50 bucks. a step by step picture instructions would be amazing and make life alot easier.haha not that i would expect anyone to do that