Are valve cover bolts “torque to yield”?

I am thinking of replacing my Valve cover gasket and I’ve read a few places that the bolts aren’t reusable because they are Torque to yield. Can anyone confirm that they are or aren’t reusable? Thanks!

 

The head bolts are torque to yeild, but I am 99% sure the valve cover bolts are not.

 

The 10 or 12 rubber washers will not be reusable. Be sure to get a kit that includes those.

 

Wow.

That's crazy.

Be careful of other info you get from those sources.

 

I appreciate it @jbrandt
And @cruxofthebisquit Do you know where I can purchase those?

 

@Clearwater Bill Yeah just things I saw online. That’s why I tried to get feedback before just jumping into it. First time working on a Toyota engine don’t wanna skip any corners on it.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ping-out-valve-cover-gaskets-pictures.469596/


Camelback Toyota or summon a guy on here named gunny that works there, I got mine from Ebay though. Whatever you're comfortable with.

 

@cruxofthebisquit Awesome man, I surely appreciate the help!

 

Oh I see now 5 lug and a reference to '1 VC gasket' that means the 2.4 4 cylinder.

Idea is same but I'm sure we have a better page.

 

Well, maybe "WE" don't Nation does though

https://www.toyotanation.com/forum/...082-2-7-l-valve-cover-gasket-replacement.html

 

@cruxofthebisquit i appreciate the help. I’m not positive if the gasket needs to be replaced, it does leak a little oil but when I tighten down the bolts around the valve cover it quits. I just have to tighten them down about 1 every week and a half. Not sure if it has anything to do with the gasket or not

 

Gasket is prob. rock hard.

 

For sure gasket. And you keep doing that and you risk popping one of the bolts. Which depending on where it snaps, might not be a joy to replace.

At this point I'd let it leak till you get the gasket. I find that OE gaskets for this type of thing are worth the premium.

 

@Clearwater Bill I appreciate the feedback. I use rock auto to purchase a lot of the parts for my vehicle. Would you consider that to be a reliable source for parts? If no, any recommendations where to purchase? I do not have a Toyota dealership near me.

 

Rock Auto is fine for many things. I just prefer OE for certain things, like gaskets, for fitment purposes. I also tend to use OE for parts that are infrequently changed and hard to get to. Like water pumps, timing belts, etc.

Post 7 mentions a good source that a lot of folks here use, Camelback Toyota. I think there are other Toyota parts vendors who are sponsors as well.

Often you can find genuine OE parts on eBay or Amazon thru dealerships that have active internet sales programs.

 

Great I’ll definitely look more into Camelback Toyota before purchasing. One more question for you, do you know about the pattern I should replace the valve cover bolts in? I couldn’t find a definitive answer online yet.

 

I do not. I know a FSM would likely show a specific pattern, but I'd not worry about it.

*I'd* do all of them finger tight, then gently tighten in some random criss cross pattern, then do a final tighten in the same pattern.

It would be good to see if you can find the torque spec. Some small bolts like that are pretty low numbers. As in inch pounds.

 

@Clearwater Bill I gotcha. I’ll definitely do it that way. I believe I found about 4 foot pounds or I believe it was like 50 inch pounds or so. Which I believe isn’t much more than finger tight. I surely appreciate all the help!

 

All of this sounds like great advice. OEM for the gasket. I did my 3.4 a while back and it's a bit more of a pain in the ass. But worth the $700 I saved. Gaskets are cheap.

 

@JJ04TACO Oh yeah I could imagine so. I don’t wanna cut any corners when it comes to things like this. Always better off in the long run i hear.