Am I leaking oil from motor?

I noticed that the passenger side of the engine has a lot of caked up oil residue while the driver side looks relatively dry. Idk much on motors so is this normal? My guess was maybe head gasket? But like I said I’m not very well educated on motors. This one has 267k miles and I oil change every 5k. Other than this I haven’t noticed anything else that could relate. Or am I worrying over nothing?




Driver side

 

Valve cover gasket is leaking it looks like, common issue with these 3.4l motors when they age.

 

Classic Valve cover leak. Not a major issue but would be a good idea to replace the valve cover gaskets.

 

Ok so now I know. Roughly how expensive is this repair? Worth doing myself?
Thank you for the quick replies

 

There’s a great how to on this somewhere.

 

I’ll start looking in the sticky’s thanks.

 

It's $35.50 each from the dealer. I'd imagine it'd cost at least 2-3 times that for someone else to do it.

 

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

 

Replacing the valve covers is kind of tedious since there is so much other stuff to remove (or move out of the way) in order to get to them. Unless your rig is up snuff with maintenance -- when you already have the valve covers off: you might as well check valve clearances, and replace the intake plenum and throttle body gaskets, spark plugs, and clean the throttle body. If do decide to DIY, be prepared for the plastic protective covers around the wiring loom to be very brittle from the heat.

Edit: and at the mileage of your truck, also consider replacing the plug wires while you are at it.

 

Mine is the same Passenger side
Look like valve covers

 

Do the valve cover gasket job yourself. It's not hard, just time consuming. Here's a video in case you prefer a video over a write-up.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/N5fAXAuGozI

 

Bought all the parts listed in this video (minus the spark plugs and wires - already did those) and it came out to like $180 shipped. Got quoted $650 for a shop to do the job. Well worth it to DIY.

 

If nothing else take the truck to the car wash and blast off all that old oil off the engine and valve covers with the wand on soap

 

I've always wondered if this was safe. I may do that right before starting my valve cover gaskets.

 

That much oil everywhere is probably not that safe and probably stinks of burning oil

 

low pressure, hot engine, avoid electrical

 

If you have it done in a shop they will probably charge you 400-500 labor to do the valve covers.

If you do the valve covers... there's more parts than just the valve covers. There are cam plugs and seals, you need intake plenum gaskets, throttle body gasket, spark plug Orings, valve cover bolt washers... etc.

 

@Logans2001 there are no, real, specialty tools needed to do the valve covers. It's just time consuming, tedious, and requires a lot of stuff being disconnected. It can get a bit daunting once you're elbow deep in it.

How handy are you with tools?

 

I took mine to a detailer and had mine steam cleaned before I did my valve covers. Took the skid plate off and had him do top and bottom.





Word of advise... Spray a thick coat of clear coat over the top of your fuse box first though, the pressure of the spray took some the writing off mine and now it's hard to read.