Valve cover gasket replacement?

Hey guys I have a couple leaky valve covers, and a couple new valve cover gaskets to replace my old ones, but I have a couple questions before I start:

1.I have the 3.4 so I have to pull the intake plenum, do I need new upper and lower intake plenum gaskets?(napa wanted $130 for those!!) and do I need a new throttle body gasket?

2. Do I need to use some RTV gasket maker with my gasket or will the dry gasket work fine? If I do need RTV which side do I put it on? (I've never used the stuff before)

3. Do I need to replace the spark plug gaskets? My valve cover gaskets didn't come with those and the guy at Napa said they should be fine, but I just want to make sure.

 

I would change both upper and lower plenum gaskets. No way they should be $130. I got them from the dealer for way less than that. Throttle body gasket wouldn't hurt either. That should be cheap as well. The valve cover gaskets alone will be fine. However, the semi circles should be pulled and repacked with black FIPG (I think this is the same as the permatex ultra grey rtv). Cam plugs should also be replaced. I would also replace the spark plug tube gaskets. These are a pain but I feel like you're half assing it if you don't replace all the gaskets you come across. Just makes more sense to do it all while you're in there. Also changing the plugs is a good idea. It's super easy with everything off. Hope this helps.

 

Thank you, I thought that was a ridiculous price for almost any gasket.

also arent the semi circles part of the valve cover gasket? do you me just put black RTV on the semi circles? top and bottom?

also this is probably a dumb question, but what are cam plugs?

haha I just wanted to replace my valve cover gaskets, and everytime I'm about to start I find out I need to buy more stuff for it. lol it feels like its never ending.

I just stumbled upon this gasket set on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Tacoma-3378cc-Engine-Gasket/dp/B005GWCMUI

it says it's FelPro which I hear is a good brand for gaskets, Do you think this would be a good deal? then I would have all sorts of gaskets incase I need them in the future too. and for a full gasket set it seems relatively inexpensive

 

1. Some people say to always replace them, some people say it's fine to reuse them. I got my parts from the local Toyota dealer and they were ~$30 a piece. Side note: Always use genuine Toyota/OE parts when applicable.

2. The first reply to this thread answers this question well.

3. While you have the covers off, just go ahead and swap them. They are usually hard and brittle on higher mileage trucks.

That gasket set on Amazon contains way more than you need for this job. Stick with OE parts needed for job.

 

I may be late but check this out. Good pics. I used this when doing mine. On the semi circles, pull them, remove old FIPG, fill groove (you'll see the groove I'm talking about) with new FIPG, re install. There are 2 semi circles on each head. One in front and one in back. As for cam plugs there are 2. One on each side in the back.

 

The link would help.

http://www.yotatech.com/f2/5vzfe-leaky-valve-covers-fixed-56k-beware-149594/index2.html#post51700647

 

I figured I would ask here before starting another thread: if the valve gaskets need to be replaced what other parts should be replaced and what parts are still good? In my particular case the truck is 21 yrs old and has just under 250k mi. I'm assuming the head gasket should have been changed at 200k mi, but I suppose most people wait for it to blow before swapping it. I'm trying to keep my truck on the road as long as possible, but within reason as I am not made of money.

 

I've never heard of anyone doing head gaskets at any certain mileage interval. That is a much more involved job than a valve cover gasket. If you are doing valve cover gaskets you should look at valve lash while you are in there. Other than that, what has already been mentioned should be enough while doing a valve cover gaskets. I will add, that the Felpro valve cover gasket set is not bad, and I wouldn't be reluctant to use it. There are other areas of the engine where I would only use OEM gaskets, like the heads.

 

I also want to change my belts including timing belt and water pump. With all that gear coming off to access the timing belt does it make sense to put in a new head gasket or is there still a ton of digging to do? I want to get as much out of the way as possible. I'm not a glutton for financial pain, I just want to get it all out of the way in one go if possible. I'm watching Timmy the Toolman's series on head gasket swapping and I still have at least an hour left. I watched a video on the valve covers and it was definitely a quicker, more straightforward job.

I called a mechanic to see what it would cost me to have everything done and for the top work (gaskets, plugs, etc) is over 2k and to change out the belts and water pump is over a grand. I was thinking maybe $200-500 up to and maybe about the same for the belts & pump depending on what parts are used.

A rebuilt engine is $3k-5k depending on source, granted that doesn't cover installation labor. Is the mechanic being unreasonable or is this what it costs now to have work done? I was told a gasket job cost $300, but that was on a Nissan.

Also the mechanic said regarding the head gasket: if it ain't broke, don't fix it (more or less).

 

Head gasket job will be much more involved than just timing belt and water pump, that being said, once you take off the water pump and timing belt you’re basically halfway there compared to a head gasket job. If you do end up doing the head gaskets anyways it’s then Highly suggested that you send your heads to a machine shop to get resurfaced and inspected which is more time and $$. Depending on your mileage you may decide to wait awhile. My HG didn’t start leaking coolant until 299k. Did the whole job myself (twice actually) back in January following Worsethanchiggers videos on it cus Timmy didn’t have his up back then like I was hoping he would lol.
If you got the time and money you totally could knock out the HG for shits n giggles.

 

I'm with your mechanic on the head gaskets, if it ain't broke.....you will want to send them out to be inspected at which time you might find additional problems that will add cost. The timing belt/water pump job requires a different set of component removal than the valve cover job, and the heads add additional steps and parts to both those jobs.

My 3.4l required head removal at around 200k, not because of any gasket failure but because of valve issues. I didn't have the space, time or will to tackle that so I had a shop do it.
After clean up by the machine shop, numerous cracks could be seen. So I went with a pair of remanufactered heads. While they had it apart I supplied parts to also do the timing belt and associated parts. All in, with parts and labor it was around $4k. The reman heads were around $1400, Toyota gasket set, etc. etc... Going with OEM bare heads and necessary replacement valves etc. would have further increased the cost.

 

Just to clarify, the quote for the gaskets didn't include the head gasket. I'm going to call the place that did the Nissan and see what they quote me at. If I gotta pay, I gotta pay; I'd just like to pay less