Possible valve cover/head gasket leak

Hello all! I recently noticed oil around the edge and was hoping someone could help diagnose. She’s got 198k miles on her and I’m afraid that this could be the possible signs of a head gasket leak or valve cover leak..or maybe something else.. or not even an issue. I don’t think this is normal though.. I was going to clean the motor and engine bay soon and then was going to watch to see if the oil appears… any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you!

04 Tacoma 3.4L

 

Yeah man
Kudos to you for noticing!
On right track by cleaning 1st

then if indeed leaking/seeping
Replace both cover gaskets
IMO
Since your in there replace plugs and visually inspect all coil packs
(Or just replace coil packs if they are original/can afford parts)

 

That is a valve cover leak, not a head gasket leak. What you are looking at are the valve covers. Relatively simple job, couple hours of work and not much cost in parts for the gasket. Don't forget to replace the cam shaft plugs and reseal the half moons.

 

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

 

Check the valve cover bolts to see if they're tight, when mine were leaking almost all of the bolts were loose.

 

Ok sounds good! Thank you!

 

Thank you! I’ll clean this up this weekend and confirm if the bolts are loose or not.. I’ll look into new plugs and coil packs.. I can’t say the coil packs have ever been replaced.

 

Thank you! I definitely appreciate the knowledge share.

 

Nice dude! Thank you! This is perfect!

 

Make sure you check the torque spec first, it’s really low I think like 50 INCH lbs, so don’t just go in there and start tightening.

You can only access like half of the bolts, so it’s really just a half measure until you do the full job.

 

Hmmm ok. Good looking out on that one! This is all great info. I really appreciate it. Gonna look for vids and do some research..

 

You guys have given me some really great info. I really appreciate it all! Super helpful. I’ve looked at a couple of videos but need to research more. I’m not as handy under the hood as I would like to be, but I know enough to be dangerous. I’ll have to decide if I want to shop this out or park it in the garage and get busy.

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Doing this yourself is much easier than you think it will be. If you have a garage and a weekend free of distractions, you will save yourself a lot of money.
Here is a list of the parts I replaced when I did my valve covers:

Toyota part # Name Quantity
11213-62020 Engine Valve Cover Gasket 2
11193-70010 Spark Plug Tube Seal 6
90210-05007 Engine Valve Cover washer 16
11188-62010 Engine Camshaft Seal/plug 2
17176-62040 Intake Manifold Gasket 2
90480-18001 PCV Valve Grommet 1

$19 12204-62010 PCV Valve Sub-Assembly

12204-62010 PCV Valve 1
11183-62010 Camshaft Plug (half-moons) 4

$21 00295-00103 Formed-in-Place Oil Pan Gasket - 3 oz. Tube

00295-00103 Oil Pan Sealer (FIPG) 1

 

Just looks like a regular old valve cover gasket replacement job, not fun but not hard either. Take your time and it'll go fine

 

If the valve cover head gaskets are original, this is ok for a bandaid fix, but not a long term solution. The bolts are "loose" because valve cover head gasket and washers are on their way out.

Great point- here is the relative FSM page: 53 inch lbs

 

The bolts loosen up because the gaskets shrink with age

 

I think you meant valve cover gaskets.

 

Fixed it

 

https://youtu.be/N5fAXAuGozI?si=ehZTqRFVUqB0A25o

All you need^^

 

Would be a good time to clean out the manifold too. Easier when the TB is taken off. You would also need a new gasket for the TB if so.