Leaky RH Cylinder Head Cover

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Driver Side Valve Cover Concern

Ok, today I worked on the driver side valve cover gasket replacement and saw something concerning. #1 the cover itself was not nearly as clean as the passenger side and #2 towards the firewall side of the block are some strange burn marks. The marks are also the dirtier side of the cover too.

Any ideas here? Is this normal or a sign of something else wrong?

I need some good technical guidance here please!:cheers:
driver side vc.b.webp
driver side vc.a.webp
 
Bump! Need some good tech knowledge please...
 
alright, i just did mine last weekend and i saw something similar on the drivers side. For some reason the rear of the head was caking oil where the front wasnt. 200k miles on mine, and the passenger side looked brand spanking new. Must just be the way the oil flows, doesnt flow as well on drivers rear of the head.

As for the pooky. I cleaned all of it off and made sure the surface was bone dry. I added a liberal amount of RTV to the corners, this is pretty well standard issue on any valve cover as the round gasket has a hard time sealing on a square corner.

a thin film of RTV applied to the head never killed anyone. Just dont run the truck until the next day to get the RTV to harden.
 
Ok, I wonder if the PCV valve makes the difference in color on the driver side of the engine. More exhaust or something. Glad that I am not facing an expensive repair.


Yeah, I put the ultra black all around and more in the corners.
 
Doubtful, the PVC pulls air from the crankcase and vents it to the intake.

I would chalk it up to oil flow.

You should check out centraloverland.com and head out to some events.
 
ENGINE er said:
Doubtful, the PVC pulls air from the crankcase and vents it to the intake.

I would chalk it up to oil flow.

You should check out centraloverland.com and head out to some events.
Click to expand...

Well your advice is considered except you said "PVC" :doh:


I just registered with CO today. Highly interested in that group!!:cheers:
 
ENGINE er said:
alright, i just did mine last weekend and i saw something similar on the drivers side. For some reason the rear of the head was caking oil where the front wasnt. 200k miles on mine, and the passenger side looked brand spanking new. Must just be the way the oil flows, doesnt flow as well on drivers rear of the head.

As for the pooky. I cleaned all of it off and made sure the surface was bone dry. I added a liberal amount of RTV to the corners, this is pretty well standard issue on any valve cover as the round gasket has a hard time sealing on a square corner.

a thin film of RTV applied to the head never killed anyone. Just dont run the truck until the next day to get the RTV to harden.
Click to expand...

By chance did you remove the semi-circular plugs and reseal those with pooky? I left mine intact and just put more silicone on top of them.
I am wondering if this is going to haunt me...
 
I did not, they were not leaking and the rtv was pliable
 
To round of this thread

Many views on this thread, but few replies (probably due to the lack of hands on task performed by others).

I fretted over not punching out and resealing the cam seal "semi-circular seals" upon finishing the job. So, I took a few pics after my test run and those semi-circular seals look good. The passenger side has a small weep and I will keep an eye on it going forward. As for now, it's now worth tearing down to correct it. For future gasket "doer's" (GWB terminology) I would pull these half circles and the PCV when you pull the covers. I unfortunately did not do either, but it looks like my valve cover gaskets as a whole are tighter than a turtle's butt.

One more thing for future doer's, I heard now that you should replace the spark plug sleeve gaskets. Of course, I did not, but it is something to think about when you take on this job in the future.
driver side cam seal.webp
passenger side cam seal.webp
 
jasonbraswell said:
I got the passenger side completed today. I would say it's about .5-1hr longer than doing the spark plugs. I was confused how the FSM says to add sealent pooky on to the head as shown and then the dang image doesn't show any pooky applied. Anyone have insight here?

Here are some pics and a drawing.
The engine was so clean I could practically eat off it or the cover. Pretty good for 13yrs and 132k miles.

My old gasket was still fairly malable. I couldn't find any tears or cuts. I assume the leak is caused directly by shrinking compound in the gasket over time. The constant temp changes are harsh on rubber over time.
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This is what your valve cover looked like before doing any cleaning? I just pulled the PS cover on my 03 Lexus LS 430 with 130K miles on it and it looked so much worse than that....Now I am concerned!!
 
I see your pics up on Club Lexus. Yuck!

I have been running Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w-30 oil. It has extra cleaning additives and was run about 12k miles before I did my VC's. Can't say that alone made the engine that clean, but I would give that oil a try if I was you. I would think both the 2UZ and 3UZ should remain equally clean by design.

Also, I use MR. T's best oil filter# 90915-20004, which has a sponge type filter media, unlike any other filter out on the market.
 
Jason, thanks for the tips. I will definitely look into the oil and the filter the next time I get my oil changed. I am gonna post a couple of pics in this forum to see if anyone else has any ideas. Is there anything I can do to clean out some of the sludge? I don't mean cleaning it while I have it apart. Rather, some sea foam or something like that??

The pics below are of my 03 Lexus LS 430. It has 130K miles on it. Both my DS and PS side valve cover gaskets were leaking to the point of the burning oil smell. The Lexus forum is not really any help since very few of those guys do their own maintenance. what can I do to clean up some of the sludge in the engine??

I would really appreciate any suggestions or guidance.
001.webp
LS 430 valve cover gasket change 015.webp
LS 430 valve cover gasket change 019.webp
 
nazkin said:
Do I have to drain the negine oil to change the valve cover gasket?
Click to expand...

no, but it's recommended to change the oil after the gasket repair.
 
smm3, I would give the Amsoil engine flush a shot and up your oil change interval for the next few oil changes. Also, go with the M1 5-30 high mileage oil, Wal-mart sells 5qt jugs for about $25.
 
the DS valve cover bolts loosened up on mine over the past two years...and were seeping....one was really loose. Hand tightened and leak stopped but next TB and WP change will likely put in new valve cover gaskets as well.

Get your #10 metric socket head and just snug them down good...not really tight or might snap them off...but snug is good. The rear bolt was hand loose...the others were just loose enough to let some oil seep...now it is tight and dry again. Sprayed it down with brake cleaner afterwards so I can watch it for more leaks and so far nothing... :)

Would check bolt tightness before jumping into gasket replacement...
 
smm3

there are ways to get that cleaned up and looking like new.

I will refer you to the forums at - Bob is the Oil Guy

those nerds know their stuff and have helped people clean worse sludge than that from their engine.

and the reason the "bolts loosen" is because the gasket actually shrinks. So you can tighten them down and get even a couple more years out of it. You do have a gasket change in your near future.
 
For regular coloration of oil residue I would just start using full synthetic such as AMSOIL or Mobil 1...it will slowly clean up all of that stuff over period of next oil change interval. If really bad (yours is not REALLY BAD) or to just get it done sooner then I would use something like the Amsoil Engine Flush (FLSHCN-EA)...add to engine with some cheaper priced oil of your choice......run for 15-20 minutes. Drain and install new filter and new synthetic oil and should be good to go. Make sure you change oil and filter as the quick flush has all that stuff knocked loose and it is caught by filter.

If you cant find anything local I can point you to the Amsoil variants....or you can get yourself by clicking link in signature.
 
4Peanut said:
This made me smile.
Click to expand...
Me too, as it's definitely not correct in my case:banana::banana::banana:

Brock said:
For regular coloration of oil residue I would just start using full synthetic such as AMSOIL or Mobil 1... Drain and install new filter and new synthetic oil and should be good to go.
Click to expand...
I agree. Change oil and filter after you replace the gaskets, leave it in for 5-8000 miles or so, and change.

Steve
 
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