Valve Cover Gasket job fail

[njc1230]

Evening all,
I just put together my 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser back together after doing the intake manifold gasket and the valve cover gasket. When I went to add oil in, a bunch of oil suddenly spilled out of the driver's side of the engine, particularly in the area between the first and second side bolts of the valve cover. I will admit to being pretty aggressive in adding oil in since the 2uz-fe has that tall tube for adding in oil. I suspect that I haven't torqued those two bolts properly, particularly the front most bolt where the dipstick is in the way. Any suggestions for how to torque those bolts with all the crap in the way, or if maybe it could something else?

 

[MongooseGA]

Did you definitely put the gasket on there?

 

[njc1230]

Did you definitely put the gasket on there?

Yes. One of my suspicions is that I rolled it or pinched it while I was reinstalling the gasket.

 

[Eyedaho]

Yes. One of my suspicions is that I rolled it or pinched it while I was reinstalling the gasket.

That would be my first guess. Even if the bolts in that location aren't torqued to the very light spec, I can't see that much oil pouring out of the gasket is in there correctly. Bummer to have to take it back apart, but remember a very important rule to not make a bad situation worse! I would check the torque but I definitely wouldn't try to resolve the issue by over torquing, which could easily snowball into stripped threads.