[Edahl2504]

I recently purchased a 1987 supra with an oil leak, which we located to be at the driver's side valve cover gasket. In the following weeks we are going to replace both gaskets but wanted to know if there are any preventative actions we can take to keep a leak from forming again?

 

[T6Rocket]

No. Just hand tighten the valve covers till they are good and snug. Not sure I would torque the bolts, it takes forever to reach the torque value with a thick rubber gasket, don't want to break them. Or if you do, set them to a lower torque value than what is called for and carefully work your way up.

Al

 

[Edahl2504]

No. Just hand tighten the valve covers till they are good and snug. Not sure I would torque the bolts, it takes forever to reach the torque value with a thick rubber gasket, don't want to break them. Or if you do, set them to a lower torque value than what is called for and carefully work your way up.

Al

Thank you

 

[3p141592654]

I would recommend lock washers or some means of securing the bolts. The torque spec at 21 in-lbs is not much. My problem is that after a year they all back out and are loose and many are impossible to retorque without taking the intake and coils off. I have had no success with loktite. Probably because the threads are too dirty and oily.

 

[Captain]

I would recommend lock washers or some means of securing the bolts. The torque spec at 21 in-lbs is not much. My problem is that after a year they all back out and are loose and many are impossible to retorque without taking the intake and coils off. I have had no success with loktite. Probably because the threads are too dirty and oily.

An additional problem is the rubber washers themselves deforming and degrading over time.

 

[3p141592654]

That's a good point. And those washers are readily available from multiple sources. Rockauto is sellign the Felpro set of 12 for $8 right now.

1990 TOYOTA SUPRA 3.0L L6 Turbocharged Valve Cover Grommet | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

 

[Captain]

That's a good point. And those washers are readily available from multiple sources. Rockauto is sellign the Felpro set of 12 for $8 right now.

1990 TOYOTA SUPRA 3.0L L6 Turbocharged Valve Cover Grommet | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

I buy 5 or 6 sets of them along with other gaskets and seals whenever Rockauto does closeouts. Think I probably have 30 or so thermostat gaskets hanging around at this point

 

[Edahl2504]

That's a good point. And those washers are readily available from multiple sources. Rockauto is sellign the Felpro set of 12 for $8 right now.

1990 TOYOTA SUPRA 3.0L L6 Turbocharged Valve Cover Grommet | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

so would it be better to get these or the lock washers mentioned previously? I have a non turbo model, kinda forgot to mention that.

 

[3p141592654]

You need both in my opinion. The above seals out the oil. The lock washers prevent the bolts loosening themselves over time.

 

[IdahoDoug]

It's interesting that Toyota has a terrific design on the valve covers of another straight 6 that they (and everyone) should use. The flaw here is trying to squish rubber and get a torque number, right? Too easy to over/under tighten.

On my LandCruisers, the valve cover has little half circle "feet" cast into it around each bolt. When the feet touch down on the head, that's it. Torque ramps up like an F-16 on afterburner and you're done. The thickness of the available space when they touch down, puts the proper tension on the rubber valve cover gasket evenly and uniformly, and that's it. And the unmistakable change in feel probably dramatically reduces people overtorquing and messing up aluminum threads in the head. Seems like a winner to me.

 

[3p141592654]

The cam covers are terrible. I have fought with leaks ever since I got the car in 1996. The center cover is another disaster that falls apart every 5 years. The 5MGE had a much better setup.

 

[Da Kine Guy]

I just put mine back on with the Driftmotion 10mm bolts. Put some blue Permatex brand locktite on it and used a hand socket driver to tighten it down best I could (no ratchet to avoid stripping the threads in the head). Rubber on it is pretty squished out. We'll see how long that lasts. It was filthy when I was taking it apart and took me a few days of after work sessions to get it all cleaned up with towels, q-tips, and canned air. PITA cleaning the spark plug holes so I didn't dump all that crap down into the cylinder when I removed them. Completely submerged in a pool of dirty oil for cylinder 3->6.

 

[chevydude]

You can do two passes using an inch pound wrench. Crush the rubber seals in the first pass using 60% of the value (if it's 21 in.lbs, use 13 in.lbs), and then the second pass use the recommended torque spec (21?). Start from the center of cam cover and then outward in a clockwise motion. Center top, center bottom, top left, top right, bottom right, bottom left. The day after driving it when the engine is cold, do another pass at recommended spec in the same sequence you started.

EDIT: Make sure the threads are clean. Wipe them down, use carb cleaner too. Squirt in the pocket, squirt the threads on the fastener too.