Your going to have to pry up on the valve cover to get it free. There are just stuck to the old gasket. MAKE 100% SURE YOU HAVE REMOVED ALL OF THE VALVE COVER BOLTS 1ST. Its a pretty easy job just take your time. I have quite a bit of wrench time under my belt so it took me about an hour and half.

Don’t pry it, tap with a rubber mallet

That picture speaks for itself. I have 113 thousand miles and my 5th gen custom SR5 is still tearing up mud. Love it.

Thought I would update this thread, as I just had to re-do the job for a couple more leaking spark plug seals. Still looking pretty clean after 32 10k miles oil changes.

Jeremy, how many miles do have right now? We are just over 316K on a September 2014 ST5. No valve cover oil leaks so far.

Are the timing chains sloppy on yours?

321k. They do seem to have a bit of pin wear, and can slightly lift the long chain from the sprocket. I may finally fix the timing cover leak next year and replace the chains and tensioners.

That is crazy clean.

Hello all, new to the forum and to 4runners. I recently traded in my Tacoma for a 2010 4runner w/ 211,000 miles. I changed the spark plugs this week and noticed oil accumulation in several of the spark plug holes. No signs of oil burning or head gasket leakage from what I can tell. I'm led to believe a valve cover gasket and spark plug gasket job is in order. Before diving in and ordering parts, I just wanted to confirm the part numbers I have here are correct. Also, are there any other parts or tools I would need or recommended for this job beyond basic hand tools. Any sealant needed around the valve cover gasket when replacing? Here is the list I have so far (my main point of concern was if the intake manifold gasket was the correct one as there were a few in the parts fiche to select from). I'm also planning to replace the PCV valve as a preventative measure. thanks in advance

11193-70010 x 6 (plug tube seal)
11214-31030 x 1 (valve cover gasket)
11213-0P010 X 1 (valve cover gasket)
17176-31140 x 1 (intake manifold gasket)

Too clean..

Did you determine if the gasket at the top or the joint at the bottom of the tube was leaking? Mine is leaking too, but I haven't disassembled it yet. Trying to order all the parts from Toyota now, but it's kind of difficult to tell from the parts diagrams which seals are needed.
Jeff