Burning oil smell a year after valve cover gasket job

[csp]

FIPG is overrated. Permatex grey or Permatex The Right Stuff (my favorite) will seal just fine.

 

[atalarico]

I didn't read that you resealed the 4 half moons on the heads. if you didn't, your leak could very well be coming from one of them.

Yeah, I did those. In fact, those things took forever to scrape fipg off.

Anyway, here are the bolts from the pass side vc post brake cleaner cleaning. They look ok?

A couple were a bit loose but it's hard to tell without a inch pound torque wrench. Those washers grommet things were new when I replaced them but a couple are obviously cracked and in less than perfect shape.

 

[atalarico]

I'm waiting to hear from you all before I go putting these back in with some lock tire. Haha.

 

[StreetCreeper]

My valve cover was leaking because of bolts that loosened up over time but it never had a burning smell.

Mine are loose too and always loosen back up after tightening, yet I've never smelled burnt oil in nearly 60,000 miles.

 

[atalarico]

That's interesting. I wonder if it's because something about the way your VCs sit and mate with the surfaces is like a 1/100 perfect match or something. Everything else I've read about loose bolts always equals burning oil smell.

Anyway, any verdict on these bolts looking good to blue loctite and put back on?

 

[atalarico]

Well, I went ahead and cleaned them up using brake cleaner and purple power de-greasing spray. I applied blue loctite, and went in a criss-crossing pattern until they were all nice and snug...but not too snug.

We'll see if this helps. I'm guessing I'll have some residual oil smell for a little while, but as long as the smell gets less pronounced and not more, I think I'll be good.

Thanks for the help all. If this doesn't do it, I'm sucking up my pride and taking it to the shop for a professional diagnosis.

 

[atalarico]

Quick update in case anyone comes across this thread with a similar issue...

I replaced the oil filler cap gasket, and cleaned off the valve cover below and around the area. The burning oil smell was no longer so strong that I had to switch to recirculate if sitting at a traffic stop after driving for a little while.

However, while not as strong, the smell was still there a bit. I took it to a shop for another issue and asked if they could check for oil leaks after explaining the situation a bit. They said they couldn't find any leaks and that it is more than likely just residual that will be around for a little while.

Hope that helps! If anyone reads this and hasn't done your VC gaskets yet, START with the oil filler cap gasket first. It's a very simple and cheap replacement, and if it solves your burning oil smells, you'll save yourself a solid day or afternoon of wrestling with VC gaskets and FIPG.

 

[AntleredRuin]

Might look into this soon too. Starting to notice a burning smell too. Have not seen any oil at all, and I keep my engine pretty clean.
I actually had both valve covers off almost a year ago, and did not have a in/lb torque wrench so I had to finger tighten them, then just give a little tweak with the ratchet.

I think the biggest question is: why did Toyota (and potentially other manufacturers) design the valve cover bolts to be so damn loose? Finger tight if you don't want to risk cracking the cover or ear and have a pretty expensive repair on your hands? But so loose that they should be routinely checked or risk leaking oil and potentially blowing your engine? Who thought that was a good idea?

 

[atalarico]

Might look into this soon too. Starting to notice a burning smell too. Have not seen any oil at all, and I keep my engine pretty clean.
I actually had both valve covers off almost a year ago, and did not have a in/lb torque wrench so I had to finger tighten them, then just give a little tweak with the ratchet.

I think the biggest question is: why did Toyota (and potentially other manufacturers) design the valve cover bolts to be so damn loose? Finger tight if you don't want to risk cracking the cover or ear and have a pretty expensive repair on your hands? But so loose that they should be routinely checked or risk leaking oil and potentially blowing your engine? Who thought that was a good idea?

When you had your VC covers off, did you scrape the old FIPG off and re-apply, and replace your cam-shaft seals? The cam-shaft seals was what got me and forced me to do it a second time, and the scraping of the FIPG was the biggest time-suck of the whole project! The only way I could spot the cam-shaft seal leak was when I stuck my phone behind the outside of the cam-shaft seals and snapped some pictures. I could see the leaking oil, and the passenger side one is likely the one that leaks on to your exhaust manifold the most.

As for why Toyota did what they did, I haven't a clue, but it is strange. I think to avoid the routine check part, I used some blue loctite. If I was more proactive, I'd detail the engine bay so there would be no chance of residual oil burning and any new leaks would be smelled right away. However, that sounds like a pain in the ass for a 232k mile old engine. Haha.

Best of luck to you! I will say that I was surprised when I wiped the VC around the oil fill cap and realized that it was actually oil residue. I thought it still looked clean-ish, but I was wrong.

 

[AntleredRuin]

When you had your VC covers off, did you scrape the old FIPG off and re-apply, and replace your cam-shaft seals? The cam-shaft seals was what got me and forced me to do it a second time. The only way I could spot the leak was when I stuck my phone behind the outside of the cam-shaft seals and snapped some pictures. I could see the leaking oil, and the passenger side one is likely the one that leaks on to your exhaust manifold the most.

As for why Toyota did what they did, I haven't a clue, but it is strange. I think to avoid the routine check part, I used some blue loctite. If I was more proactive, I'd detail the engine bay so there would be no chance of residual oil burning and any new leaks would be smelled right away. However, that sounds like a pain in the ass for a 232k mile old engine. Haha.

Best of luck to you! I will say that I was surprised when I wiped the VC around the oil fill cap and realized that it was actually oil residue. I thought it still looked clean-ish, but I was wrong.

I actually used the same gaskets. I had to remove them because they block the intake manifold and I broke an injector off and it fell in.
I cleaned the groove real good, used FIPG and reseated the gasket as it looked fine. Was not part of the plan. Haha.

I did not do the camshaft seals, no. I'll look into the oil cap seal first as that's obviously the easiest.

 

[atalarico]

I actually used the same gaskets. I had to remove them because they block the intake manifold and I broke an injector off and it fell in.
I cleaned the groove real good, used FIPG and reseated the gasket as it looked fine. Was not part of the plan. Haha.

I did not do the camshaft seals, no. I'll look into the oil cap seal first as that's obviously the easiest.

Oh boy. Well, my experience was that the "kit" I bought for my VC cover gaskets neglected to include the cam shaft seals. I only noticed that I needed to replace those too until I was halfway into the job. It was my only vehicle at the time so I wasn't able to just go pick them up from the dealership that easily. If I knew what was in store for me though, I would have ponied up the $20 for an uber ride to get the damn things. Anyway, I crossed my fingers and did my best to clean up the original cam-shaft seals and FIPG them, and I literally said "Oh, they don't look that bad". A week later I was doing the whole thing over again because they were still leaking, and I compared the new cam-shaft seals to the old ones and there were some minute differences in the seal size and tackiness and all of that.

I will say this though, it went A LOT faster the second time around. The first time took me the better part of a weekend since I was meticulous and was cleaning and inspecting everything along the way. The second time took me about an afternoon, and still wasn't great, but it certainly didn't kill my entire weekend either.

Godspeed, friend. You'll probably go faster than me though since you already have taken all that stuff apart before! It was the first time I had ever broken my engine down that far (and that's really not even far now that I know more), and it was pretty cool but I was pretty nervous about screwing it up!

 

[AntleredRuin]

Oh boy. Well, my experience was that the "kit" I bought for my VC cover gaskets neglected to include the cam shaft seals. I only noticed that I needed to replace those too until I was halfway into the job. It was my only vehicle at the time so I wasn't able to just go pick them up from the dealership that easily. If I knew what was in store for me though, I would have ponied up the $20 for an uber ride to get the damn things. Anyway, I crossed my fingers and did my best to clean up the original cam-shaft seals and FIPG them, and I literally said "Oh, they don't look that bad". A week later I was doing the whole thing over again because they were still leaking, and I compared the new cam-shaft seals to the old ones and there were some minute differences in the seal size and tackiness and all of that.

I will say this though, it went A LOT faster the second time around. The first time took me the better part of a weekend since I was meticulous and was cleaning and inspecting everything along the way. The second time took me about an afternoon, and still wasn't great, but it certainly didn't kill my entire weekend either.

Godspeed, friend. You'll probably go faster than me though since you already have taken all that stuff apart before! It was the first time I had ever broken my engine down that far (and that's really not even far now that I know more), and it was pretty cool but I was pretty nervous about screwing it up!

Ha yeah it was a pain. luckily I had my wife's Rav4 to get a new injector. I think the biggest part of the whole thing was the dang fuel lines and wiring harness being in the way. More than once, I considered cutting the wire harness and reattaching it later, but I figured that's just asking for trouble, and will kill resale (if I ever sell).
Less of an issue with just the valve covers. Although I will admit my complete idiotic blindness when removing the lower section of the air intake plenum. I had all the 'feet' bolts undone, but still couldn't get the dang thing off. After a FLIPPING YOUTUBE VIDEO I found the friggin center bolt starting right up at me. Facepalm with greasy hands.

Anyways, sorry for the thread hijack!

 

[atalarico]

Ha yeah it was a pain. luckily I had my wife's Rav4 to get a new injector. I think the biggest part of the whole thing was the dang fuel lines and wiring harness being in the way. More than once, I considered cutting the wire harness and reattaching it later, but I figured that's just asking for trouble, and will kill resale (if I ever sell).
Less of an issue with just the valve covers. Although I will admit my complete idiotic blindness when removing the lower section of the air intake plenum. I had all the 'feet' bolts undone, but still couldn't get the dang thing off. After a FLIPPING YOUTUBE VIDEO I found the friggin center bolt starting right up at me. Facepalm with greasy hands.

Anyways, sorry for the thread hijack!

Yeah, I feel your pain! This definitely is related and not a thread-jack, so no worries! I only updated it in case it would help someone else avoid the pain I experienced, and it sounds like it might help!

The VC gasket replacement walkthrough I used also mentioned there was a way to avoid having to take apart the upper and lower plenums, but the crux is getting that damn center bolt. None of my wrenches would work on it, and I spent way too much time trying to get it too. Hahaha.

Good luck! Throw an update here too to let us know how it goes. You never know who might see it!