Torque on valve cover bolts? This may be a stupid question...

[OldRigNewParts]

Doing minor work on my own engine is relatively new to me. I replaced my PCV valve yesterday and and ended up dropping some of the brittle grommet into the valve cover. Not knowing exactly how much of it potentially fell into the cam area, I removed the cover so I could get a better look. In the process, I noticed that almost every bolt on my valve cover was just finger tight. Is that normal? I know that you're not supposed to really torque them down to avoid crushing the gasket, but that seemed way too loose.

I removed the grommet pieces and bolted everything back up to hand tight, meaning it's tighter than it was when I unbolted it. Is this ok, or should I loosen the bolts back to where they were?

 

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I've no idea on what torque on 1997 valve cover suppose to be but sure as hell not finger tight. If I did this I'd get repair manual with specs, torque wrench and new valve cover gasket. GL

 

[RonJR]

I don't have numbers for a 97 handy, but for a 94 v6 valve cover, the torque spec is 48 in-lb, or 4 ft-lb. So, not a lot. More than finger tight, but not much.
They generally loosen up with age as the gasket shrinks. You can carefully snug them up, but don't over do it.