Toyota Avalon 2000 Valve Cover Gaskets

Maintenance/Repairs
21

Well just my 2 cents here but… a dealership will always spot future work for them to do under your hood. However… Your current 19 year old valve cover gaskets have probably been “weeping” for years at this point. Gaskets that are almost 2 decades old dont owe anyone anything. I would simply have an independent shop change them for you, not the dealership and not for anything near the 600+ estimate you received.

I’m sure they are leaking and have been for some time now. They shouldn’t have been disturbed during the timing belt service either so… They are old…just replace them…they cost about 40 bucks. So keep that in mind when shopping for estimates.

Thank God I am not at the mercy of garages or shops… I dont know how you people do it honestly…maybe one day when Im too old to spin wrenches I will find out… Not looking forward to that. :frowning:

22

For the record . . .

Unless the guys at the shop are morons, there is absolutely no need to remove the valve covers to replace the timing belt on this particular engine

1 Like
23

On my Corolla’s 4AFE 4-banger engine the valve cover usually is removed to replace the timing belt. Technically it may not be necessary, but it is easier and faster that way. When replacing the valve cover a less-experienced tech might torque the hold-down bolts too tightly, and there’s a couple of places where some rtv sealant is required. It can be difficult to tell where an oil leak originates, but on the 4AFE, based on my experience if you guessed it was from the valve cover you’d usually be right.