Hi we recently purchased a 1994 Toyota Camry. During our pre-purchase inspection (early March 2011), the mechanic noticed some “oil-wetness” but couldn’t tell where the oil was coming from. We bought the car anyway. Later my wife became bothered by a smell in the car while driving which we and a second mechanic thought was due to the “oil-wetness”. The second mechanic told us the valve cover gasket needed replacing, so we replaced it (along with the plennium cover gasket) on 03/24/11. Regardless, my wife has continued to notice an odor sporadically. Today my wife took the car in for an oil change and the franchise mechanic told her that we have an oil leak and the valve cover gasket needed to be replaced.
Interestingly, when we looked at the repair records from the previous owner (she gave us all the invoices on work done on the card dating back to 2004), we found that on 02/19/2011 her mechanic replaced the “front of car valve cover gasket”.
Are we being scammed? Or is this a notorious problem with this model of car? Or are there different valve cover gaskets? Or are they tricky to replace and a less than skilled mechanic could easliy screw up? OR?
Please help!
Richard
If this is a 4 cylinder car then you only have one valve cover gasket. The base of the cover might be damaged so ti doesn’t seal well, or maybe you are leaking from somewhere else. Why don’t you take it back to your own mechanic who did the job and have him recheck the work? That odor is not good, it is oil running onto a hot surface and could potentially cause a fire. Most these leaks are minor and not enough for so much drama, but yours seems different.
if you have a front valve cover gasket then you you probably have a v6 engine- then the rear valve cover gasket still needs to be replaced. it is a notoriuos problem with a large amount of cars not just the Camry. An novice mechanic can screw it up, very easily. they probably only replaced the front one becasue of its easy acces or it could be that they didnt know any better to look for the valve cover in the other side of the engine could be that they just wanted to sell it and couldnt sell it with a vast amount of oil spewing out from under the valve cover gasket could also be that they didnt care about the oil leaking from the other side of the engine which they cant readily and easily see anyway. what ever tha case may be the human factor comes in and takes over with complacency and cant wait to get it over with attitude. the camry is a good. car valve cover gasket replacing is a small obstacle to climb to keep your sanity and peace with the wife.