Good morning! Sorry for this question as I am sure there are many threads on this. However, I wanted a personal opinion on replacing a Valve cover gasket. I知 18 and have absolutely no experience with cars, or even tools for that matter lol. Now, given the fact that I am 18 as well, you could have probably guessed that I am not loaded with money. Money is actually very tight at the moment. So the Lexus dealer is completely out of the question. I spent $200 for them to checkout my car because the top, antenna motor, A/C are not working and because the VSC, VSC off, and check engine lights are on. Only for Lexus to tell me nothing is wrong and that I should just change my brakes when my A/C and and Top are clearly not working! They did manage to take the lights on the dashboard off though... only to have the turn back on the next day. Complete waste of money. With that being said, I would rather save the money and learn how to work on this car myself... you gotta start somewhere right?

so back to the topic, my car has been smelling very burnt and blowing out smoke from under the hood, which gives me reason to suspect it is the valve cover gasket leaking oil into the hot areas of the car. The car is not overheating and is in great running shape (except for the check engine light, VSC, and VSC off light). So I am almost positive it is the valve cover gasket. So given the information, do you think it is something I would be able to do on my own? Is it a very delicate job (is there a good chance that I will mess up and blowup the car or something)?

If it is something that I can do, can someone direct me to a video that explains the procedure in an SC430 because I cannot seem to find it, or a car that is very similar. If there is no video, a video of the engine parts should help... never even taken off the engine cover.

oh and one more question... I know many people like to tackle more than one problem at a time while they are working under the hood. Is there something else I should be looking for in replacing? Should I take this time to replace spark plugs? Anything else?

 

Cheapest and easiest for you right now is to tighten up the valve covers (just dont over tighten them) those bolts are definitely loose. If you search, many people did this and it helps stop the oil leak.

 

V8Exhaust, welcome to the SC430 Forum. Please begin by telling us about your SC430 - Year, Mileage and Color. The circumstances of your purchase and how you decided that the SC is for you. There are a ton of valuable information on this Forum. Best advice is for you to read through the Stickies. Most of the answers you are looking for will be there. Take time to go through them. Part of the joy in owning an SC430 is getting to know the car. Good luck.

 

@digitatc I actually started working and received my first check... I am willing to spend for the parts, just not pay for the expensive labor costs that are associated with Lexus. eBay has the the valve cover gasket set for under $50 and I don稚 mind paying that. With that in mind do you still think that I should only retighten the bolts? Or do you think that I can manage the complete replacement? If you believe the bolts will do the trick, then can you direct me to a video or explain to me how it痴 done? Thank you!

 

Valve gaskets deteriorate over time, and it’s probably the reason you’re having some leakage. You haven’t told us year model and mileage. This may tell us about loosened valve cover bolts. If you decide to try bolt tightening solution on your own, first you need definitely a torque wrench to make sure you don’t over tighten the bolts and damage the motor. That also means you need to know the correct torque amount, i.e. foot pounds or ft/lbs of torque applied to the bolt.
Then there is the PCV or Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve, my young Padawan Learner. This may a failed and depending on the year model, may be threaded in or just pressed in with a gasket that has failed. Careful you don’t want gasket debris in there.

One of the best tools to spend money on is a DTC or diagnostic trouble code reader. Modern cars have OBDII ports where you plug in, like R2D2, and the car reports trouble codes so you know what’s wrong. Toyota not only has software called Techstream but a website too. There are plenty of threads on this site not only covering the questions you have but also offer solution too. Some threads even have links to videos. If you are really interested in working on your car, you may want to consider getting a set of Lexus shop manuals. They aren’t cheap for an 18 year old, they are a two or three volume book set but the cost could be easily recovered in one do it yourself job. For example, the shop manual details the steps on replacing the valve cover gaskets and provides the torque values too. (The Techstream website is the same, actually better than, having the books if you have web access on a PC not a phone, it always has the newest info, whereas the books are printed once.)

Finally, our members, especially the one in the SC430 Forum, are also a great resource.

Not the best video below , guy is scatterbrain if you ask me, but you'll get the idea.

 

V8Exhaust, on the SC430, it is common as the valve cover gasket ages that it deteriorate / shrink. The first time you can probably get away with just tightening the cover bolts as suggested above if the gasket hasn't already deteriorated too much. That may buy you enough time (probably a year or so) to earn enough money to purchase parts and tools as needed. Eventually, you will need to replace the gasket, though. Sounds like you've got a good handle on the cost of the parts involved. (Buy quality parts though, not knock offs. Others will have to comment on the best manufacturers of this gasket though.)

Regarding the Techstream that VVTiBob mentioned, it is a very handy and useful tool that you can buy for somewhere between $25 & $50 on the web. There are several threads on it, be sure to read up on it as there are good suggestions as to which versions/revisions to pursue. For example, if you ever have to change out a tire pressure sensor, the Techstream will pay for itself in that repair by itself. I doubt that you'll need any additional OBDII tools beyond the Techstream, from what I understand.

 

Hey @VVTiBob ! This is my second account which I use in order to not annoy people with too many questions just in case I have several to make. I keep it separate from my main account because I want to focus on the electrical issues of the car such as my A/C and top issues, along with the aesthetics. You may not remember me but I am the 18 year old valedictorian that posted quite a while back ago... close to a year. I have a black 2004 Lexus SC430 with the saddle interior and 132,000 miles. I want to keep that account hidden until my car is ready and looks good so I can post pictures. Senior year has been very stressful with all the College applications and I just got a job as a Loss and Prevention security officer here in Miami Florida. Now that I am making my own money I can now finally start on my car.

I do plan on fixing my car myself. I believe that there is nothing better than the satisfaction of seeing your car coming together through your own work. I believe that my generation has lost much of that drive and passion for learning that the folks in this community have. It surprised me how much this community knows about the Lexus SC430 and cars in general. I desire to know these things too. I want to download tech stream and have read up on this. To my understanding there are several versions and I must also purchase the cables that connect to the car separately. Tech stream diagnoses the issues with the car but it is different that what I can get at my local Autozone correct? It can be specific to my car model. For example, regarding the retractable top. Toyota cannot do this because it is Lexus specific, and the only way to diagnose a top issue is to wait until it fails because it does not save in the system. So you would have to catch it during the error correct? With that being said, do you recommend the tech stream website more than the manuals? I thought that tech stream only helped with diagnosing.
thanks again Bob! You never fail to answer my questions! (You were the first person to respond to my first ever thread)

 

• Some DTC are Toyota’s propriety trouble codes and may not show up on some readers...YMMV as there are more than a 100 readers out there.
• Sliding roof codes must be captured during the error cycle and will be cleared on an ignition shutdown.
• techstream website cost money, I believe it’s $20 for 48 hours access. Different amounts for 30 days etc etc ...newest info there. Shop manuals can be found on eBay by model year.
• READ the FAQs only one acct per member. You need to delete one before admin does...they can see your IP
• no one gets upset over SINCERE and APPROPRIATE questions....BUT you should use the search tool as many questions have already been asked and answered - repeatedly. Speaking for myself, there is nothing more frustrating to me then to offer a solution to a member THEN NEVER hear from that person again... we all learn from sharing problems and answers. We all want to know if the solution worked AND there can be many solutions to one problem.

 

oh ok I understand, thank you for clearing that up. I apologize for the inconvenience, I will delete this account. Where do I go to delete it?

 

To be clear about one thing.... the Techstream software used as a code reader does not have repair instructions. The techstream website has repair instructions just like the shop manuals plus revisions if appropriate.

 

Oh ok perfect! Since the techstream software code reader is not part of the website, it does not require monthly payment. I thought that in order to get the code reader I needed to pay monthly in order to gain access to both the code reader and online manual. If that is the case, then I think that the Manual will be the best option because it痴 a one time payment, and if I were to need any further assistance or revision, I have you guys in the community. My fear is to end up making the car worse or getting stuck in a project and not being able to put the car back together. This is not a regular Honda Civic or Corolla that most kids my age begin to learn how to fix. In my opinion this car is much more complicated and there are so many things that can go wrong. But with that being said, do the 3 volumes come in one payment or are they 3 separate payments? Can you send me a link that provides me with a way to pay for all all three volumes? I saw some on eBay at 200+ dollars but I知 not sure if it痴 the one I need. Once again my Lexus SC430 is a 2004 with the saddle interior, and black pearl emblems... not sure if that is even necessary but I値l include it.

 

Renegate,
I like your determination. That's good. Like Bob said, many of the questions that you have can be found by using the search tool.
I'd recommend that you get the Techstream. For fifty bucks, it\s good investment. If you want to fix your car, first you need to know what wrong with it. Like the code reader, Techstream will do that and more.
Hard copy manuals and Youtube are your best to tackle the problems and this forum is your resources. Good luck.

 

@VVTiBob I just found this link, https://www.repairmanuals.co/product...SABEgIT0_D_BwE

This provides the service manual online for a yearly fee of $30. I知 not sure how reliable this is, but it does state that it provides everything I need to know for every repair in my specific 2004 SC model. What do you think? It Is definitely what I am looking for, just need the green light so I can proceed with the purchase. Thank you once again!

 

I prefer the OEM stuff....but their website says they offer a money back guarantee. Whatever that means.

 

Hey guys, it痴 been about two weeks and I知 finally ready to replace the Valve cover gasket. I have all of the materials needed with the exception of the sealant which I知 sure I can get at autozone and the O-Ring.




as you guys can see (and are probably familiar with) the O-rings that I must remove in order to replace the 2nd Cylinder Cover Gasket are non-reusable. I found the oem parts, but they are about $20 if I order them online! $20 for two of those tiny things? I just wanted to ask if I could just find these at my local Autozone or something? I値l go ahead and buy that along with the sealant (which is part No. 08826-00080) which I found to be expensive as well and would like to know if there is a cheaper sealant that works the same. Just in case there is any confusion, what I mean by sealant is the glue that is puto on the valve in order to glue the rubber cover.