Overhead camshaft engines have a cover to seal and protect the valvetrain. To ensure this, there is a sealing gasket between the cover and the cylinder head piece, which has to be replaced each time the protective cover is removed for maintenance jobs.
The operation for a 1998-2002 spec Toyota Corolla is pretty easy and can be done at home with regular tools, like a couple of screwdrivers, a ratchet with sockets and the right replacing gasket according to your vehicle spec. Here is how to do it:
- Let the engine cool if you’ve used the car
- Open the hood
- Use the ratchet to unscrew the bolts that fix the ignition coils on the cover
- Take a flat head screwdriver and pop off the electric connections of each ignition coil
- Remove the ignition coils and their wire fixtures from the cover
- Remove the hose connected to the cover
- Unscrew and remove all the bolts of the valvetrain cover
- Lift the cover and remove it
- Take the old gasket out and clean the edge that it covered
- Put some liquid gasket on the area where the cylinder head meets the timing cover
- Place the new gasket in the designated grooves on the cover
- Carefully put the cover on the valvetrain so that the gasket doesn’t shift its correct position
- Put the bolts back and gradually screw them according to the video bellow
- Fit the ignition coils back and their wire connections.