Valve covers

Weird one. I started smelling oil last week and on inspection all 16 fasteners on my valve covers were loose. Not just one or 2 but all of them were less then finger tight. How tight are these supposed to be? To answer the obvious question, no there hasn’t been anyone working on my truck except me since purchasing. What would cause this? I have put on close to 6k miles and this just happened. I will change gaskets in the spring because I would have to do the work in my driveway but hoping they aren’t now needing done asap.

 

Part numbers and process for valve cover gaskets here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/valve-covers-fix-or-leave.105385/#post-2712883

Correct torque on bolts is in INCH LB, not FT LB and you're aiming for 53 inch lbs per the FSM which is in the ballpark of 4.5 ft lb if my math is on-point (not that any torque wrench for lbft is supporting < 10 lbft or anything)

It's not unusual for this to happen. The gasket shrinks with time/age especially on low mile vehicles. The gasketed washers that should be on the bolt also have rubber that shrinks with heat + time.

 

Shifty, you sir are a wealth of knowledge.