Valve cover gasket leak/cam tower?

So went and had oil change and a tire rotation done today. Tech noted passenger side valve cover gasket is leaking oil. How do I make sure it is not the dreaded cam tower leak? Thanks in advance.

 

On mine you could tell because it was dry just below the valve cover. The leak started at the tower and leaked down from there. The tower is about 1” thick and sits directly under the cover.

 

You can see the cover just above the red line and it’s dry under there.

 

After I bought truck, I pulled plugs and this is what I saw - see tip

So I changed the VCG

 

Passenger side

 

Drivers side look like it to me.

 

Looks like cam tower to me, how many miles on your truck?

 

47k

 

Are you still under powertrain warranty?

 

Yes 60k power train

 

Good news then, should get it covered no problems and welcome to the Cam tower leak club.


https://www.tundras.com/threads/cam-shaft-tower-seal-leaking-please-read.20102/

 

My dealer originally mis-diagnosed it as a valve cover gasket leak as well. Yours looks like mine did.

 

looks like a pretty big leak imo. get it cover under the 60k powertrain warranty. Gotta hit Toyota where it hurts ...the wallet..so they can address the cam tower leak properly.

 

Less than 9K on mine. 1 year and 3 months old. This is B.S.!! My 1960 Volkswagen bug doesn't leak a drop!

 

What percentage of people have this problem?

 

15 to 20% from our "non official" poll here.