I've got a small leak from the valve cover that is leaking to the exhaust manifold and smokes really bad most mornings. I've been told to change the gasket and things should be ok. Is there a trick to replacing it?

 

Tell us what TL you have, 2.5 TL presumably since you said singular "valve cover", but humor us w/ the info.

Generally valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals will do the job. On 2.5TL, the space to reinstall cover w/o disturburbing the gasket in the cover is limited.

good luck

 

I don't know how old your gasket is, but I changed mine once and it still leaked a little, it turned out I didn't put enough sealant on the squared off corners where it sits around the camshaft. I took it off and was a little more generous with the sealant and it hasn't leaked since, that was over 2 years ago, but if the gasket is old and brittle, just change it.