Should I be worried

[bobmc]

Noticed this at the weekend, it's the valve cover (I think) on the passenger side 

[DannyM]

Looks like your valve cover gasket is leaking. If it's never been done before it'd be worth checking your PCV valve and cleaning/replacing it also. If the crankcase is over pressurised the oil vapours will find there way out through various seals and gaskets in the engine. For peace of mind I'd just replace the PCV and valve cover gasket as they're relatively inexpensive and not difficult to change. 

[bobmc]

I'm coming up to 120,000 miles so I'm probably due a spark plug change, so it's probably an ideal time to renew the gasket and probably the PCV at the same time.

I'm not confident in my ability to do it DIY so I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get it done. I was thinking about trading up to a newer IS or GS this year but it looks like that will have to wait

 

[Texas]

On 29 September 2020 at 1:32 PM, bobmc said:

I'm coming up to 120,000 miles so I'm probably due a spark plug change, so it's probably an ideal time to renew the gasket and probably the PCV at the same time.

I'm not confident in my ability to do it DIY so I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get it done. I was thinking about trading up to a newer IS or GS this year but it looks like that will have to wait

 

Check out this 'How To' on 250 plug renewal and note no special tools required but just have to 'move' a fair bit of stuff out of the way to get to the right bank of plugs, that's why it cost so much at dealers!

 

[bobmc]

Yeah I've watched a number of these videos and I would say that I have been very tempted to have a go.

I think I would if I had a mate who was good with the tools to keep an eye on me or be able to help if I got into trouble but none of my mates fit the bill.

I've enrolled on a college course for basic car maintenance to build some confidence and get some practical experience but with all this COVID stuff I'm not sure when it's going to start.

 

[AFlex]

On 9/29/2020 at 1:32 PM, bobmc said:

I'm coming up to 120,000 miles so I'm probably due a spark plug change, so it's probably an ideal time to renew the gasket and probably the PCV at the same time.

I'm not confident in my ability to do it DIY so I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get it done. I was thinking about trading up to a newer IS or GS this year but it looks like that will have to wait

 

I did mine a couple of weekends back. Basically did my own 100,000 mile tuneup. Spark plugs, PCV valve, Lambda sensors, cleaned throttle body, cleaned intake manifold, replaced a few of the aux belt pulleys.

I would say if you have the right tools, the spark plugs are really not that difficult to do at home as a DIY. Only cost me around 80 quid for the plugs from lexuspartsdirect. You will pay much more even for just the parts at dealer or garage prices.

If it helps, I can post a list of the tools I used. I don't have a big tool collection myself - I tend to add new tools as I need them for each specific job.