2009 Verso 1.8 2ZR-FAE rocker cover gasket change

[Stonedofmoo]

Hi guys

I don't often post here because the Verso is so incredibly reliable; but having reached 120,000 miles I have scheduled in spark plug change along with the usual oil and filters and this time noticed a little oil had made it down into the spark plug thread of one plug, and also there are signs of a small leak from the offside rocker cover.

So new rocker gasket time then. I see the kits include both rocker cover and spark plug tube seals.

Any tips for this before I begin? Does anyone know the correct order to tighten the rocker cover bolts down and what the ultimate torque should be? I'm guessing not a whole lot.

While the cover is off is there anything else I should be checking? I don't want to make it a big job, but if there is other things while the cover is off...

 

Also one other question; for a long time the car has made a kinda screeching noise momentarily when starting up from cold, lasts no more than a second but it's been going on a long time. Is there any particular point of failure I should be aware of on the 2ZR-FAE? Googling brings up plenty on the older 2ZR-FE but not the FAE. Aside from the noise and minor leak the car is faultless, never given us an issue. I change the oil every 5k miles and it always comes back out clean like it just went in.