so today after washing my car ... i check my oil cause i know need a change soon ... but then i notice dryed up oil in front of my engine bay ... i cleaned it off and sure enough .. oil was leaking through the valve cover ... my dad told me to tighten the 3 screws up ... but i know your not suppose to tigten it up a lot ... can this be due to the fact that i need to change my valve cover gasket? i car has close to 58,000 miles ... thanks for any input ...

 

make sure the bolts are snug, just be very carefull not to over-tighten. Use a 1/4" drive ratchet if you've got one, it'll keep you from using too much force. As for needing to replace the gasket, it's a possibility, but really only if you're taking the valve cover on and off a lot. I've had mine off once, and I now have 76K on it, no leaks.