Oil leak at 80,000

Brought truck in for 80,000 mile service and they found oil on passenger side of lower engine. Oil level was good so not a big leak but was determined to be leaking from timing chain cover. They are replacing now and sounds like a big job they estimate 20 hours. Anyone else have leak already? Not very stoked to have this so soon on this new engine. My ‘01 Tacoma has 290,000 miles and hasn’t leaked yet anywhere.

 

thank god for the warranties and free loaner cars

 

Been common on Toyota v6s ever since they put timing chains on em

 

Yep, mines at the dealer right now. Dropped it off Thursday morning and drove by last night and saw it still sitting in their parking lot so my guess is they aren’t starting it until Monday. They estimated at least two days for me since they’re pulling the engine out. Mine has 38k miles.

 

warranty at 80000 miles?

 

Yes, there’s a thing called Toyota extended warranty. I have it. Good until 100k/7 years and there’s a 125k/10 year one too.

 

Yes I bought the truck brand new so did the 10 year 100,000 mile. So glad I did now! Driver seat heater failed last winter and they are covering that too which was a pleasant surprise.
Guess this leak isn’t uncommon but still disappointing.

 

They have to pull the engine?

On my 02 V6 it was easy to replace the timing belt, WP, seals etc without pulling the engine.

 

This happened to mine at around 41k. It took the dealer about 3 weeks to finish it, I assume it was a low priority since it was warranty work. Edit: Yes, they pulled the engine

 

They're fixing an oil leak, not replacing a timing belt.

 

Yeah the warranty stuff is something I’d be happy losing anyway, mine was only $1000 so essentially $200 a year for something that can cost thousands to repair. The timing cover leak is very common, and it’s disappointing but I’m happy that I’m not paying a dime and it’s getting fixed.

Yes, the third gens have a different engine with a different layout in the engine bay. I can see how it would be easier to take it out especially if you have state of the art tools at your disposal. They have to pull the entire cover off to replace seals and find if there’s any other seals/gaskets that need replacing.

 

Three weeks? Damn. Did they pay for a rental for that long? I noticed on my rental agreement through enterprise I have to return the vehicle I got after 5 days, and it says $175 on Toyota to be billed. Does Toyota only cover a rental for 5 days?

 

It’s just not enough sealant by the robot at the factory, the engine is fine.

 

I hope so by the time I changed my oil and found the leak I also noticed I was low on oil by a whole quart so who knows how long I drove it that low

 

Can anyone please tell me where to look on the passenger side from under the truck? Do I need to drop the skid plate to see it?

 

You should be able to see it from the top. If not you’ll take the skid plate off and look in the area of the power steering pump.

 

May as well have them change out the spark plugs and cables while the engine is out. The time they charge for that should be minimal.

You'd obviously have to pay for that service.

 

Have them check the power steering pump while they are in there. Both my Tacoma and T4R have had the power steering pump shaft seal fail on them. This leak covers the front of the engine with oil just like a front cover leak will.

 

no

 

Spark plug cables?