Oil Leak

Noticed a small oil leak from my 2016 Tacoma, took it into a local shop and was told the leak is coming from the timing cover. I was quoted $3,200 for the repair, due to an estimated 20 hours of labor. Has anyone had this issue?
Thanks for any help you can give.

 

Common, and on 2nd gens too.

 

Just curious. How many miles on yours?

 

87,500

 

I really hope this major issue was resolved later in the 3rd gens or is it simply that age makes this problem rear it's ugly head. 48k on my 19, I've got my eyes peeled to catch this before 60K. I will trade it in if this happens out of warranty. Do you really have to pull the motor to fix this?

 

Several previous posts on this topic claim the leak happens due to a bad application of the liquid gasket by the robots on the assembly line. If that's true, I would say it's luck of the draw. Hopefully they addressed this in more recent trucks.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/timing-cover-leaking-oil.484372/

There have also been leaking PS pumps that 'look like' the timing cover leaking. So make very sure which it is before work begins.

 

You don't have to pull the engine on a 2nd gen for the repair though.

 

My timing cover leak was repaired under warranty at 36,500, at 37,400 the timing cover leak returned. Very disappointing.

 

Dang, if you get a timing cover leak and a plastic coolant cross pipe leak it will set you back $5000 in repairs. This is getting kind of ridiculous these repair prices. Almost wants me want to get a real old car with a simple motor, manual tranny and roll down windows.

 

Had my timing cover not been covered under warranty the dealer would have wanted $4,008.00 to make the repair.

 

Or not buy Toyota anymore

 

Get more quotes. That sounds a bit steep.

 

When you say leak, is it enough to drip? Although annoying on a relatively new truck, if it was just seeping and the difference between spending 4k or not, I’d leave it.
My 2005 with 300k seeped from the valve covers but never a drip so I left it.

 

Check for a recall. That was an issue on 2016s and some early 2017s. Might get lucky.

 

Seriously ? Ford would set you back 20K. I know I guy who bought an expedition. Spent close to 20K in repairs in 8 years. He dumped it for a ...Toyota.

 

You might be thinking of the recall for the differential leak. I don't think there has been any recalls for
the timing cover leak.

 

Might be.

 

I had the timing cover leak on my '16 at around 42k on the odometer... Luckily it was still under warranty. I've heard of some having the engine pulled to fix it, and if not they remove the whole front end to gain access - thus the huge labor charges. Mine is luckily still holding with no leaks yet 10k later. If its just a seep as opposed to a drip I'd probably just clean it up regularly and keep an eye on your oil level. Should be a recall or tsb for that but to my knowledge there's not. Maybe try to seek a deal with Toyota as it's a known issue.

 

Key word in that sentence is EXPEDITION lol that's a well know problem child. If you don't like the shifting, oil leaks and engines blowing up don't buy a tacoma.