The infamous timing chain cover leak...

Picked it up today.. 22 hrs of labor. Fingers crossed

 

Jeez 1800 miles and the front cover was leaking? How bad was the leak? Oil droplets? My 23 with 5500 miles is dry .

 

Had a golf ball size spot under it. So definitely needed to be addressed. I guess often times it just seeps and never drips. Crazy how much work just to replace that gasket. What makes me cringe is the list of unrelated gaskets they replaced in the process.

 

Nice looking truck.
What shell is that? Love the fit and lines on it.

 

Thanks.. It’s a Snugtop GB Sport. Stupid expensive.. I got a little lucky and got a “deal” on a floor model. Plus it came with an $800 Yakima rack that I can sell.

 

Agreed! I know plenty of folks in the sales side of the auto industry and they don't concern themselves with looking into the service history.

 

Alright I’ve been here a couple of times and I think my 2016 with 141k on it has been stricken by this issue, I started doing my own oil changes about a year ago, and initially thought that I had caused this being sloppy some how, but alas I found wet oil going up much further than the service envelope, I ended up getting an extended warranty from the dealer so I’m gonna make this their problem

 

Anybody have a good mechanic recommendation in the San Diego area?

 

Tackled the diy exterior seal job earlier. Figured I'd share here. Bought my 3rd gen last August with 42k and it recently developed this leak at ~47k. Been putting it off for a bit. Was actually really simple to do tho. Took some somewhat detailed pics of where I discovered the leak was coming from. Thought it was on the underside where the factory rtv was discolored brownish, but it was actually the exact spot where it should be, i discovered, when I scraped off the rtv and saw the tiny gap and holes where it was seeping out of. Should also note that I initially put in some uv dye when i first saw the mess around the ps pump, to be sure it was this and not something/somewhere else...

Some tips if anyone tackles this:
I found it was easiest to come in from the passenger side wheel well. I already had the splash guards off so that made it easy access to the pump after wheel is removed. Loosened the serpentine belt via tensioner up top, unbolted pump via wheel well access(2 bolts in front, and the ground(?) wire bolt and sensor clip on backside), moved her to the side and viola, ready for cleaning.. Used a whole can of foamy engine degreaser, occasionally spraying it as well as using a plastic bristle brush in between coats, then a can of brake cleaner to spray it all clean. Gooped some new rtv on and done. See how it holds up!


(Full size images, click to zoom)

 

Nice job! Great pics, way better job then removing the engine snd tearing it all apart and risking it leaking again. Even if this holds for 20k miles etc or a few years… could always just do it again. Me personally I bet it will never leak again. There have been other people who done this over the years and the leak never came back over long periods of miles and time

 

Subbing for great pics and directions.

 

@NightProwler This is exactly how I did my 2016 last year. Mine was leak free for about 7 months and started seeping again around then. Seems to be much slower than it was, so I still consider it a win. Might try it again sometime, but I am not losing much oil and just wipe it once a week.

 

I wonder if a very small bead of jb weld would work. I'm not one to typically try such things, especially jb weld on an area like that as it could cause potential issues if it ever needs to be disassembled.. However, maybe if it's strategically placed, say a small bead laid right on the seam, would be ok? If need be, could always let whomever know that is doing the engine work, and carefully chisel or grind it back off. And that's with a big IF, a need were to ever arise that justified pulling the engine for work, which I don't think would ever happen in most cases... thoughts? Trying to prepare for the worst case scenario that mine does leak again like yours, because I'd rather it didnt leak, and certainly aint pulling engine to repair it when it'snot enough of a leak to really be too concermed with. Some say it's inevitable to leak again, but others have had success for many months and miles on the clock with it without issue yet so idk..

 

I have a suspicion that this leak might be caused by different rates of thermal expansion between the various parts of the engine (head, block, timing cover), which if so, JB Weld wouldn't do anything to help that (and then of course the future disassembly issue). I think having the RTV gooped all over that area (since it's flexible) is the best course of action short of disassembling the engine.
I check that area on mine from time to time, so far so good...

 

I am not sure on the JB weld to be honest. I would think the same if it ever needed to be disassembled, but if it is a small bead like you said, it might just work. I haven't heard of anyone trying that, but I have seen several people do the RTV like we have.

I bought my 2016 last year like you did with 55k. I had a 2007 years before that which was solid and I didn't even know to look for a timing cover leak when I bought mine. I figured if it was a Tacoma with that low miles and cared for well like it was, should be good. I noticed the leak a couple days after I brought the truck home and got no help from the dealer. It bothered me a lot at first, but I have kind of come to terms with it now. I haven't been able to see any oil loss on the dipstick and I agree with you, not worth pulling the engine to address such a small leak.

 

I had a non pressure hydraulic leak—more accurately a seep on my John Deere. Just enough to make a grimy mess. I cleaned the area throughly with engine cleaner followed by brake cleaner douche. I masked the mating area seam using four layers of masking tape to make removing tape easier, isolate and minimize amount of epoxy applied. Applied three coats of JB weld. No more seep.

 

Same thinking here. I’m a retired airframe and powerplant mechanic. Leaks are classified based on their severity, though I don’t recall the exact terms. I believe they range from weeps, seeps, dripping leaks to running leaks. At this point, I’d classify mine as a seep, which isn’t detrimental to vehicle operation and doesn’t require repair, just make a grimy mess. If it worsens to a running leak, I’ll clean it, add some stop-leak product, and trade it in for another new, piece-of-junk vehicle.

 

Any problems getting your PS pump back on with that amount of sealant?

I've worked on my leak twice now and not been able to make much of an improvement. On the second attempt I used too much sealant and had difficulty reinstalling the pump, so I had to remove most of the sealant to get the PS to seat.

I plan on tackling this job again soon, hopefully 3rd time is a charm!

 

Damn, that is a shit ton of sealant. Wouldn't a thinner application suffice?

 

If I get the leak I'm trading it in.