'14, 2TR Possible rear main leak at 8500 miles?

Is this normal for a 2TR, trans flywheel sight hole area has a visible weep. There is no drip on the driveway or crossmember, but the area under the bell housing is wet looking with an oil film.

Truck has 8500 miles on it right now and is about 6 months old.

 

Coming from a past of owning Chevy & Fords and even a Dodge at one point, I have an innate instinct to periodically crawl under my vehicles and do an occasional "Pre-Flight" inspection (I'm that guy really).

Anyway, last time I was under the truck was prior to my 5,000 mile first oil change. At that point there was zero to report, everything was bone dry. This weep has just recently showed up, and I'm concerned. Checked oil the other day and it hasn't budged since last oil change.

Had a 2008 Chevy 2500 Silverado work truck, with the 6.0 that did the same but at just 18K miles, needed a new rear main seal. Thankfully was covered by GM under warranty. Hoping this is just a "normal" Tacoma quirk, and or possibly some spilled oil from the oil jokey at the dealer. Although I'm not sure how any could spill and find this location.

 

Going to get this looked at next week hopefully. Question, do you guys think I should throw some stock wheels and tires on this truck before I take it in? I have 265/75/16 BFG All Terrains on this truck, a friend suggested if I take it in like this, they might flagg my warranty as void. Saying that I over worked or stressed the motor with the plus sized tires.

 

No, leave it alone. They have to PROVE the tires and wheel caused the problem. Which they didn't.

If your tires and wheels caused that problem, then any hill over a 3% grade would too.

 

Unfortunately this is not a 4.0, so towing is 3k maybe. Plus it's a DC, PreRunner I use for work. I haul 400-700 lbs at times, plus the added weight of the tires and hills. I'm sure I've got this truck close to its limits.

I've also put a Curt hitch on the back (truck did not have a hitch from factory) so perhaps they might have something to say about that too.

Either way, I thought the 2TR was bullet proof. Had friends say "you can't kill a Toyota 4 cyl motor"

 

Honestly, there is no point taking it in for that at this point - that will not a be considered a leak under warranty guidelines since there are no drips forming. You have lots of warranty left, monitor it for a while and see what happens. It may never get any worse. If it does develop into a true leak, you have lots of coverage remaining for it to be remedied under.

 

When I used to work for Acura, we had this newish car come in for its first oil change and when I went to changed the oil, I noticed the area close to the rear main seal, very much like you describe, had oil seeping out of it. Took all the covers apart, inspected it with a flash light and couldn't find a specific area where it could be leaking from. We cleaned it up, sprayed some leak detector and sent the car away. Never heard from it again, but we were guessing it was residual from engine assembly...

 

Dealer will say it's not leaking. But it's seeping. Two different things under dealers definition. Other than that, they might just tighten the bolts around then and call it a day