Dirty oil film all over the engine, passenger side

Hello! Just joined the forum this week and right away have a pretty serious (I think) issue and need help:

Background and History - '07 Tacoma TRD ext cab V6 4wd with 66k miles bought in 2009 from a dealer as a lease return at 20k. Has the tow package. Has been nothing but awesome for the last 8 years. Had 30k mile service at dealer and oil service at oil change places or by myself. No issues. Never an oil level problem. Haven't done any real hauling other than an occasional UHaul with furniture, with one exception: About three years ago, I borrowed a big trailer and brought about 2500lb lumber from SC to Asheville up that mountain. So, maybe 2.5 tons. Did great!

Current situation - I pulled the two skid plates to evaluate whether I could tackle an ATF and coolant flush myself. Saw the whole oil pan with a thick film of grimy oil. It's over the entire front part of the passenger side of the block, coats whichever pump is right there on the serpentine belt, and runs all the way up to head gasket level. My heart sank... Really??

Took some pictures (attached), and started searching this site. First hit from 2010 with a member describing EXACTLY this scenario. Here it is:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/oil-leaking-from-head-gasket.99464/

Alas, the thread ends before there is a definitive answer, and it appears that this member is no longer active to ask. But some other similar conversations seem to suggest it's a slow valve cover leak. Am crossing my fingers this is right.

I need to take it to the dealership for the E02 leaf string recall service, and plan to have them evaluate. But... thought I'd ask here first. Ideas? Valve cover gasket change? Expensive?

Thanks in advance!

 

What's the leaked fluid taste like? Half serious, does it smell like engine oil? The other possibility in my mind is power steering fluid (that's the PS pump BTW).

A valve cover leak wouldn't be the worst thing. Would be a PITA to clean up and replace but it's a nuisance more than anything. A leaking PS pump also wouldn't be catastrophic.

You have really low miles, things like seals and gaskets shrink from lack of use so my guess would be it's something leaking rather than a major failure.

 

Honestly, wipe everything clean, and run it for a few weeks to see if anything comes back. This way you can see where it’s coming from.

 

Thank you, guys. I should have known that the pump is the power steering. The reservoir is connected to it. It's full BTW, and the leaked fluid is a yellowish tinge rather than clear, so I'm thinking oil. I have a detailing guy already scheduled to give the engine bay a good scrub, so I think I'll wait on that and watch it for a while as advised to home in on source. Really appreciate the rapid response!

 

Timing cover leak. Normal spot, and well documented.

 

Not sure I would do an engine bay detail. You don't know what they are going to do and what products they will use. A good detail guy would refuse to clean the bay until the problem is fixed.

Clean it up yourself with a hose and some Simple Green diluted 1:2 with warm water. Get a soft brustled brush to agitate.

 

Both these two messages together tell me to go to dealership, fix, then detail. Good point about cleaning products. Will talk to my guy first, and after repair. He did a Camry that I was selling and it was beautiful and seemed to do no harm. Y’all’re the best.

 

In no way shape or form do I think you need to go to a dealership. If you absolutely love overpaying for repairs by all means do this.

The bay needs to be cleaned to determine the source of the leak, I just wouldnt pay someone to DETAIL it with a pressure washer and possibly harsh chemicals when you don't know what the issue is. Clean now, detail later (those words have two different meanings).

 

Definitely possible!

https://www.toyotaparts.metro-toyota.com/OIL_LEAK_FROM_FRONT_TIMING_COVER_T-EG049-07.pdf

 

Wow. I was typing a request for the TSB that I had found out about, and bang! It appears! Thank you! Does this ever result in a warranty fix when the vehicle is beyond 60k?

 

Thanks all. Going to dealership to get diagnosis on leak and leaf spring recall service. Planning to take the TSB with me with hopes to strong arm (sweet talk, whatever) them into making the leak fix a warranty item. "But.. just look at it! That much mess surely started more than 6000 miles ago! Plus, I've bought 5 cars from you! (true).

BTW, I was told that the up to date TSB is this one: T-SB-0326-08 (attached)