2016 Tacoma TRD cam position sensor oil leak!!??

Hey Matt, haven't seen the Phasers leaking on my truck yet, or heard of anyone else's either. But, according to the corporate rep I am dealing with, no amount of oil leakage on a brand new engine is normal, so take it in. My Truck went in today, they have assigned two techs to work on it, as they are replacing the cam cradle and checking tolerances and millage specs, as it seems as if the robot that drills things out may have made a few boo boos. At any rate, they almost have to disassemble half the engine to do this, so I am without my rig for the next 4 days.

I changed my oil the other day as I had 5k on the break in oil, I put in a bit heavier grade of synthetic to see if the leak would slow down some, and it did, but did not stop. Part of the problem as I see it, is the use of sewing machine grade oil to run a gas engine, it is so light that I think many people will be having leaks a lot earlier in their engines as they age. Even if they are not leaking now, I would hazard a guess that they will start to leak sooner rather than later. Just an assumption, I have no facts to back me up. I'll let the forum know how this turns out when I get my truck back.

Rick

 

Feel bad for all you dudes with the cam position sensor leak, mine is pretty benign. Yeah running 0w20 probably highlights any tolerance/seal issues right away. I thought the fact that relatives of this engine had been in the toyota/lexus mainstream for a while would mitigate any issues, apparently not. Low drag oil all in the name of saving .43434 mpg per vehicle or something. HA.

We'll see what our engines look like around 100k, hopefully better than my turbo vw engines that are covered with a protective layer of oil.

 

Update. Drove the vehicle pretty hard in Baja, on and offroad, for a good 900 miles with a heavy load. Everything went well, no leaks from prior issue or dealer workmanship.

 

Took my truck in Monday morning at 7:30 AM, the service department put 2 of their oldest and best techs on it, and it was done Tuesday afternoon, I picked it up that night. The repair took a boat load of parts to complete, but I have to say they went all out on this one, and in what was supposed to be a 3 or 4 day ordeal was cut in half. As of this evening December 1, 2016, it does not leak anymore, in short it appears that this 3rd attempt in stopping this pesky leak was successful. There is no oil or oil sweating of any kind, as it should be on a new engine. Of course I will keep checking it, but so far so good. I can scan and post the dealership work description just as soon as I figure out how to properly do that on this forum. Tried that before, it disappeared somewhere.......I hate these confounded contraptions at times. In all, this is really a great truck, despite all the bitching one can read about on this forum...., but then I don't go out and bang around in my rigs anymore....too stinking expensive.
Rick

 

I also think I am having the same issue, took the below pic.

 

Sorry I have not replied sooner, been busy, tis the excuse for the season. Yes, looks like engine oil, look on your valve cover, most of the leaks are on the drivers side cam sensor, but I have heard tell that the passenger side valve cover can leak around the cam sensor there as well. It would appear that yours must be coming from the drivers side? Mine would leak down onto the exhaust manifold, pool up there, smoke, and continue running down the side of the engine onto the differential, then on the skid plate, pool up there, and sooner or later onto the garage floor. You need to take it in, your dealer ship should be able to look for the right fix off of the Toyota Field Service Tech site, now that quite a number of Tacos have been leaking across the country. Good luck to you, I will post my last work order tomorrow, my truck was fixed back in the last of November, and still does not leak, so I believe they found the problem and finally after 3 tries fixed it.
Rick

 

Thank you! Scheduled to bring truck in tomorrow.

 

Well... I think my truck is having this problem. Is there any TSB for this fix?

 

Bump

https://www.toyoheadquarters.com/threads/2016-toyota-tacoma-oil-leak-drivers-side-valve-cover.737/

 

Folks,

Bought 2016 Feb. TRD sport. Noticed leak Oct of 2016. Reported and they ran a dye thru the system. Dealer Could not trace. Always saw some oil on my garage floor. Took it to the dealer on Oct 7th of 2017 for a regular service. This dealer reported oil leak and now for the past 2 days in the shop. Feel low with the Tacoma in the shop :-( just 19000 miles on it. Will be ready tomorrow. Still believe in Toyota's.

 

If it is from the cam position sensor, they have procedures for fixing the problem, it stems from a machining problem around some of the cam mount bolts and the cam cradle. The Toyota field service tech site should have all the service bulletins for fixing the problem, as there have been several new Tacos with the problem across the country and Canada. It took them two days to fix mine, they had to almost dismantle half the engine to fix it. But it has been several months now with out leaking another drop. My Toyota dealership fell all over themselves trying to fix the thing, even though it took 3 separate attempts. That truck should not leak a single drip, and don't you let them tell you that the leaking of a little oil is normal. If they feed you that line, you threaten to call Toyota corp. that will rattle them. There is some kind of machining error with the existing cam cradle , the one on the drivers side of my truck was replaced, along with new seals and etc. It has not leaked since, and runs perfectly , and now with over 12k on the odo, it is getting about 18 1/2 mpg around town. So don't lose the faith, they are still good trucks, and Toyota has never let me down yet. Corporate was most interested to see that this was fixed, and they gave me a rental while my truck was in the shop. Good luck.

 

Does anyone know where are the camshaft position sensors located? Front or rear of engine?

 

The Cam Position Sensor(s) are located on the top of the valve covers, there are 2 of them one on each side, and they are more towards the front of the engine facing the radiator. There is one or 2 bolts holding it in place (maybe one, I can't remember) and a wiring receptacle plugging into the top. The Bolt(s) are where it usually leaks, mine leaked in 2 places, and oil would puddle up on top of the sensor, then run down the side of the valve cover, puddle up on top of the exhaust manifold, when that got full it would run down around the manifold down the side of the engine block, puddle in the slid plate, when that got full, it would drip on the ground. The most embarrassing part was, the truck would smoke from oil getting to hot around the exhaust manifolds, and smoke would plume up around the truck at stop lights and signs, and when parked in parking lots. Which was not a pretty sight, and I did not even have a license plate on the truck when I noticed it. The engine can also leak oil around the cam phasers which set on the front side of each head, also valve covers that aren't well sealed at the factory can also leak; prolly because Bubba in Texas was in a hurry and wanted to git home for his brew, pulled pork bbq, to watch NASCAR, so skimped on the sealer. Frankly, it would not surprise me if a lot of places start to leak on this engine as it ages, when you fill up the oil pan with sewing machine oil!

 

Does anyone have the TSB on this issue referenced earlier? My 2016 OR has the leak. Dealer replaced cam sensor but leak is same or worse. I'd like to read the TSB to ensure it gets fixed on the next visit. Thanks.

 

Followup: The dealer said Toyota input was to replace valve cover for my ongoing cam position sensor leak. It's been a couple of days and no leak.

 

Seems this thread has died out. Everyone had them all fixed up? I had my 2016 ( first-run bought in 2015 ) in for the Cam Sensor TSB almost 2 yrs ago.
I'm embarassed I never noticed it but its been seeping oil since then down the Pass. side head on the front side where the 2 round sensor covers are.
Only the smaller right hand cover is seeping.
Just recently oil finally made it to the driveway. (70K mi.) Not near as bad as some have posted in this thread. ( no smells or smoke ).
Have an appointment this week at the dealer to see what kind of shenanigans I'll have to deal with. Luckily I have a 100K mi. / 7 yr. warranty.
If it wasn't covered I'd try the thread-lock/sealer myself first. I imagine there are gaskets or O-rings under those round plastic caps.
*BTW - It's Toyota TSB# T-SB-0073-18