Timing cover leak 68K miles

Thanks for the comment! I really do agree with you and Gfenza. I do understand the leak isnt the end of the world or integrally hurting the motor. Literally just a leak. Now I do have that steering rack and pinion that needs replaced as well since my boot is leaking so really just juggling the investing to fix those, or use that same money to put down on a new one to snag one of the last 3rd gens. Im overall just super upset I couldnt get toyota to assist in the case as well dealing with it all since in my mind I take great care of this unit.

When you say sealing it the correct way, are you referring to paying out the dealer for the repair or doing a FIPG Fit In Place Gasket sealer? Thanks for your advice too!

 

Def thought about doing this as well over the weekends. The specific dealer Im working with I did work for and have good relations with so not saying its the perfect deal but its no bs and very transparent. Good idea though I may checkout carmax as well.

 

The dealer of course with the FIPG. The steering rack yes while the motor is out of course. But now that’s more $. It’s almost too bad they found it when they did. If you had a magical globe you could have bought an aftermarket extended warranty and got it all fixed. Still all in all what ever you decide if you buy new I would seriously think of the extended warranty. You through who ever you buy a new truck from. There is a dealer on here that will sell it to you at discount. The crazy part is you’ll buy the warranty and have 150K miles down the road and nothing will break . Lol

 

If I were you, I'd take the OR from the dealer for the convenience sake. The second option would be Carvana or CarMax but only if I could put a deposit on a truck elsewhere.

Sealant approaches mentioned here are not permanent solutions. In fact, they simply mask the problem.

The permanent solution is to take everything out, resurface the uneven surfaces, put things back together. Great if you have space and time to do so. Not so great if this is something you have to do in a driveway on on a single weekend. Ultimately, how much are your time and peace of mind worth?

 

Sucks that this happened. This might be a dumb question, but why not just keep driving it with the leak? If it’s not dripping, does it really matter?

As long as it’s not a substantial amount, I’d leave it alone and I’d just live with it. Maybe play with different oil brands or weights to see what might help. As mentioned, high mileage 5w-30 might be a good idea since you’re in AZ.

 

Last month I traded my jeep wrangler for a 2017 Tacoma TRD Offroad with 76000 miles. I brought it home and noticed oil on the skid plates. I took it back to the Mazda dealer I bought it from and they stated they would take care of it. They took it to a Toyota dealer and the leak was from the timing cover and the racket pinyon area. Mazda paid for the repair and gave me the invoice that had the repair cost of $6200. I am glad I noticed the leak when I did.

 

No its a great question - I did continue to drive it for about a year. Its now to a drip nearly daily unless I wipe it down underneath. With the steering rack and pinion now needing replaced its just a huge bill 6700$ where Im like shoot, If I put 5k down on a new truck I can start over in a sense. Its been a big debate. I could just repair the rack and pinion but I think they pull motor for both jobs and I dont want to do that twice really

 

why? this is a liquid sealant

 

Update 7/5/23 - Hey all! Figured I'd update everyone on what I did with the truck. I decided to just fix the rack and pinion (around 2k$) and leave the timing cover as is for now. I really didnt want to restart the loan on my vehicle as I am trying to get into a house in the next 2 years. After talking with many of the service techs and advisors, they all in fact had timing cover leaks on their current tacomas and state they just drive as is and clean time to time. They all said its very common down here in the Arizona desert to see the timing cover leaking. They cleaned up the area around my leak and in fact looks really good. Of course its going to leak and Im going to monitor it as time goes but until I move out of the state of Arizona, I will not be buying a new Tacoma until then.

Thanks for the advice and comments everyone!