Oil leak

Thoughts on what this would be from? Valve cover? Water pump? Rear of engine looks completely dry so don't think it's rear main seal.

2017 TRD offroad, 109,000 km roughly
95% sure it's motor oil. Don't see any pooling in the skid plate or evidence of oil being there. Nothing on the driveway, oil level isn't low or anything.

Passenger side looking up above tie rod where the serpentine belt goes around the pulley.



Looking down from the top of the engine can see a tiny bit behind the pulley past the dip stick

 

clean with brake kleen or carb cleaner and watch it.....could be microscopic seeping over many years.....110k

 

Spill any new oil when adding it at a change or top-up?

 

thats why it looks like , but then again i haven’t been around that long i only have 700+ messages…

 

Nope.

 

timing chain cover leak

 

That is Toyota's frame rust prevention fix.

It does look like a timing chain cove leak but as other have suggested. a good cleaning and a spray down with brake cleaner may help you pinpoint the issue.

 

Just had mine done recently. This was my first thought.

 

That's the good news

That's the bad news

Personally I'd clean it up and monitor. If it just continues at that pace, keep using it. It's just messy, not catastrophic. Just keep cleaning it so you don't have lbs of dirt/goop collecting.

If it worsens, I'd likely trade it in before paying for a repair that, as I understand from folks on here, may or may not work well. And out of 50ish vehicles, I've never traded one in. For whatever that's worth in the thought process.

 

That was my next thought

How bad is it to do?

Way too much money in the truck in mods to just trade it in over a repair. I would sooner swap engine than trade for a new one.


Plus getting new ones is a pain and the used market is ridiculously over inflated here.


Going to clean it and see how it is. Probably bring it by my mechanic I used to deal with, with other cars to check it.

 

They had to pull the motor to do it. They were originally supposed to have my truck for 3 days, but during it they found a couple of additional issues (water pump and head gaskets) that caused them to keep it longer.

 

Timing covers aren't hard to reseal but tedious. Highly recommend taking it to a dealer for this one, not just a private mechanic as alot can go wrong here plus, the Toyota Boys will be faster and less likely to mess up because they've done tons at this point and no one wants to reseal the same timing cover twice

 

Maybe, but you're still gonna pay book labor.

Tons? I'd wager more than 80% of the Toyota dealerships have never even seen a timing leak on the 3.5, much less have repaired them.

 

Wash a couple layers of crust off that motor before assuming it’s a front timing cover leak, or even a leak.

Levels are good, so at this stage I definitely wouldn’t run to any mechanic with cash in hand. Just clean, continue to put miles on it, monitor, and throw a piece of cardboard underneath when it’s in the garage.

 

part out ?

 

Noob.

 

I'm not so sure. It seems like it's somewhat common, especially in the earlier models.

 

Chances are very high you'll be paying between book time and 1.5 since timing covers are typically very labour intensive and often involve engine removal. Not just for Toyota's. Admittedly i'm a Chev mechanic so I can't say first hand how common they are but i'd wager at least 70% of Toyota dealers have dealt a leaking timing cover on a 3.5L at this point in time if not more

 

Pull the power steering pump out of the way and clean the area really good with brake clean and then dry it. Run Toyota fipg sealer all down the timing cover and keep driving it. It should fix the leak for a long enough time to forget about it. Just keep an eye on it after that.