oil leak

240k on V6 2003 Prerunner. Cal truck no rust.

That being said, an oil leak recently appeared. Passenger side slow drip only when running. Was clean and drip free before. Before I go under the truck with paper towels to clean and look for the source... are there any typical issues or common leak sources to consider?

Not the trans. Looks and smells like engine oil.

 

Where is the leak coming from, general area?

Typically location:
Rear main seal
Oil pan
Front crank shaft seal
Valve cover/half moon

 

I bought my jug of Purple Power and have a roll of paper towels. Truck is up on ramps. Tomorrow I get to put on some tunes and clean the engine until I find the source of wet oil. Looking forward to it actually. Sunny day in mid-50's. All is good.

I'll take a pic when I find it.

I know this is a mundane topic. I just want to get to the source and do an oil/filter change while I'm there.

Are Rear Main Seal, Front Crank Seal, or Valve Cover/half moon??? within the scope of DIY?

$15 AT-205 Re-Seal Stops Leaks, 8 Ounce Bottle

AT-205 is suggested by Scotty Kilmer, any thoughts?

 

The rear main seal is not easy for a DIYer in the driveway.
The transmission has to come out.

Front Crank seal is doable. Not fun, but doable.

The other two, cover gaskets/moon seals, are 100% DIY driveway friendly.

 

$15 AT-205 Re-Seal Stops Leaks, 8 Ounce Bottle

AT-205 is the miracle cure it is advertised to be, but it is very temporary and doesn't work to swell or soften anything sealed with RTV silicone. Only natural rubber polymers. So rear main and front main may for a time slow their leaks but without regular use of AT-205 they'll leak again and eventually they'll wear out entirely since plasticizers like AT-205 can only do so much before the base material just can't cope.

 

Did the factory use RTV type sealant on the front or rear main seals?

 

no but they do on the valve covers and oil pan

 

Stay away from cures in a can.
You’d be better off not using them, than using them.

Sure, under some circumstances they can “work”. But the those circumstances are very few. And they don’t fix anything.
They mask the problem. And temporarily at that.

 

Thanks folks!

Well, I think it was the rear main seal based on cleaning the dirt and examining. Was not totally sure. I poured the

$15 AT-205 Re-Seal Stops Leaks, 8 Ounce Bottle

AT-205 into the oil fill, and drove for an hour and the leak stopped. Drove for a week and still no leak. So far, so good.

This I do know... It leaked oil and now it doesn't. Oil change coming up FWIW.

And the bottom of my engine is pretty clean.

 

Let’s see some pix b4 and after the power wash of affected area!

 

Looking for a temp solution , was this actually helpful? I have a turd gen and I’m planning to actually repair it when I get the money, but just needed to know if this will work in the meantime…

 

This has worked for me on three vehicles.

First was a 160k miles 1999 Town and Country van (don't recall the leak location) and the leak stopped for at least 60k miles when the vehicle was sold. Second was for a relative's car. It worked. Third is my current Tacoma. The Tacoma's leak was not the valve covers or the oil filter. Was not the front seal on the engine. Best I could tell with laying on my back on a piece of cardboard on a rain/wind day was PROBABLY the rear main seal.

Turns out I had ordered it back in 2016 on Amazon twice. I forgot about those until I ordered again recently and Amazon identified it as a repeat purchase. My original purchase was the result of watching a Scotty Kilmer video.

So here is a story... Back in 1975 I had a 1974 Pinto with just over the warranty mileage, and of course that is when it started smelling like burnt oil. Going under the car, I saw every sign that it was a rear main seal leak onto the exhaust pipe. I changed the seal... bad weather in a parking lot and all that... only to find the burning oil from a leak persisted. Turns out it was a tiny spray of oil from the oil pressure sending unit, dripping onto the seal area. I replaced it and the fix worked.

Best to you.

 

Sounds like a short term fix for a last ditch effort to an inevitable repair. Which is all good everybody needs something to believe in. Glad it's worked for you.

 

Man, thanks for the thorough explanation and story. Most info seems to point to 50/50 in either direction; both to use for a temp fix and then not to use it because it will “not” fix it and that we should just bite the bullet and drop the transmission. I’m strongly leaning toward using it for to buy a few weeks/months until can afford to drop the 1350 + on the repair.
but seriously, thank you for bothering to reply with actual information and advice vs the very original responses that tell you to just get it fixed lol. Anyone dealing with this knows it’s pricey and anyone ACTUALLY looking at band aid options probably aren’t in a place to just get it fixed.

 

FWIW the Tacoma gets driven maybe 1800 miles per year. Just around a small town. I just didn't like dripping oil on driveways. I'm not opposed to changing a main seal, but the band-aid approach is ok for now. I love the truck but I have a late model Civic, late model Sienna, and two motorhomes to maintain.

 

Update: The main rear seal is “weeping,” but is VERY slow.
The oil pan plug was over tightened and is causing the oil to actually drip.
I took the truck to a place near by that has excellent reviews on most all platforms and got quoted 1195.99 (1200) for the job.
I’ll be saving up till I can get it in, but wanted to post it here that my oil pan drain plug was over torqued by Valvoline… needless to say, I will most definitely be doing my own oil changes from now on. I’ve had several vehicles taken to valvoline out of what I thought was convenience and am sadly disappointed. This is a first for the local valvoline crew, but can’t take this crap for how much they charge now a days.
thanks all for the help, and I’ll update again once I’ve gotten it fixed at the shop. ✌

 

A few times, in other vehicles, I've used the Valvoline oil change shops. The one I use in Medford Oregon has device that sucks the oil out rather than using the drain plug. With a little research I have decided that is ok if they leave my drain plug alone. That being said, I've never regretted getting under my vehicles for a look around while changing the oil.

My Tacoma air conditioning is not blowing cold air, so that is on my hit list, as is a closer look at the oil leak area. For the money, I'm thinking of learning how to do the two jobs myself, dedicating several days and some money for proper tools and learning curve. After all, I find the time since I've retired. The belts, hoses, water pump and some other things were completed last year by a good shop in Arcata CA.

I have a good shop by reputation down the road from here, but the service writer guy leaves me sometimes wanting to fact check what he says. He anticipates charges and programs before ever seeing the vehicle or the service history. Issues like "flush" the transmissions vs. "fill and drain". I think the mechanics and the shop owner are great, but they don't have a grip on how the service writer comes across.