Help with Diagnosis?

I was driving to the race track and the RPMS seem abnormally high in 5th gear at highway speed (65+), not by a ton but definitely a couple hundred RPM. I got to the track and everything was fine. As soon as the day was over I finished loading and went to start but the truck just started turning over with no fire. So I stopped and waited a second for the ECU to reset and then turned it over again; It cranked for longer then normal then finally started which has never happened before. Sometimes it takes a little bit to start but not this bad.

I've noticed oil leaks in my driveway, they are definitely slow leaks as i only catch them when I come out in the morning and they are really small. No puddling or running down the driveway. they are spots about the size of a softball.

I started the truck this morning and had some white smoke coming out of the exhaust on startup until warm which I know is normal sometimes but could also be bad. I checked in the exhaust for oil and there was nothing but water condensation. So I figured the smoke was normal evaporation.


Couple other things are I am pretty sure my clutch is about 80% through its life, and I am feeling some resistance in gear changes so I might need a new throw out bearing. I get some really crazy vibrations in the clutch pedal as well as transmission when over 3k RPM.

I've had this truck for 3 months, 2004 toyota tacoma 4x4 TRD with 55k miles.


Anyone have any ideas?

UPDATE: I checked the drain bolt, Oil filter, and gaskets, still cant find the source of the leak. Oil level is fine as well and there is no white/metal/etc on the dipstick. Oil looks perfect. Might be dripping from higher up and then running through the skid plate to the floor. I just cleaned the plate so well see if I can find it tomorrow. Im definitely more worried about the truck not starting as it did it again when I left for lunch.

 

My thought would be two unrelated problems, starting and worn clutch. Since you know the clutch is nearing end of life maybe replacing that would fix one issue. Not sure about the difficulty starting, I'd start with the easy stuff and cheap stuff like air filter, spark plugs etc. That taco has low miles, are you sure it is correct?

 

White smoke usually means burning coolant. You may have a bad head gasket.

 

I figured out the oil leak issue was a bad Drain Bolt. I replaced the drain bolt yesterday and it seems like the issue is gone so far. If the plug wasn't sealed to the point that it was leaking could it have been a compression issue?

I'll check the air filter and spark plugs today for sure, I didn't even think of that. Aside from the not starting it seems to be running fine so i've been slightly confused.

The mileage should be right, I ran a carfax and everything matched up even though there was limited history.. The guy never really drove it and it shows in the condition of the truck. How hard is it to roll back on these trucks? Is that a common issue?

The exhaust is only smoking in the morning so im 75% sure its only water condensation from overnight. Usually have a heavy layer of moisture on the windshield and truck in the morning so that seems to be the case. I could be wrong though, whats the best most accurate way to check a head gasket?