Another timing chain cover leak

Stuff like this is exactly why I went with the 2.7. I’m sorry you guys have to deal with this bs. I would be done 100 percent because I’m so particular about my vehicles

 

I'd make sure they actually fixed it in that 2 day time frame. Mine took a week because there's about 30 parts needed and they pull the motor out. I books for like 19 hours of labor. This and I had to have dye added to the oil first and drive for awhile to confirm TC leak. Not saying they didn't do it in record time but I'd be asking more questions. That said, as scary as this problem seems, I feel like it wasn't that difficult to fix. Just time consuming. My truck is 100% like before but they knew I'd make it an issue if it wasn't.

 

From experience, the sealant used in timing chain covers must be allowed to fully cure ~24h before being put into use with heat cycles. It's not unusual for them to leak a little bit (not to the point of oil dripping though). It sucks but you either have to replace a timing belt or deal with some cover/guide/chain issues.

So sealant was either not correctly applied at factory, allowed to cure or just degraded at an accelerated rate. Maybe not being torqued properly from the factory.

So if you're getting it fixed (either under warranty or paying), ask them to take their time rather than expecting the vehicle back the same day. And no, this would not cause shifting issues. Nothing to dump your truck over though.

 

My buddy has a 2016 trd v6 auto thats had a transmission refresh and flush. It still doesn't shift as fluid or drive as well as my 2020 sr5 v6 auto, so you can look at it both ways.

 

You have to pull the motor to remove the timing cover? That doesn't seem right.

 

Just dropped my 2016 DCSB TRD Off Road at the dealer this morning for an oil leak that I suspected was linked to the timing chain. Got the call about an hour ago saying it was the timing chain and my truck was ready for pick up. They’ve scheduled another appointment for the 18th for it to be fixed and will provide a rental while it’s at the shop. Thankfully with the quarantine stuff going on my job sent me home to work 2 months ago and I haven’t put more than 300 miles on it since the beginning of March. Right at 55,000 miles now so it will be fully covered by warranty.

 

100% there is not enough room from the front. Also have to remove the oil pan to clear the bottom cross member. It takes time. But it's not rocket appliances.

 

Alright y'all just picked up the 2017 OR from the Valencia dealership and Im sitting at America's Tire waiting for my new Method 701's to be installed. It took this dealership 4 days to fix the timing cover oil leak. While it was in their shop I showed them a TSB for the high pressure fuel pump chirping noise. I was told they could not replicate the chirping and the guy helping me said they will not be fixing that issue. THIS IS AMAZING!! I picked up the truck and the cashier told me I owed $4700 for all the repairs. I said excuse me? Ummm... no! This is under warranty!! Anyway they got their "computer error" fixed and no charge! As I am waiting for the new wheels I'm reading the receipt. Turns out they not only put a new gasket in where the oil was leaking but they cleaned the whole engine and it looks brand new, the high pressure fuel pump was also replaced for a brand new one, and they put in a brand new blower motor for my air system!!!! I have to say at this point I am very satisfied with that dealership!!

 

Just got a call from the dealer. My truck is ready for pickup just over 48 hours after I dropped it off to repair the timeline cover leak. They originally told me it’d be 4-5 days and when I asked, the service advisor said “we must’ve caught the guy while he was waiting for parts on other vehicles and could knock yours out”. I’m slightly nervous they either rushed the job, or didn’t fix it the way it should’ve been fixed.

 

That was a concern of mine too! I did not want the dealership rushing the job especially when it comes to taking the engine apart and putting it back together. I wanted them to take their time and do a good job and not just put some engine calking and call it good. I also made sure they cleaned the affected area so I could tell in the future if it starts leaking again. One thing I also noticed was for a couple weeks after I brought the truck home oil continued to form small droplets on the front jack point and the frame cross member and there was a large drop on the oil pan drain plug. No oil ever dripped on the driveway tho. I got under that truck about 20 times cleaning and degreasing and cleaning. This went on for about a week. It has now been 4-5 days since I have noticed any oil under my truck so I am assuming it was oil and fluid that the mechanics spilled when they did the work or when they refilled everything. I added a few pics of the oil under my truck after the work was done. All of the wet areas you can see are now clean and dry.

 

Good to know. I’ll pick my truck up in the morning so I’ll make sure to get under it and see if they cleaned it or not and if I can see any oil. My thought would be they would clean as part of the process but seeing how it was done so quickly I almost doubt they did. I’ll continue to monitor and if I see oil droplets forming back to the dealer it goes!

 

Let us know what you find please I am curious to know. I also thought it would be a given however I read a few threads where the dealership did not clean the oil off the engine. I did have to clean a bit off the power steering pump as well when it was all said and done but we could have noticed the leak at different times thus there could have been more oil on mine or vise-versa.

 

Got my truck back this morning and tech hours for labor show 13.5. Crawled up under it in my garage and it appears they wiped it all down as well as made a small blue mark on each bolt once torqued. I can’t see any oil remaining that may form droplets but I’ll keep a watch out for the next few days/weeks. I’m working from home for the foreseeable future so my truck isn’t being driven much. If it drips, I’ll be able to easily spot it on the garage floor. Looking at the timing cover I can see new sealant that oozed out so hopefully it’ll hold for longer than the factory gasket.

 

Good stuff! I am glad it all worked out for you! I too saw all the black sealant coming from the engine. My job consisted of changing out the high pressure fuel pump with the chirping noise and changing the recalled blower motor for the air system. Those two extra items could account for the extra time my truck was in the shop.

 

What a bunch of whiners I’ve got three 06 Tacoma’s and they all leak but not enough that I have to add between 5k miles intervals. All mine have over 100k one near 200k. It’s a Tacoma right of passage kinda like rusty frames. Just suck it up and move forward.

 

Glad you guys got your trucks back in working order. I haven't had this particular issue with my Taco but had it on an Audi S4 I owned years ago. They pulled the engine and fixed the oil leak, then about 3 months later had to do it again because the Audi dealership that did the work used the incorrect sealant! I was freaking pissed, they had to pull the engine (again) and fix it all over again using the correct sealant. Needless to say it was all done for free but man it was a hassle, had to get the local Audi rep involved, etc etc. I sold it right after all the work was done...

 

Wow so if a vehicle requires maintenance you sell it? Lighten up man

 

WOW! Watch out everyone this guy has 3 old Tacoma’s! Damn dude, save some men for the rest of us! Go back to the 1st gen page, trust me you won’t be missed here.

 

LOL

you guys made my day

 

Well I’ll add my 2016 4wd off road to the timing cover leaking list. So far this truck has been wonderful. It’s still runs like the day I drove it out of showroom. While the gen 3/ are unpopular with some, and I miss the low end torque of that 4 liter, I really have enjoyed this truck. It goes my lightweight camera perfectly. I’ve been all over the country with it. I’m a little insane with how I care for my vehicles. This one is my 7th Tacoma in nearly 40 years of driving. I just changed the oil at 130,000 around a month ago. Then 1100 miles later noticed an oil puddle under the drivers side frame where the box ends. Very strange. Figured since there are brakes lines there maybe a brake system leak. Put it up on my lift. Brake lines are fine. Did some more snooping around. Noticed the power steering pump case loaded with oil. Figured oh power steering pump failing. Ironically the powersteering pump always had a bit of a chirp since truck was new. And about 3 weeks ago I noticed the chirp had stopped. So figured sealnfailed and oil was now weeping out around the shaft. But then looked beyond the power steering pump. Oil leaking out all around the timing chain cover! Both sides and top. Headed off to the dealer. I know the service manager and dealer owner well. They are awesome. Took it in. Sure enough. Timing chain cover leak. He said they have seen a few leaks like on the gen 3. Said usually they only have to snug up bolts. But none as bad as mine. Said they have to pull the engine to get the cover off and replace the sealant and any seals. I could not believe it! 7 Tacoma’s all driven into high mileage 150k plus range, and never a leak like this. They age all run perfectly for me. Even the ok’d ones way back. The truck is not even 5 years old yet! Fortunately the dealer worked their magic with Toyota corporate. My extended warranty ran out at 125,000 miles. But corporate decided that they would pay for the entire repair minus a $500 share from me. I’m annoyed I have to pay $500. There should never be a pull the engine level defect at this young an age. No engine should leak like this. I’ve just never heard of this before. But I’m glad I only have to pay $500. And I do feel blessed that clearly Toyota stands behind their products. They didn’t have to give me anything. I could be out thousands for this. So I’m glad for their resolution even though $500 hurts coming off back side of Covid. Now all we have to do is wait for all the parts they ordered. Which obviously are all back ordered due to the world wide supply chain problems. Fortunately the truck is running fine. I’m watching the oil. It looks like it’s leaking a lot. But it’s not really losing much. It’s so strange that it’s dripping out the box end under the drivers side. It’s clearly being blown back. Just crazy it is traveling that far. And of course also leaking into the skid plates. Maybe this is Toyota’s way of solving their frame issues? Set the engines to leak into the boxed frame slowly and seal the frame on an ongoing basis? Lol. IDK. I’m glad they can fix it. I need 4 more years out of this truck. Still love it!