Front Engine Cover / Timing Belt Cover Oil Leak

You have seen the
Check Your U-Joints

You have seen the
2016 Transmission T-SB-0077-16 Shift Feeling Enhancments (PDF)

You have seen the
Possible TSB coming for wind noise on door/ weather stripping

You have seen the
Transmission 2016 /17- 6 SPEED AUTOMATICS COULD BE LOW ON FLUID DIRECTLY FROM FACTORY

Now, coming to a Tacoma near you ...
The Front Engine Cover / Timing Belt Cover Oil Leak!

Yes Sir or Ma'am, yet another problem well documented with older Tacomas, has come to the 2016 Tacoma SR5 as well!

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So, next time you are crawling around under your truck, check for oil drips on the floor, just inside the passenger side front wheel. If you can, look up at the power steering pump, and see if there are oil droplets hanging from the pump housing. Another place to check is the top of the skid plate.

This happened to my truck at about 3600 miles. After complaining to Tacoma Customer Experience, they told me, "since it was fixed by us at no charge to you, we will not extend your powertrain warranty beyond the original limits".

(This was classified as "Engine Minor", but it took 15 hours to fix ... see the statement, above.)

Advisory: Waiting time for parts may be significantly longer than expected, so check your truck now!

 

Good lord, 15 hour repair is minor on a brand new truck?

 

Ha, already been there, started at 800 miles. Had to have it fixed twice since they couldn't get it right the first time. 9 days on the first go around and about 5 on the second. Open a case with Toyota corporate, they should take care of you.

Here's the tread I started;

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/while-i-was-underneath-it-i-noticed-this.426892/

 

All these problems brought to you in part by...

The Internet

 

for a timing belt thing yep.
not surprised its considered minor.
not a very special repair just time consuming.

 

surprised no ones tagged @smitty99 yet.

 

Your photos look quite similar to the leaks I saw, under my truck. Hopefully mine was "fixed right" the first time, and will not have the repeat problem, as you did.

I opened a case with Corporate, several days after bringing the truck to the dealership. It seems the dealership could not find the parts to fix the problem, and nobody told me of the delays. I felt like I was put on "ignore", 'till after I opened the case. Corporate called the dealership while I was on the phone with Corporate, and gave me updates. Very good!

After it was fixed, I asked Corporate for an extended powertrain warranty, based on the low transmission fluid and oil leak problems, and was denied. Glad you got your warranty extended!

The process to get it fixed was a little cumbersome. After the usual "what is the problem" interchange with the Service Rep, one of the dealership's Master Mechanics called me back, to show me the leak while the truck was on the rack. He then had to get approval to start the fix from some kind of regional Toyota guy. That only took a day, but the wait for parts was over a week ... then a few days for the mechanics to do their thing.

I took a quick look at the front of the engine after the repair, to see if I could determine how they got to the engine cover. Older Tacomas required a radiator pull and rather extensive removal of goodies before getting to the timing chain cover. I did not see evidence of a radiator pull. In fact, I could not see tool marks (as in your photos) or other evidence of somebody mucking about with the engine. The only obvious change was the color of the oil on the dipstick ... a little brownish before the fix, nice & clear after the fix. The drips on the power steering pump & chassis were gone, as well.

Will be taking a long trip later this month, and will be able to determine if the leak was really fixed, and if the shift TSR did any good.

Thanks for the link to your thread! I'll monitor it to see if you have any subsequent problems.

 

Hopefully you had it fixed right the first time. I think that was the major factor in why I got the extended warranty, as soon as I told them it was stilling leaking and it was going in for the second time that changed everything.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I am having the same issue. I noticed when I dropped the skid plate to do my first oil change, (MY first oil change at 30k miles). From the looks of it, it looks like the leak had been going on for a while. There was a lot of grime on the lower half of the engine, skid plate, etc.

Dealer said its the front engine cover seal. While searching for that, they also said that my transmission oil pan had a leak, so they will need to replace the gasket. At least they'll be refilling my transmission fluid!

They are ordering parts and said it will take about a week to get them fixed. Now I kinda wish I had been doing my own oil changes to notice these sorts of things.

 

Good luck!

So far, as of today (and a recent 24 month check), there is no recurrence of this problem ... so, I guess it is fixed ... at least for the foreseeable future.

Wind noise and some shift problems still exist, and continue to be denied ("no problem found") by the Toyota fix-it guys.

 

Is timing cover leak a Tacoma "new engine" problem. I have a timing belt cover leak on my 2016 Tacoma V6 at 16,000 miles. Dealer fixing under warranty. Didn't have drips or discussion about whether it was an ooze or a leak. They spotted oil and are fixing it. Very disappointed to have this on such a new vehicle. Consumers Reports really doesn't think much of these vehicles.

 

Tacoma does not have a "new engine" timing cover leak, the engine is old tried and proven by Lexus. And It is a very good reliable engine.
But there is a new added twist to it, that being the addition of the Atkinson cycle, which has nothing to do with any type oil leak. Maybe a cps issue, but that's just imo, and its already fixed.

As far as consumer reports opinion goes, keep in mind their only real concern and area of expertise is with the infotainment, driver seat/comfort and other amenities.

They know NOTHING about off-road prowess, capability or reliability. It's a good magazine, I use it when I shop for a new TV or coffee maker.

What happened to you is a very painful and a rare and unfortunate experience and I feel for you. I too would be really royally pissed if It happened to me.

But chit can and does happen to anyone with any given vehicle at any given time. So you dust the chit off and you move on.

Moreover, If I were you after such major tampering inside the new vehicle, I'd trade it and move on. That is unless I personally knew tech, the kind of work he or she does day in day out, to avoid other issues later on after the 3/36 warranty runs out or if extended warranty, I'd let the next guy who will get a good price off my loss deal with them.

So yes, chit can and does happen to anyone at any time, sorry it was you.

 

Timing belt on a 3.5?