Help!!! power steering pump leak or timing cover leak?

I agree that the stealer will not do anything for me -- I don't quite blame them, because without a recall, they will have to pay their technician out of their own pocket.

But I really hope Toyota step up, or we have a class action law suit, I will sign up on it for sure.

 

There’s a trick to doing it in truck k and faster.
That’s why I tagged Boshop84, not that OP plane to do it himself.
It can be done engine in.

 

Hey guys, i will jump in on this one. A few months ago doing an oil change i noticed the same leak as on this post. I hit it with some de-greaser and moved on since i didn't know what it was, i noticed it had not dripped onto the skid plate and was basically a small seep. this morning i started to change the oil, noticed it again, knowing the timing chain cover issue, i figured that was it. Brought it to the dealer at 10am this morning, and that was the diagnosis.

As someone said earlier in the post, and i have seen other post , and quite frankly experienced myself - the leak is a seep and doesn't appear to be that big of a deal. I drove for sure 40k miles and the leak did not get any worse. The dealer actually said seep not leak.

Lucky for me, i got the extended warranty so it will be covered. Of course the dealership recommends water pump and serpentine belt while they are doing it with no charge on the labor. $200 for the parts, truck has 90k miles so I am doing it.

Got a chance to talk to the tech, they have to pull the engine for sure. its on the books as a 22hr job. I told him i had just got my spark plugs in and was going to tackle that soon, he said he would throw them in while he has it out. Tech admitted the leak/seep is common on 16 and 17, said it was not a big deal and many don't even know its a problem.

bottom line, if i did not have the warranty, i would not get it fixed.

Dropping it off Monday 7am where they will start on it, good luck to me.

 

Thanks a lot for sharing!

I just paid the extended warranty from the same dealership that sold me the truck (I feel lucky that they even allowed me to do this). The way I see it is that I basically is getting about a 40% off on the repair, and peace of mind for all potential problems for the next 60k miles. Regardless, I am quite disappointed with Toyota on this issue.

 

i know its aggravating and Toyota buyers expect zero issues ever (most of us) but it happens. I hate that i will be out of my truck for 3 days but i know in the grand scheme of things it could be worse. AC systems and mechanical issues happen to them all, i think this one can go without repairing if you really wanted to ride it out. keep an eye on yours since you got the warranty.

one plus is getting fresh coolant and oil (was changing oil today) since i am at 90k coolant is recommended at 100k

 

Thanks for all the great advice. I plan to have it fixed soon, so that I have ~60k miles to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

Just had this happen to me, (2016 OR) 44,000 miles, dripping on ground, below power steering pump. Luckily, still under warranty. Service dept verified timing cover leak. I got a new Camry loaner for 1.5 days while it was repaired. They had to get an o-ring from another shop which cased small delay.
Painless for me, no charge for anything.

If you have a 2016 still under warranty, get under there and look for leaking before your warranty runs out.

 

The 2nd gens with 4.0L has a leak of the timing cover by the power steering pump too. The cause is the thickness of the mounting flange on the PS pump is a little wider than the area it fits into on the timing cover, pulling the TC away from the motor. Per advice here on TW, I removed the PS pump, filed down the flange on the pump so it would slide back into the TC with ease, slathered up the TC joint to the motor with permatex right stuff, and put back together. (put the pump back on). Several thousand miles later, no more TC leak.
I wonder if the same/similar situation exists on the 3rd gens 3.5L?

 

Follow up to my previous post ... the extended warranty covered it, while they were working on it they found the rack n pinion had a leak, said the ext warranty covered it so i had no out of pocket. took 8 days to complete due to having to order the rack/pin. Overall so far I guess we are good. The tech installed my spark plugs that i had just purchased. I would suggest giving the truck a serious look-over at 55k miles. I am sure mine was leaking but i did nothing about it. $1100 for parts ($726 for rack/pinion) and $1600 for labor.

 

What does the foot powder do...?

 

My 2017 has this issue as well at 66,000 miles. Found JUST out of warranty! How fun! Toyota offered to pay half so only $2k out of pocket for my 3.5 year old truck to fix the engine. Lovely. I won't be paying for it, I'm going to try escalating it within Toyota, or just track it. Just disappointing on top of the frame rust, my fuel door popping opening and not closing, and the interior trim issues.

 

oh wow, i havent had those issues. BTW, i posted my bill, 1600 for labor and $100 for gasket parts. what was your estimate. are you saying your estimate was $4k and Toyota paying half $2k ?

 

Dead on, they offered me $2k (that's with Toyota paying the other half so $4k total). The regional manager already said that's their final offer. I'm pretty mad about it.

 

thats pretty crappy. not sure if my estimate was better price due to ext warranty covering or if that is my dealers rate. My leak was very small and will not fix it again out of my own pocket. i will drive this truck 300k miles so the leak will just have to be.. mine leaked for a year before i did anything, never dropped on the driveway, just a small weep on the front of the engine. as someone said, it anti rust lube. good luck with the dealer.

 

Mine goes in today for the dreaded timing cover leak.
Having a full tune up as well as all fluids, gear and transfer case oils replaced, front brakes and a host of other things.
Hoping all goes well.

 

Reveals the path of the leak. Like footprints in the sand.

And makes things smell better.

 

It's so much fun sitting around wondering when my timing chain cover will start leaking . Makes me want to have another cold beer .

 

TW Syndrome.

I've checked a few things that have come up here:

-- Front coolant hose and bracket interference
-- A/C drain
-- Diff breather
-- Loose sparkplugs
-- Sealing the bed rails
-- Kazoo LCAs
-- Rear brake light
-- and probably a few more.​

I definitely take a hard look at the timing cover when checking fluids. Dammit!

 

This is exactly what I did too with the same positive result on my 07. No way I was tearing the motor down this much for such a small seep. They typically don’t lose enough oil there to even be noticeable on the dip stick between oil changes

 

Alas, just got the "tech noticed a small oil leak around the timing cover" spiel today at the dealership...I'm at 130,000 miles on my early '16 though. Thought I was going to skate by with just the 3rd brake light issue (which Toyota fixed gratis 2 years ago) on this baby. Looks like I'll just keep an eye on levels. At least I see via the good folks on TW that it is truly a thing that is occurring...