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

What dealer are you going to?

 

Just had this happen to me. Dropped the truck off last week, said they'll need 2 weeks for the parts to come in and get it fixed. Luckily had extended warranty as well so they are covering the costs of the repair.

 

So is this a 17-18 only problem? Any have this issue with the newer trucks?

 

Was there a write up on TW that you found on this matter?

 

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 camper 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!

 

I am glad that I got rid off my 2017 TRD OFR recently, the timing cover start to leak oil at 105k miles. I never see a Toyota service consultant got so excited when he gave me the bad news of my TC is leaking and will cost me $4k to fix the issue. So I took the advantage of the stupid crazy used vehicle market and sold it to Carmax. Good luck to your 3rd gen owners, I will go enjoy my new Camry for now and I might buy another new Taco one day. Peace!

 

Just a final summary for now on this issue for me. I’ve put 1000 miles on the truck since the repair of my timing cover. So far no leaks for any fluid. No more drips on the pavement. Truck is running well. My total cost was $547 at 131,000 miles to get the timing cover sealant replaced. $500 was my “good faith” share as they called it. Then $15 shop supplies and sales tax. They did NOT REMOVE the engine in the end to make the repair. They removed all accessory pumps and radiator and shrouds. They removed oil pan. They removed both wheel well liners and splash shields on both sides. It was at the dealer for 5 days. Would have been a day less but they found a couple other seals were needed. Also inspected timing chains and found no problems. Total cost of repair would have been $4500 or so. But Toyota covered all but the $500. So moral to the story. Maintain a good relationship with your dealer service department even if you do work yourself. Throw them a little business every once in a while even if it costs more, as long as their work is quality. Because in this situation it it was not for the service manager at the dealership my costs would have been $4500! They are the only strong representation we have with Toyota at the end of the day. Without them what would have been my option. Spend $4500? Or try to sell a truck losing oil.

FYI I found this excellent video that details just about every problem I’ve had with my 16. All were covered by Toyota. And fortunately I seem to have had them all except for the coolant bypass valve. Sooo hopefully in on the backside of all of this and have many more happy miles.
https://youtu.be/b6tRAQ_r0Ms

 

Hello fellow timing cover people. Back at 70k miles, I also had the timing cover leak repaired. I was pissed. Toyota helped offset the cost as a one time "good will" offer after hours on the phone with people that said they've never seen this happen. etc etc but i still had to pay about $1,500. Fast forward 30k miles, found it to be leaking again. Looking through everything closer, it appeared nothing was disassembled, just thoroughly cleaned and I was probably a shmuck paying for many cases of beers for this dealership. But how can I prove any of that.. I'm now at 120k miles, just peeking at it wiping it away and pretending like it's not happening. I had another shop take a peek at it recently and they are claiming it's the power steering pump. I used to worry about it but now I just sit in that seat and watch the world go by as I'm enjoying driving this truck. A little seep doesn't bother me anymore. Let's see.. maybe at 250k miles, I'll be smiling and wiping away a little seep that was nothing to worry about.

 

If they had not been willing to fix mine for the $500 I would have probably just added oil as needed. The oil was all blowing back on to the frame, which in New England is not a bad thing. Lol. I was losing about a half a quart per oil change. You can buy a lot of oil for the $4000 coat of this repair. Way back when I first started driving I had a 1973 Plymouth valiant. Every tank of gas also required the addition of 2 quarts of oil. And oh did I love that car! Used to call it the “ongoing automatic oil change system”…. Lol. I have read people have gotten great results from several of the stop leak additives. So if they weren’t able to repair mine for reasonable price I would have probably gone that route if the leak got worse. We forget how much vehicles used to leak back in the days when many of us started driving. Now we panic from the smallest drops. I’m so guilty of this too. Got to keep it all in perspective I guess. Happy motoring. I just came back from a 2800 mile camper trip. My 2016 Tacoma still the best I’ve ever owned of the 6 tacomas I’ve had. Over 150,000 miles and it still drives and tows my camper like the day it left the showroom! I also just finished the yearly touch up and repainting of the frame. Every year I sand blast any rust and repair the entire frame as best one can from underneath. It’s like anything else. Drive them. They are made to be driven. But care for them like they are babies, and they will give you years and years of service. Change fluids when supposed to. Fix any rusty spots immediately. Fluid film wonderful for the places that can’t be painted. Look for problems and try to fix them asap. And enjoy. Even with its challenges tacoma still the best small truck ever made. Just did my front brakes too. First time on this truck 150k! Backs are only half used up so they got a good cleaning. Amazing how well these trucks are built.

 

I dont think this is just a 16-17 problem. I just bought a 2020 a couple weeks ago with 26k miles and noticed today oil in the area around and below the timing belt cover. Lucky me. Ill be having it looked at shortly.

 

Well the timing belt cover saga continues for me. Had it all fixed at 131,000 June 2021. Now we are at November 2022 and 154,000. Changed the oil today. Oil level after 5000 was just fine. But looked up and what did I see? Arghhh. Oil soaked all down the side of the engine in area around power steering pump. Just like before. Checked the power steering fluid. Has not moved. Did some further investigation. Yup. Timing cover leaking again. Cost me $570 to fix it last time because the dealer was able to argue I was only a few thousand outside of the extended warranty so they covered all the rest. I’m so disappointed. This truck runs like the day I drove it out of the showroom. I take care of it perfectly. Was planning on many more happy miles. I love this tackle. Of the 7 I’ve owned this one has been the best overall. Will give dealership a call on Friday and make an appointment. I’m reading now many others with same problem. And once fixed it just leaks again and again. And from the forums it appears buying a new one doesn’t really solve anything. Saw a post from a guy with 20,000 miles on a 2020. He’s having his timing cover resealed. Very disappointing Toyota.

 

No not just a 3rd gen issue, it's a 1gr-fe issue. I've had it happening on my 2006 for at least 200,000mi. This video overviews the repair pretty well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7CVwoO4OMM&t=6s