Leaking Fluid Back of Engine

5vz-fe engine
Dark Fluid coming from back of engine near head gasket area. Has black color like oil but also hint of red like coolant. Here are pics

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Locations of the pictures

I think my valve cover gasket is blown.

 

Looks like valve cover gaskets and/or cam seals. I'd wipe that area clean as best you can, keep an eye on oil levels and recheck in a day or two to see if you can determine if those are indeed the source. Also a little inspection mirror (like what a dentist uses) is a very helpful tool for getting a better look at these types of things.

 

Also, I wouldn't worry about head gasket at all. Looks like just a simple oil leak to me. AKA, free rustproofing lol

 

Thank you very much

 

That's a common point for them to leak. If you're losing enough oil or it bothers you enough replace the valve cover gaskets and reseal those cam seals in the back and half moons in the front. I had leaks with the cam seals and valve covers and looked just like yours.

 

^ if it gets bad enough or bugs you yes likely valve cover gaskets and cam seals. Did the job on my '03 when it hit around 200k miles, not too difficult of a job. The plastic around wire harness around intake will most likely crumble so byy some Tesa tape beforehand and you won't need to plastic covers any longer.

 

classic valve cover gasket, cam seals, and 1/2 moon job. Don't skip out on the last two. Timmy has an excellent video going over the whole process in great detail. I highly suggest you watch it before you take the job on. The thing that ended up taking more time than expected (for me at least) was cleaning the existing valve covers.

Other things to consider while you're down that far, and have everything apart: vacuum lines, and Denso injectors (from motor west performance).

 

Also worth considering checking valve clearances and adjusting if you're gonna take the valve covers off to do your gaskets.

 

Could be worse. You could be paying $750 a month for a 3rd gen.

 

Make sure you replace the spark plug tube gaskets as well. You will probably want to pick up two intake runner gasket and a throttle body gasket in addition to a new PCV and PCV gasket. Good time to do your spark plugs and plug wires if they are old.