Toyota Shop (Repair) in the South Bay?

Edit: After more searching, it looks like its a common issue for the valve covers to leak. I'm just going to fix it myself! Still interested in any shops around here though, for other things. Please post up!


Hey All,

I picked up my 2001 Tacoma with 145k miles a little over a week ago, and haven't driven it since until the other day and I noticed white smoke coming out from under the hood/truck.

I opened the hood and noticed oil was leaking out of the valve covers, at the rear of each head. The oil was dripping down onto the exhaust.

I most likely am going to need to take it to a shop and have them figure out exactly why its leaking from the back of the valve covers, and wanted to know if there are any honest, reputable shops in the area that can help me out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I really hope there aren't some major issues and this is why the previous owner was getting rid of it!

 

Sorry, can't suggest one in the South Bay. I know of a good, reliable shop in San Francisco. If you want the info, PM me.


As for leaks, valve cover gaskets go bad. The rubber stiffens up, leaks develop - it happens. It happened on dad's '98 4Runner. Gaskets replaced, problem solved. The valve cover bolts aren't torqued very tight, and sometimes they can work loose a little bit. You could try retorqueing them first, degrease the engine, and see if the leak persists. Should take you about an hour, between checking torque, applying degreaser, letting it soak in a bit and hosing it off.


Besides that, the valve cover gaskets are easy to fix. It takes a couple of hours to move a bunch of crap out of the way, but it's not hard, just tedious.

 

Still interested in any shops around here though, for other things. Please post up!

 

Arabia's Overkill over on White Oaks Rd in Campbell.

Jeff is a good guy, we've known each other since highschool. Not sure how busy he is.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about Jeff. He used to work on my '85 CJ. He's a good guy, though I haven't been to his shop in a few years.

 

Cool, thanks guys.

 

MS Auto Gears in Santa Clara.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/ms-auto-gears-santa-clara-3

Manjit rebuilt my transmission and knows Toyotas. Plus he is a nice guy.

 

I recommend Bay City Automotive in Milpitas. I've been taking my vehicles there for quite a while and really like them. They only work on Toyota, Honda, Nissan, or Acura though, FYI.

 

I just got a brake booster and master cylinder quote from Toyota101 in RWC and it is outrageous. Does anybody know of any shops near San Carlos? I checked out the recommendations above on Yelp and on their websites and Arabia's looks like it's focus is Jeeps and MS seems to be transmissions/engines. Is Bay City my best bet or is there anything farther North?

 

Spiteri's, in Belmont, has done some work on my wife's Matrix in the past. They're a decent shop, though they kind of push the upsell. And really I don't know how much cheaper they'll be than Toyota 101. Most of the price difference I've seen between Toyota 101 and Spiteri's is realized from Spiteri's using non-Toyota parts. But if nothing else, they are a reputable shop and it's easier dealing with them than with Toyota 101.

Of course, if you have any mechanical aptitude at all, and a few hours, swapping out a master cylinder and booster is not a difficult task to start with. Just something to keep in mind.