Updated T-SB-0326-08 Oil Leak

The oil pan stays on for this job. I did mine twice due to trial and error. The first time took me 2 days. My second time took me 12 hours start to finish.

I would make sure you get ziplock bags and a marker to label where everything goes back and to hold all your loose bolts.

Since everything is off, invest in a new water pump, maybe new pulleys. I did an oil change and new radiator fluid after all of it.

 

Thanks for the hints!

 

Anyone in Virginia want to come up to Richmond and give me a hand? Lol. I have average skills and plenty of tools but this job scares me. My leak is getting super annoying. Will be pulling extra shifts at the hospital to save up to pay for this to be repaired. Awesome pictures though. Nice job!

 

I know this may be an old thread but toyota is not fixin this for free. My 07 120k has a very small amount of black gunk stuff on the power steering pump, grrrr, so i figured no guessing here. Do you have to pull any of the accessories off ( power steering pump, alternator ac compressor etc) when doing this fix? i really want to pay toyota to do this but my tight ass probably would rather buy suspension lift or something ... guess i am goning to have to drive that honda accord to work a few days

 

I totally agree with you, I would rather spend my $$$ on accessories over a major repair. I have done this twice in a small parking spot in an alley but if the repairs are done properly in a shop, it's best to remove all of it. Here's my .02 for the DIY guy.

Power steering pump- needs to be unbolted but not disconnected and removed.

Alternator- needs to be completely removed.

A/C Compressor- needs to be unbolted but not removed. There is plenty of play in the lines to work with.

 

Ha if only I had a shop... pulled every Motor and done most of my mechanic work on the ground and in the dirt lol. I will probably do it all in one day on a Saturday and let it cure before cranking etc. I have to have the puller holder so I will be ordering that in a week or two. Would you pull the front bumper? I just changed the oil and put on the new futomo valve so it will have to wait till oil gets dirty... things like this sucks because I probably could pull the motor faster than working around all the crap... thanks to everyone always putting up great pics and havin great pics for a point of reference for the rest of us.

 

I have a plate bumper so access was fairly easy for me. If you are running stock, I imagine it would be easier with it off. Especially when removing the radiator.

The first timing cover I replaced took me 2 days. I went in blind without the right tools. The second took me almost exactly 12 hours start to finish with all fluids replaced. I did not buy a puller but that would have made my day a hell of a lot easier.

We have a great group of knowledgeable members. Feel free to reach out if you need any pointers.

 

Mine has been leaking for about 2 years now currently have around 160,000 miles on the truck. I have a plan in place though once I acquire all the necessary parts to fix it. The stealership quoted an outrageous price($2400) to fix it and I told them I may never come back for service here again after hearing that estimate. The leak has been getting worse though. At first I noticed that it wasn't that bad and I thought oh I can just let it go and it will be fine. But now it has gotten to where I have to add and extra quart of oil between oil changes. I notice performance is not that great anymore also and I have lost 1-2mpg in the last couple years also. That may be partially due to larger than OEM sized tires too. But I can visually see the spot in my parking spot getting bigger and bigger. I have a local mechanic from this thread that is going to help me knock it out once I get everything ordered.

 

Hey all. I know this is an old thread, but I am in the middle of doing this task. I wanted to add a few pointers on doing this. The thing that I didnt see in this writeup is the alternator, and AC compressor need to be disconnected. I totally removed the alternator, but the compressor, you need to just removed four bolts. Then under the compressor is 2 bolts that hold on the timing chain cover. There are also 4 bolts that come in from the bottom first oil pan. Lastly, we could not get the cover to remove easily due to the serpentine tensionor being installed. So I totally removed that sucker as well. Those three items were a real pain in the ass, but worth it in the end. I am getting ready to put it all back together tommorow.

 

Also I am highly inclined to say alot of that oil leakage, on mine and the pictures above is also crank shaft seal's leaking.

 

Just noticed my 07 is starting to have the timing cover leak too. I'm just gonna keep driving it. Might just replace the engine when it gets real bad

 

Anyone daring enough to try a shortcut and go through here?
I plan to seal with one/minute grey RTV from the outside and found this pic. Obviously here that inspection port or whatever it’s called was leaking too.

Probably not a good idea though seeing that if some of that RTV comes loose it could clog up an oil passage etc

 

Pretty sure that is the tensioner for the timing chain guide.

 

The only way for excess silicone to make its way into an oil passage is to get sucked up in the oil pickup tube down in the pan. That inspection cover is supposed to be sealed w/silicone, just dont use too much and you'll be fine

 

That picture isn’t from my truck and no, there’s actually a gasket behind that rectangular cover which had failed in that case. The picture made me think of taking that off and applying some RTV from the inside to the area where it most commonly leaks, where timing cover, head and block meet. That’s where my leak is, or rather seepage. I’m going to apply some RTV from the outside too because I’m in the middle of rebuilding my PS pump anyway. Just thought inside might be even better but not sure if it’s a good idea. If that’s reallly the chain tensioner there then there’s got to be a good amount of oil pressure that could dislodge what I smear on there.

Sure as shit ain’t doing this TSB procedure. I’m not losing enough oil to be quantifiable

 

From there I don't think you will be able to get it where it needs to be.

 

This is correct. You can see the piston pushing on the plastic chain guide. Also looks like a healthy engine (aside from the obvious oil leak) as that piston doesn’t extend out too far.
But I’m pretty sure I could apply a bead of RTV with my finger to the mating point of the head, block and timing cover.

I’m going to try that, reseal the inspection hole and also slather some RTV on the outside. I’ll give those bolts there an extra ugga dugga and go easy when I torque down the PS pump. Perhaps it’s mounting location contributes to the FIPG failure at this specific location... 3rg gens have it too, and same PS pump mounting.
Will report back

 

I would make a recommendation for anyone that is trying to do this. Before you drain your oil, I would bump start your crank shaft pulley bolt off. I am currently waiting on a pulley holder tool to come in. I can't even get out the crank shaft pulley bolt with an impact gun.

 

What do the dashed marks around the water pump journal represent? I have found sealant around mine. Maybe @Bishop84 can chime in and shed some light on this.

 

A picture would help.

There's supposed to be a separate larger bead of silicone around the water pump inlet/outlets. If thats what you mean.