Head gasket and timing belt cover leaks

[ken_oy]

Days before, I changed the engine oil in firestone, but soon after that I found some fluid leaking. ( I am so sure there was no leak before that, because my garage floor was always clean ). The leak was not serious, but it did made the floor wet over night.

Then I came back to firestone, and they checked my car and said valve cover gasket leaking. They asked for $300, and changed 1.VS50059 valve cover gasket set; 2. replace valve cover gasket; 3. replace spark plug tube seal; 4.pcv276 pcv valve. After all these work, my camry stop leaking.

But leak happened 3 days later. I was so frustrated, and I came back. But they told me they could do nothing this time, because new leak start. 1. rear head gasket leak, 2.the timing belt cover leak. They told me the some other shops can do that for me but not firestone.

Now, the leaks start when the engine starts, stop when the engine stops, and about one minute one drop. Is this situation very serious? I just don't want to spend too much money for an old car and I don't want to know they take my money and tell me "they can't". The car, my 95' camry is in great condition, I trusted firestone before, but after that leaks...

Could somebody help me ?

[MIC0417]

Man, people here in SA, well anywhere like Firestone will rape you. First off if you know a little about cars you could replace the valve cover gasket, and bought all the crap they gave you at Autozone. They may not have properly sealed it and thats why it leaks. They replaced the Valve cover gasket and thats the only gasket besides the spark plugs tube seals. I think they just ripped you off, and messed up the job because they can do that, if I can do that in my driveway hey can do it in a shop with ASE certified technicians. Whenever its car stuff find someone that is a friend who knows about cars for advice and what is the mileage because it may have a really, really long life it just needs maintence. So give me the mileage and others people tommorow will give you more advice.

[ken_oy]

Thanks for your reply!
The mileage now is about 120100. Now, the car still runs smoothly, if you do not pay attention to the leaks, you would think it must be in great condition.
Do you think I should come back and argue with them? I have a repair manual in hand, but I am not so sure I can fix it, but now, how can I trust other shops?
How about pepboys in SA? Need your help!

[renmike]

Get up underneath the car and spray some simple green and engine degreaser on the backside, spray it off with some water, let it dry, then place a piece of cardboard to see where the oil drops from or if you can see it underneath after it had ran for awhile. As for the leaks themselves, just keep a close eye on your oil (check every morning, after a long drive, etc.). The biggest concern with the timing cover oil leak is oil deteriorating the timing belt. If you're losing a bit over a short time (1/4 to 1/3 of the dipstick over a few hundred miles) you might want to take it to get looked at.

I am still fighting a leak on the back side of my engine since I put it in, I replaced the cover gasket, distributor o-ring, all other seals I can think of back there, and I think it's around the head gasket.

I hate to thread jack, and I know this sounds like a weird question, but is there a plug of some sort or perhaps the knock sensor up near the rear of the engine by the head gasket that could be slowly leaking oil (95 camry with 4-cylinder)?

[ghettosled]

ken_oy -

personally, i dont like the chain shops and i tend to trust the local mom & pop places more. ask around to your friends and family of trusted places. places like firestone will replace what they think might be causing the leak, and who knows if they fix it properly if they do find the leak. either you need to crawl under the car and find where the leak is coming from or find a trusted mechanic to find the leak and take it from there.


renmike -

is the leak more towards the passenger side wheel or towards the transmission?

[renmike]

Originally Posted by ghettosled

ken_oy -

personally, i dont like the chain shops and i tend to trust the local mom & pop places more. ask around to your friends and family of trusted places. places like firestone will replace what they think might be causing the leak, and who knows if they fix it properly if they do find the leak. either you need to crawl under the car and find where the leak is coming from or find a trusted mechanic to find the leak and take it from there.


renmike -

is the leak more towards the passenger side wheel or towards the transmission?

ghettosled: More towards the transmission. At first I thought it was either the valve cover gasket or distributor o-ring because it seems to originate in that area. I've changed both but it's still slowly leaking. I looked at the old block I had and up in that corner there is a plug of some sort. Reading, I thought that perhaps that's where the knock sensor goes, but then I'm stumped at to why the original engine just has a threaded plug instead

Also, I have replaced the rear main seal, and this leak seems to originate higher than that on the back of the block.


and my opinion on chain stores is much like ghettosleds. many of the techs are younger guys who don't have much older guidance, like you might get in a shop or a dealership. When I was working as a heavy equipment mech, I was offered a job working in of all places a jiffy lube , albeit as a manager. but still, they only offered me 10 bucks/hr to supervise all the techs. The firestone's around here aren't bad, but if anything I'd let them get dirty and try to find the leak then take it elsewhere to fix it.

[Your Uncle Moe]

Maybe they just used the wrong kind of Oil for the wrong temp. When I put 5w Synthetic in the winter and a warm day comes along, my car pisses itself.

[eyeball96]

I feel for ya! It wasn't broke till they fixed it!!. Go to the yellow pages and find an import mechanic, take the car to them!.....and pray their skilled and honest!!

[ghettosled]

this is to both ken_oy and renmike - when you (or had) replaced the valve cover gasket, were the plugs at the end of the cam shafts leaking and was some RTV used in those pesky corners of the gasket where the gasket turned 90 degrees for the distributor? those are common leak points and can cause leaks if not sealed properly.

[MIC0417]

Well, I'm not sure where you should take it, Cambridge on Fredricksburg behind USAA is pretty reputable, just ask for a once-over to see what if anything needs replacing then go from there.

[ShawnM]

Have someone degrease the engine (wash all the crud off) then put in some engine oil dye. Makes it really easy to pinpoint where all the leaks are comming from. If its leaking worse after the valve covers were done then they more than likely didnt seal it properly on the rear valve cover.

[renmike]

Originally Posted by ghettosled

this is to both ken_oy and renmike - when you (or had) replaced the valve cover gasket, were the plugs at the end of the cam shafts leaking and was some RTV used in those pesky corners of the gasket where the gasket turned 90 degrees for the distributor? those are common leak points and can cause leaks if not sealed properly.

I ran RTV around where the cam plugs are at the ends of the head, but I did not squirt a spot on the corners. The valve cover gasket I originally took off was dry in that area, so I did not think that was where my leak was from. But, that is a great idea to do, and I think I'll do that this weekend. Thanks.

As for looking for locating the leak, I've always heard that something like athlete's foot spray would work as well, because it dries white. I've never tried it myself, just something I've heard over the years.

[popeye08]

Ken_oy:

I changed engine oil with 5W-30 (the first time, I usually use 10W-30), and the engine leak much more oil than before. So I don't think firestone did something wrong on your engine, maybe they just they use dilute oil.

My car leaks from the inside of the timing belt cover and little bit from the rear of the engine. I had the timing belt and water pump replaced two years ago, but I don't think the camshaft seal was replaced. So I want to borrow your post and ask my questions: is the camshaft seal leak is the only reason that leak from inside of timing belt cover? How much it will cost? the same as changing timing belt? Thanks.

Originally Posted by ken_oy

Days before, I changed the engine oil in firestone, but soon after that I found some fluid leaking. ( I am so sure there was no leak before that, because my garage floor was always clean ). The leak was not serious, but it did made the floor wet over night.

Then I came back to firestone, and they checked my car and said valve cover gasket leaking. They asked for $300, and changed 1.VS50059 valve cover gasket set; 2. replace valve cover gasket; 3. replace spark plug tube seal; 4.pcv276 pcv valve. After all these work, my camry stop leaking.

But leak happened 3 days later. I was so frustrated, and I came back. But they told me they could do nothing this time, because new leak start. 1. rear head gasket leak, 2.the timing belt cover leak. They told me the some other shops can do that for me but not firestone.

Now, the leaks start when the engine starts, stop when the engine stops, and about one minute one drop. Is this situation very serious? I just don't want to spend too much money for an old car and I don't want to know they take my money and tell me "they can't". The car, my 95' camry is in great condition, I trusted firestone before, but after that leaks...

Could somebody help me ?

[popeye08]

All right, I got this post, the same problem as mine, very helpful:

http://toyotanation.com/forum/t124228.html

Originally Posted by popeye08

Ken_oy:

I changed engine oil with 5W-30 (the first time, I usually use 10W-30), and the engine leak much more oil than before. So I don't think firestone did something wrong on your engine, maybe they just they use dilute oil.

My car leaks from the inside of the timing belt cover and little bit from the rear of the engine. I had the timing belt and water pump replaced two years ago, but I don't think the camshaft seal was replaced. So I want to borrow your post and ask my questions: is the camshaft seal leak is the only reason that leak from inside of timing belt cover? How much it will cost? the same as changing timing belt? Thanks.