Head Gasket?

[Xkontour98]

Our Camry has been slowly leaking oil and leaving spots on the garage floor over night. Brought it to the mechanic and he said that the head gasket is just starting to go and that we are better off selling it and moving on as he said it was about a $1400 repair.

Our car is a 95 LE 2.2L w/134K. We trust our mechanic very much and decided we are going to sell/trade it in. Are there any products that I can use to slow the leak short of replacing the gasket? It would be nice to slow the leak down until we can find a newer vehicle to trade it in on.

[95PimpingCamry]

They are asking WAYYY too much for the head gasket. The Toyota dealers asks about $1000, and that means reasonable shops should do it for like $700.

[ShawnM]

Prices vary depending on the labor rate in your area. A head gasket job for that engine is about 10.6 hours according to the labor guide. Most dealerships in this area are at about $100-$120 an hour which works out to at least $1000 without parts. It also depends what else they re doing with the head gasket job. Some places will do a valve job, new timing belt and waterpump along with it. Some places will only swap out the gasket. There really isnt much you can do to stop oil leaks other than replace the defective gasket. I would make damn sure it is the headgasket though as they are not really known for leaking oil.

[bronzemaxell]

Originally Posted by Xkontour98

Our Camry has been slowly leaking oil and leaving spots on the garage floor over night. Brought it to the mechanic and he said that the head gasket is just starting to go and that we are better off selling it and moving on as he said it was about a $1400 repair.

Our car is a 95 LE 2.2L w/134K. We trust our mechanic very much and decided we are going to sell/trade it in. Are there any products that I can use to slow the leak short of replacing the gasket? It would be nice to slow the leak down until we can find a newer vehicle to trade it in on.

from my experience, many seals and gaskets can leak oil, and doesn't have to be the head gasket, and the mileage seem to be low to have a blown headgasket unless the vehicle has been over heated,

i would pin point where the leak is, it could be the valve cover gasket, oil pan, cam seal, crankshaft seal, oil pump seal, oil pump o-ring, or headgasket, parts for those are cheap, but labor might be expensive.

if head gasket is bad, you probably loose coolant, or milky engine oil, or white smoke from the tail pipe

[toyomoho]

Are you loosing coolant, engine idle OK, any water in the crankcase and how is engine power? Ask the mechanic to provide you all the info they used to come up with this diagnosis. As stated, this engine can and does leak oil for a lot of areas.

[Xkontour98]

The car hasn’t been over heated in the 50K we’ve put on it and the leak started about 10k or so ago maybe 20k.

Our mechanic said that the head gasket it is a common issue with the Toyota 2.2L in the Camry.

When I was told that I argued that there was no coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant and the car was not burning any oil and no white smoke. Then he showed me the gasket and explained that the gasket is leaking on the outside of the block, which made sense to me. I asked about the rear main seal and he said it was slightly damp, but not leaking.

[bronzemaxell]

Originally Posted by Xkontour98

The car hasn’t been over heated in the 50K we’ve put on it and the leak started about 10k or so ago maybe 20k.

Our mechanic said that the head gasket it is a common issue with the Toyota 2.2L in the Camry.

When I was told that I argued that there was no coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant and the car was not burning any oil and no white smoke. Then he showed me the gasket and explained that the gasket is leaking on the outside of the block, which made sense to me. I asked about the rear main seal and he said it was slightly damp, but not leaking.

here is my experience on my 2.2L, 91K

i bought it not too long ago, but around the buttom oil pan transmission area, it was wet, i trace the wetness, it is all the way up the the block, i've changed valve cover gasket, cam seal, oil pump-oring, then all leak stopped, i sprayed brake cleaner on the block to clean the grease, so far they are still dry.

i have another 2.2L 93 camry, with 280k on the Odometer, it burns 1 qt of oil every 3k miles, and loose all coolant in the reservior, i think mine is indeed has a headgasket problem, but with original engine, never headgasket change, i am suprise it lasted this long.

my point is, valve cover gasket is prone to leak, if it is a valve cover gasket leak from rear, it will wet a lot of area from top down.

if i were you , i would clean the wet area thoroughly, and drive for a few days, see where the new leak is,
in the mechanic's eye, head gasket will fix all the leak problem, because he will tear apart the whole engine, and replace almost every seal, and he sees $$$ in your pocket.

[xtremeskier97]

The head gasket isnt a 'common' problem. It happens, yes...but not common. My 93 has 325,000 miles on it and has NEVER had a head gasket replacement.

If you are at all mechanical..you can do it yourself...it just takes time because there are a lot of parts you have to remove to get to it.

Ive done a head gasket replacement on a old mazda GLC. Wasnt hard...just took a lot of time....and I did that when I was like 17 or 18.

If you DONT want to do it yourself...check around at different shops and see what the charge. Also check with the dealership. Sometimes you will be surprised by their prices.

[Luckynumber5]

Head gaskets are not a common issue at all on any gen Camry.

[ghettosled]

i dont think your mechanic is too familiar with toyotas. im with with everyone else - i dont think its the head gasket either. i know when my valve cover and distributor were leaking on my '96, it could have easily looked like a bad head gasket going by where the oil was leaking.

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by Xkontour98

The car hasn’t been over heated in the 50K we’ve put on it and the leak started about 10k or so ago maybe 20k.

Then he showed me the gasket and explained that the gasket is leaking on the outside of the block, which made sense to me.

If the HG was leaking oil only to the outside of the head then you'd have to ask, where did the pressure come from to blow the gasket? I doubt oil pressure would do that. Usually combustion or coolant pressure blows HGs. If the leaking oil is not too great you may be able to live with it for a while. Why don't you power wash the engine and see if you can pin point the oil leak source. A leaking valve cover gasket from the rear will run down and may seem like oil is coming from the HG.

[Xkontour98]

The mechanic that we go to has worked on imports for 30 years and is really good at what he does. He said that he has done a few Camry HG's and that it is not fun. I'm not saying his word is gospell, but I do trust him. He degreased the engine and then diagnosed the leak. I realize it is easy to make mistakes, so I am willing to dig into it myself a bit and try to fix things if it is something other than the HG.

It would be great if it were just the valve cover or dis o-ring. How can I tell? I am pretty mechanically inclined, I replaced the suspension on the car last year, I just don't like messing with the timing of the car, I have no experience with it.

It's hard to get under it to get a good look with out a lift. Is the dist o-ring easy to access and change. I would imagine it is fairly cheap so that is something I wouldn't mind replacing. Same with the valve cover.

You make a good point about the pressure necessary to blow the outter edge of the gasket. Not sure about that....

Other than the Valve cover /dist o-ring are there any other gaskets I should look for that could be causing it to look like the head gasket?

[Your Uncle Moe]

Maybe your not using the right oil. Try something a bit heavier and see what that does. or Maybe your car was over filled the last oil change which tends to be the case in my car when the Jiffy Fools add too much oil.

[Kep]

Likewise, I can't imagine a head gasket failure resulting in oil leaking to the exterior of the engine. I would take it to a couple of other mechanics to get their evaluation and estimates. With any luck there are Toyota specialists your area aren't at the Toyota dealership though having the dealership evaluate it might be a good idea also.

Kep

[ASG14]

Sounds odd. Do yourself a favor and spend a few hours washing the engine. Oil leaks can be VARY decieving.

Get a gallong of engine degreaser (Simple Green or Purple Passion fron any auto store, it;s under $10). Get a garden hose and nozzle with a Jet setting. Spray the degreaser ALL over the engine, everything. Just keep spraying it on, and get a lot of paper towels ready. After like 40 mins of it being on, spray it off with oil. Then respray and try to wipe off what you can with the paper towels. Repeat untill most of the crude is off the engine. It WILL take a while.

Tips: Do it with the engine cold, not hot. Use a plastic bag, serane wrap, etc, and cover the Alternator, Distributor cap, and fuse boxes just for safety.

THEN you can see where any new oil may be leaking from, to have a better idea at wtf is wrong. Maybe the mechanic made a mistake (it happenes), and you can save your money. The 5sfe does blow head gaskets sometimes, but usually at a higher mileage then yo have.