Oil leak, but not sure from where. (pictures)

[Heat]

I was changing my oil last night and noticed some oil near the axle. '95 LE, 170,000 miles, automatic transmission, I4 engine.

Here are the pictures, each was taken from under the passenger side. Any ideas? And some oil did spill when I took off the filter but the oil in the pictures isn’t from the change, it was already present.

Thumbnails:

[dekerman1]

Power steering hoses and leaking pump are common. Not easy to spot. Passenger side upper of motor, follow hose from P/S resivior toward the firewall to the pump. Good luck!

[ghettosled]

find the top of where the oily area is and that is the leak's origin. i cant think off hand what is above in the photos. valve cover gasket maybe?

[Heat]

Yeah, I need to backtrack it. I was hoping that there was a common leak point.

This is one of the big advantages to changing your own oil, you get to see the underside in detail. Last time I changed my oil (April, but only 4,000 miles ago) I noticed a bunch of grease around the CV joint boot which quickly led to my finding a hole in the boot. That is why the axle was changed (and yeah, it's five months old, not two months old).

[CharmCityES]

valve cover gasket is a very common leak on both the 5SFE and 1MZFE

[caveboy]

I think i have the same leak I pressure washed my under carrage..start there use a self wash booth with some engine degresser..the put some uv dye in the oil LED light usually shows the dye just as well as the black lights. AutoZone sells the dye for about 6bucks ...and jack it up and look under it... with safty glasses and jack stands... lol


I have narrowed it down to the knock sensor or the temp sensor... but can't tell whichone even with the dye the trans mounts in the way ... more later when I can get back under it...
Anyone replaced these?

[MyFreeCamry]

knock sensor won't leak, there is not oil behind it. The temp sensor should only be for coolant so it can't be that.

[caveboy]

okay thats what I thougth but not sure.. back to finding the leak...blaa ..its just enough to be anoying.. but not enough to make me stop looking for it. guess I need brighter light...more power Mr. Scott..MORE POWER...

Thx

[new echo owner]

The first one is possibly the valve cover gasket or cam seal.
The second one is possibly the distributor o-ring or distributor housing.
The third one is possibly the cam seal, oil pump seal and o-ring, and the crank seal.

N.E.O.

[Koa808]

looks like a head gasket leak. Had mine leaking about a month ago, looked just like that

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by Heat

I was changing my oil last night and noticed some oil near the axle.

What color is the oil?