3VZ-FE oil leak problem

[lacruiser]

Hey guys.

I have an old 1993 Camry with a V6, it has an oil leak. I am
trying to figure out if it''s the rear main seal, the seal retainer, or
the pan gasket. I have removed the exhaust crosspipe and the
transmission brace, cleaned everything up, but it is so tight in there I can''t determine which
is leaking. If I can''t, I figure I''ll just replace the pan gasket and hope
that does it. I hope thats it because I really don''t feel like yanking out
the trans for access to the rear seal or it''s retainer.

The pan gasket is actually the silicone goop (FIP gasket material) so
I''''m thinking it''''s probably not the problem, as they usually stay
intact, yes? Has anyone actually seen one of these "factory original"
fip gaskets fail?

This car has very low miles, only 45,000 miles original. I know that seals go bad, but I''''''''m hoping that the rear main is still intact. Is this a problem with these engines?

It''s the 3.0L 3VZ-FE engine, probably same engine as in the
earlier 4runners.

Anyone got any good suggestions?

Thanks

[davemac2]

from your description, it sounds like you are getting oil dripping on the exhaust pipe possibly? How bad is it? Why don't you use some engine degreaser and clean up the pan area and as much as possible above it? At least then you may be able to get an idea of where the leak is. After cleaning it up, you can spray on some powder such as a foot spray or something to pick up the leak a little easier. The leaks are usually the valve covers, so the first thing i would do is to re-torque the valve cover bolts. The next one I would replace is the distributor seal. I would not bother to attempt to replace a rear seal unless you need to do work on the trans. Not worth it. Are u sure your trans pan is not leaking?

dave mc

[lacruiser]

Originally Posted by davemac2

from your description, it sounds like you are getting oil dripping on the exhaust pipe possibly? How bad is it? Why don't you use some engine degreaser and clean up the pan area and as much as possible above it? At least then you may be able to get an idea of where the leak is. After cleaning it up, you can spray on some powder such as a foot spray or something to pick up the leak a little easier. The leaks are usually the valve covers, so the first thing i would do is to re-torque the valve cover bolts. The next one I would replace is the distributor seal. I would not bother to attempt to replace a rear seal unless you need to do work on the trans. Not worth it. Are u sure your trans pan is not leaking?

dave mc

Hi Dave.

Yeah, I already did all that. It's definitely coming from either the rear main seal, the pan gasket, or the rear main seal retainer. One of those three, for sure.

It's engine oil, and yes it's dripping on the exh pipe, but it's not from the valve cover (or head gasket) It's a pretty bad leak, needs to be fixed because it's smokes pretty bad and the smoke gets sucked inside the car when the heater/AC is switched on. Not good.

It is postiively one of those three seals. I just thought that maybe someone on here might be able to tell me if these engines are prone to having one or more of these 3 seals go bad.

BTW, I'm an experienced mechanic, working on cars for several decades.

[new echo owner]

Rear main seal is more common than the other two. You can reseal the retainer and the rear of the pan all at the same time when doing a rear main seal.

N.E.O.

[xtremeskier97]

I REALLY hope this isnt where mine is leaking! Id HATE to have to pull the transmission, but it'll have to be replaced soon anyway, so Ill do it then.