oil at passenger side front control arm

[JvR]

Yesterday i was looking at the exaust system and I noticed oil hanging on the passenger side front control arm and the area around it.
It looks like engine oil. Anybody know what the leak is?

Thanks

[cruisn76]

Or it could be a ripped CV boot...

[camlex]

first you must clean engine. two place is very common 1. rear valve cover or 2. inside timing belt cover some seals may be leaking. What was lasttime you change timing belt?

[GaviN]

I had a from bad to worse oil leak around in that same area for over a year. The main problem was oil leaking over the timing belt. I had that fixed and ended up changing my timing belt 50k miles prematurely which I didn't mind because a few months prior to that, this mechanic screwed my timing up to where my car had no power and vibrated a lot. Even when I would floor, it, the car felt like it would go into neutral and the engine would roar but the car wouldn't go anywhere. I fixed the oil seals I believe it was, did the timing and changed the gasket on top of the engine and I have been oil-leak free for 8 months now 270k here I come!!

[96paseo]

Chances are good its the oil seals. Oil pump o-ring, oil pump shaft seals are usually the biggest contributors. Buy a couple of cans of non-chlorinated brake cleaner, wash down the oil from the timing covers into a drain bucket, then take the car for a drive and re-check to see where the leak is.

[hill8570]

Originally Posted by cruisn76

Or it could be a ripped CV boot...

Grease being thrown out from a ripped boot tends to be quite thicker than engine oil...tends to stay "stuck" instead of dripping.

I'd add my vote for one of the seals behind the timing cover. Unless it's just pouring out, 'tho, best to hit things with engine cleaner first -- oil has an annoying tendency to move around.

[ASG14]

Jasper, post a pic.

[500KCamry]

My vote is for the seal on the crank, which means doing the same amount of work as changing the timing belt.

If it were from the CV joint you should see a damaged boot.

Otherwise, the power steering resevoir is also above the location, you could check out this too.

[JvR]

Thank you all!

Today have make a appointment (5/13/2009) with the Toyota garage.....over about 2 weeks i go on vacation, so i have no time repair it myself

I let you all know what is causing this problem.

I think it is oil pump seal.


Adam, i will ask my girl friend if she will drive me over, so i can make a picture

[jmborchers]

It's not likely:

Oil pump seal or camshaft seal because they are inside the timing cover.

Therefore it's likely:

Crank seal or head cover gasket.

Mine was the head cover gasket.

[Heat]

Originally Posted by jmborchers

...Mine was the head gasket seal.

Same here ('95 LE, about 175,000 miles, four cylinder).

It's not a bad leak, a few drops per day. The mechanic put in something that may cause the seal to swell up a little, hopefully stopping the leak. In the meantime I'm in the process of selling this car so I just dropped the price a little bit and I'll let the next owner decide on what to do (I'm letting people know about the leak of course). The leak isn't hitting any belts or hoses.

[73sport]

Even tho he said 'engine oil', check the power steering fluid. If well used it will be black but never feel or smell like engine oil. There's several connections that could leak and coat the right side with power sterring fluid.

Just don't jump to conclusions until you know. . .
~73Sport

Update:
95 V6 @ 206K ~ What a runner!