Oil Leak Mystery - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

peshwa · 12-26-2010, 11:10 PM

So I have been chasing an oil leak with oil dripping down on the subframe near passenger power steering boot. Every morning I find a puddle on my parking lot. Yesterday just after some spirited driving I had the same thing happen.

I am running Mobil 1 10W-30 High Mileage for past 3K miles now.
Resealed the valve cover last weekend.
Oil Pan does leak some but not much. Plan to reseal it in near future.

Some pictures from below the passenger side of the cylinder #3 and 4. There is considerable dirt grime around injectors #3 and especially #4. Could my injectors be leaking oil? You can see a part of the intake manifold coated in oil. What is the connecting wires on runners for #3 and #4 cylinders? Knock sensors?

***JohnGD*** · 12-27-2010, 01:00 AM

It's kinda hard to tell. Looks somewhat like a leak from the valve cover gasket area above the plenums. Maybe a telescoping mirror and a flashlight will help?

joede · 01-03-2011, 10:46 AM

First I would take the car to a do it yourself outdoor car wash and clean all the old oil off your engine. Clean it good, use engine cleaner on a hot engine first then blow it off with the power rinse.

Then I would run the car for a day or two and look for new oil leaking. You should be able to see the leak source on a clean engine.

However, if it is still not clear where the leak is coming from, then I would go to an auto parts store and pick up some ultra violet leak detection fluid / oil and put it in the oil (NAPA sells it).

Then run the car for a day. Then use an ultra violet light to locate the leak. When you shine the ultraviolet light on the oil that you can see, it will light up the oil since it has ultra violet fluid in it. Then just follow the lit up oil to the source of the leak.

If you do not have an ultraviolet light here is a site that details how to make one dirt cheap from a flash light (http://www.oocities.com/wwindmills/linkpge/makeuv.html).

That said, your leak looks to be from the valve cover gasket.

But as all good mechanics will tell you, instead of replacing parts you do not know for sure are bad, always, always diagnose first.....know for sure that a part is bad before you replace it.

Good luck. Let us know what you find.

carsrus · 01-03-2011, 04:01 PM

Oil pump seal. I had oil all over the same part of my car. There was a oil slick that extended way back along the subframe.

Just do cam,oil pump and crank seals and it'll stop leaking.

Unbolt the valve cover and unscrew the pass. side cam hump and the seal will take you 10 sec to remove. Secret trick no one knows about.

***fenixus*** · 01-03-2011, 04:59 PM

to me it also looks like a valve cover leak. I had almost same on intake runner at cylinder #1 and 2. even the back of it looked same slimy and my ground wires over there at cylinder #1 (not sure what you have at cylinder #3 intake runner) was very dirty, all covered with black burned oil.

as suggested above, clean it well first and try adding that UV crap to oil, get (or make) some UV light source and check after 2 days, you should have the answer ready.

peshwa · 01-20-2011, 10:44 PM

Update: I found out at least one major source of oil leakage on the passenger side subframe. OIL PAN SEAL. I guess oil is leaking in a small trickle and while driving gets spilled onto the subframe somehow. The RTV seal is almost broken at one spot thats right below the oil pump and above the subframe.
I wiped clean the oil pump area with a rag but didnt observe any spots. My distributor area is also leaking but thats another story altogether...

I plan to fix the oil pan leak first. Then we'll see...

***fenixus*** · 01-20-2011, 10:56 PM

ouch, oil pan leak is no real fun because of exhaust pipe coming in the way ... good luck peshwa!

bdy0003 · 01-20-2011, 11:03 PM

Delete.

bdy0003 · 01-24-2011, 01:02 PM

Any updates on your oil pan fix?

peshwa · 01-31-2011, 10:20 PM

Update: I got fed up with the ever increasing laundry list of items to fix with my sweetheart camry. I bought a used Mazda6 instead. At least I will have a reliable transportation to work.

Also I live in an apartment complex and its no fun working on your car in freezing temperatures. Was waiting for weather to get a little warmer.
Long story short: Oil pan resealing will happen this coming weekend. Pray for me....

***fenixus*** · 01-31-2011, 11:02 PM

sounds good

me too waiting on temps to get above freezing, so I can ultimately fix and (if necessary) diagnose brakes further and finally complete the long list of things to fix on V6... though it drives fine, just burns fuel like a Russian tank

***JohnGD*** · 01-31-2011, 11:36 PM

Check the pan and oil pickup tube for debris/obstruction. If you previously bought/used a crank seal kit (like Fel-Pro), you will have a pick-up tube gasket that you can use.

The rust on exhaust nuts/bolts would be the main problem getting to the pan. Good luck!

Quote:

Originally Posted by peshwa

Long story short: Oil pan resealing will happen this coming weekend. Pray for me....

peshwa · 02-06-2011, 11:54 PM

Quick Update: Looks like a power steering leak from the rack and pinion (ouch!!!!).
Details:For past 4 months or so a puddle of oil greets me every morning in my parking lot. I had (mis)diagnosed that to be engine oil. I degreased the area pretty good removed the passenger wheel and started the car on jack stands.
Even after 15 mins of engine revving no engine oil found anywhere. Then I crept under and saw the area around sway bar and control arm bolt (where it mounts to subframe) covered in oily grime. In a flash I recalled having topped up my power steering reservoir 3 weeks ago while changing my engine oil. That time I had decided to monitor power steering oil but I forgot. (Yeah I too am getting old

)

To confirm my doubts I asked my wife (yeah she helps me always) to turn the steering sideways while I watched from under. Very tiny drops gathered around sway bar bushing area. TN members Nervous's and Randy (73sport) nice DIYs danced before my eyes for a minute.
Since I am the "doubting thomas" that I am I pulled the passenger side rack boots and good amount of oil squired out. Is this normal? I dont think so but your input will certainly help.
Based on JohnGD's experience that lucas power steering stop leak helps slow down leaks I ran to walmart and got 2 bottles of that stuff. Next I siphoned out nearly 500 ml of power steering fluid and replaced with equal amount of lucas stop leak. Man that stuff is THICK I just hope it doesnt gum up my power steering.

Havent driven the car today but I really hope to avoid another expensive repair on this beloved sweetheart.

peshwa · 02-07-2011, 12:00 AM

Clarification: The oil pan leakage has slowed down a lot since I switched back to 10w30 HIgh Mileage Pennzoil. Last time I was running M1 10w-30 HM and all my seals were weeping a lot

So oil pan reseal is put off till it becomes really a HUGE problem. Right now I am loosing sleep over my power steering. Hope the stop leak does its magic. I already sank hundreds of dollars on suspension upgrade, brakes, transmission filter and tranny cooler on this car. All of the money spent was last year (2010). I havent even driven the car for that long

. It sucks big time...

***fenixus*** · 02-07-2011, 12:07 AM

glad you were able to slow down the leak from oil pan. well it's just a gasket ... only problem with replacing it is getting to it ...

give it a test drive tomorrow, so the p/s pump mixes the additive and check laters how it worked. I heard that Lucas PS stop leak really helps postponing any rack & pinion replacement jobs for a very long time...

keeping my fingers crossed for you man.