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Does the 5sfe (2.2 camry) oil pump GASKET leak?

20K views 42 replies 12 participants last post by  2unknown 
#1 ·
I gotta 5sfe... it leaks alot of oil under pressure...

I changed the oil pump seal, rotor (shaft), and spagetti gasket under the cover...

still leaking

the only other gasket is the 'big' gasket behind the oil pump housing where it meets the engine block...

this one:







I'm talkin' about the BIG gasket to the left in this image...

my question is: is THIS gasket known to leak on the 5sfe?


Just wanna get you guyses expereince before I dig into it [again] to change it out tomrrow...


Thanks!

--L
 
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#3 · (Edited)
There's a few things that can leak oil on that side like the crankshaft and camshaft seal and the oil pump also has a seal



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yeah I replaced all those..

cam seal, crank seal, oil shaft seal, oil cover gasket (spagetti)...

the ONLY thing I didnt replace was the BIG gasket between the oil bump body and the actual engine block...

I'm wondering if ANYONE has expereince with that gasket in particular leaking on them...???

thanks!
 
#5 ·
I have not seen the housing seal leak but it is of course possible. Wash the engine thoroughly then start the engine cold and watch closely otherwise you're just guessing.
 
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#6 ·
Naturally...

the problem is it happens in a sneaky area where a few gaskets/seals meet...

I dont think its the shaft seal on the oil pump
I dont think its the spagetti ring on the oil pump cover
its not the valve cover
only thing left is the oil pan gasket and the actual oil pump to block gasket...

again looking for anyone with expereince in this area (pump to actual engine block leak)
 
#7 ·
I guess the answer is most likely no from the lack of reponses. But if your oil pan is off and that part is wide open, I'd be inclined to replace it.

Remove the timing cover and see if you can find the source of leak that's under the cover. Was the oil pump rotor shaft pristine? If it has a groove worn into it, it'll leak like a sieve.
 
#8 ·
Oil pump shaft was REPLACED with a new one... the old on did have the groove in it...

again EVERY seal/gasket was replaced except the housing to engine block gasket....

it's a tricky one indeed....


but thats all thats left down there

and I dont keep the timing covers on at all so I can always see down in the timing belt area...
 
#9 ·
Well you are down to only a few possibilities. One, the seals/gaskets you replaced are leaking for whatever reason. Unlikely but possible. Two, the gasket you are suspecting is leaking, if so then it would definitely be a good time to also reseal the oil pan since you have to break the seal on the front part of the pan anyway.

IMO you should not run the engine long term without the timing covers.
 
#10 ·
maybe wipe the area clean and put a masking tape on top of the pump and pump housing. If the oil is from above, then it's easy to see. If it's from below, it'll probably soak and float the masking tape.

Also rule out semi-circular plugs and valve cover gasket area, including the camshaft front cap and where it joins the cylinder head. Dabs of RTV are needed around those areas as specified. Check the head gasket area too just in case.
 
#12 ·
I don't see why it couldn't leak from the big gasket.. I don't think it's very common, but surely possible.

Top end leaks will take awhile to start dripping. If it starts leaking as soon as you start it up, it's probably related to the oil pump. It takes several minutes of running for the head to fill up enough to start leaking from the valve cover gasket or the distributor plugs.
 
#13 ·
The oil pump to block gasket almost never needs to be replaced. Doesn't mean yours isn't bad, but it rarely is the culprit. Usually it's the oil pump o-ring or the oil pump shaft seal (or the cam or crank seals). Of course, changing the oil pump to block gasket would not hurt anything.
 
#14 ·
I would be 100% sure the new oil pump o-ring isn't leaking Remove right front wheel and crank pulley cover. Clean the corner of the oil pump that sticks out of the timing cover. Let engine run and watch. If that o-ring is leaking, a small bead of oil will become visible. I have had to replace them twice before.
 
#15 ·
I agree. Also, if it doesn't leak at idle, try increasing the RPMs to about 2500. My son's 1994 Camry 2.2 did not leak at idle, but when the RPMs were increased, you could then see the oil leaking out at the exact spot which Chuckoff described.
 
#16 ·
Thanks for the tips pals!

I droped the oil pan today, yanked off the old pump and replaced it with a brand new assembly... the whole thing... I reinstalled everything... pump, pan, timing belt, etc and am letting the RTV cure overnight before I fire her up and see if she still leaks oil...

the engine to block gasket was still intact, fyi, replaced with a new one though and smothered in RTV...
 
#19 ·
How hard is it to remove the oil pan? While doing my front struts today I noticed a few drips of oil in that area. I cleaned off the lower oil pump and started the engine and immediately a steady dripping started. It was on jack stands and if it had been this bad while level I definitely would have noticed it earlier. I took the upper timing belt cover off and the belt is dry and free of oil, so I'm thinking maybe it's my oil pan. I'm in the same boat as you in that I replace all the seals and and oil pump 0-ring a year ago.
 
#20 ·
Removing the oil pan is not that hard at all... the exhaust does NOT need to be removed at all...

Jack up the car high enough and remove the little bracket connecting the engine to the lower half of the manual transmission (3 14mm head bolts)...

then you have access to all the bolts on the pan, .. remove them all pry it off...
if the pan gets stuck on the drivers side, rotate the crank manually until it frees up...

at this point the pan wiggles out...careful not to bash the oil pick up...


I just got done putting the pan back on yesterday -- I had to do it TWICE because I missed a bolt while torqing stuff down... got a leak... had to take back off scrape and clean everything again, and re-do it...
 
#21 ·
UPDATE:


I replaced the entire oil pump assembly as a whole...
the oil pump to block gasket was metal and seemed to be in OK condition for 200k miles...
I replaced the oil oil pump with a new one that had a provision for a crankshaft position sensor even though my 95 doesnt have one -- it fit fine... I used right-stuff on all gaskets as well as the pan...

Thus far the monstorous and annying leak from the old oil pump has stopped..

there still a liiiittle bitty drip coming from what appears to be the manual transmission bellhousing 'weep hole' - so perhaps the 200k reair main seal is leaking a bit too...


for now I'd say this procedure fixed 95% of the leaks... meaning before I was at like 70% as far as holding oil, and now I'm at 95%...

why the 5sfe likes to spew oil will lilkley be a toyota engineering secret forever.. but it seems that re-sealing the pan, replcing the ENTIRE oil pump assembly, all the front gaskets and seals is prudent to get them to stop leaking oil to a somewhat managable level...


I fumbled around with the old oil pump, tring to reseal it, re-gasket it, new shaft seal, new shaft rotor... nothin worked...


I still suspect that the oil leaked from the pump to BLOCK gasket under pressure....


I took pics and video, but I don't want to bore anyone...
 
#24 ·
Good to hear most of it is gone. As far as the rear main seal leak, pull the motor oil dipstick when the engine is running, see if you have vacuum or pressure coming out of that dipstick tube. If pressure then that's part of your leaking problem.

Next is a high mileage oil and 5000 miles til the seal conditioners kick in.

there still a liiiittle bitty drip coming from what appears to be the manual transmission bellhousing 'weep hole' - so perhaps the 200k reair main seal is leaking a bit too...

for now I'd say this procedure fixed 95% of the leaks... meaning before I was at like 70% as far as holding oil, and now I'm at 95%...
 
#22 ·
After tearing things down and cleaning it well I found that my leak was coming from the o-ring gasket for the oil pump cover. I put a new one on this morning and the leak changed position. I took it apart and did it a second time and that fixed the problem. The old o-ring isn't even two years old, but it was hard and stiff. At least you weren't the only one battling an oil pump leak today. :)

I'm glad you got it taken care off. If you've got the photos, you could do a quick DIY.
 
#26 ·
Just to clarify, did you replace the oil pump to block gasket or did you leave it alone because you said it looked fine? Also, you said it was metal? Every replacement I have seen is not metal, but just the standard gasket material (kind of like a special waxy paper). Even the Aisin oil pump to block gasket is not metal (or at least it doesn't look like metal). Glad you got it under control. Yeah, the rear main seal leaks on all my Toyotas with high mileage (three Camrys and a Corolla, but not my pickup). I'm just letting them drip until I can get around to fixing them.
 
#27 ·
I replaced the oil pump to engine block gasket with another metal one and coated each side of the metal gasket with TheRightStuff gasket maker...

The pump to block gaskets come in either paper or metal...

the gasket looked like this:










again the leaks are about 95% fixed...



not a 100%... but then again..that wouldn't be living in reality now would it....
 
#33 ·
UPDATE #II


As promised.......here is a VIDEO of the OIL pump replacement process on the 95 Camry 2.2 5sfe engine... it also covers the timing belt replacement procedure as well...

the goal was to stop a pesky oil leak that could not be replaced by simply replacing the oil pump shaft, oring, pump shaft seal, and crank seal....

the whole pump needed to be replaced and the pump to block gasket needed replacing as well...






Failure is success -- the FIRST time I dropped the oilpan..cleaned everything up... resealed with gasket maker, put the pan back on..let it sit overnight to dry.. filled it up with oil the next morning and disvoered I FOR GOT TO TIGHTEN ONE OF THE OIL PAN BOLTS resulting in an instant leak!

DOH!

Had to drop the pan and REPEAT the process aaaaaaaaaaallll over again...



second time..


SUCCESS


leaks have stopped by 95%-97%.... before it spit oil and was at around 25%....


Enjoy




 
#38 · (Edited)
Noted that there are two different oil pump gasket types for engines with or without crank sensors, but I'm not sure which part number is which? I have a 1999 Camry 5sfe. Does my car have a crank sensor?

I ordered Toyota P/N 15197-74040. What is the other part number for the other gasket type? Which one has the sensor port, which without?
 
#39 ·
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#42 ·
Nope. All I know is what I’ve learned hanging around here forever. Here’s a couple of DIYs for the job...


 
#43 ·
No, I haven't experienced any leaks from that gasket between the pump house and engine block. I changed the entire pump/housing for peace of mind during an engine refresh.

Here is an additional DIY post for the 98-01 Camry 5SFE regarding changing out those gaskets and seals. It starts about half way down.

 
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