Camry 2006, I4: oil leak around the pan rim.

[atoyot6]

Hi,

I own this Camry for a few months now, bought used from the dealer. I noticed oil leak from the beginning, but me and my mechanics thought that it was a botched job of replacing the oil pan after someone trip the oil plug thread...

Anyways, the dealer, at first, patched up the rim with some silicon glue (black rubber like glue) with no improvement at all.
I, then, asked them to remove the pan completely and reseal the rim . Still, oil was leaking out. Then they replaced the oil pan with a brand new one, thing is now much better, but still a bit of oil can be felt leaking out with touch of finger.

I can touch above and around the rim so I'm pretty sure oil comes from the rim.

So, my question now is what is the cause for this problem and how to fix it. I'm thinking of a few:

1. Could it be the skill of the dealer's mechanics: I'm not sure if they follow the right procedure when apply the glue, let it cure for few hours before pushing my car out of the shop for the new one in... I wasn't impressed with the oil drain plug not tightened at all after they replaced the pan so that a pool of oil was dropped on my garage.

2. The oil leak seems to be in a particular area of the rim, could it be some bolts couldn't be tightened enough ?

3. Block engine problem ?

4. what else people can think of ?


Thanks for your thought.

Cheers,

[gdanaher]

Thoroughly clean the engine block above the pan so you can see if any oil is leaking down from a higher point.

[Asteroid]

Yeah also look at the timing cover, supposedly it's quite common on these engines (mine leaks). I'll be getting the timing cover, sump and cam cover re-sealed in future. Likewise the water pump leaks, I suspect it comes down to how well the engine was assembled in the first place?

[islandboy57]

Originally Posted by Asteroid

Yeah also look at the timing cover, supposedly it's quite common on these engines (mine leaks).

Really? I haven't heard about this being a common problem on the 2AZs. Everything is clean and dry when I change my oil..

[atoyot6]

Originally Posted by Asteroid

Yeah also look at the timing cover, supposedly it's quite common on these engines (mine leaks). I'll be getting the timing cover, sump and cam cover re-sealed in future. Likewise the water pump leaks, I suspect it comes down to how well the engine was assembled in the first place?

The dealer and I have removed the passenger side tire, cleaned and inspected the area above the pan's rim. No obvious trouble seen.

[gdanaher]

So, if you can say with absolute certainty that oil is not leaking above the pan, and that the only possible source of the leak is the seal between the block and the oil pan, and if the pan has been replaced, then drop the pan again and with a straight edge and a feeler gauge, check the flatness of both mating surfaces of the pan and the bottom of the block. A few thousands out of flat should not be critical because the sealant should take care of that, but certainly something is not flat there, or the threaded holes in the block are stripped out. Finally, evaluate the type of sealant being used here. Perhaps they are using a sealant that wasn't designed for the oil pan. Hard to imagine, but hen this is an odd problem.

[atoyot6]

Originally Posted by gdanaher

So, if you can say with absolute certainty that oil is not leaking above the pan, and that the only possible source of the leak is the seal between the block and the oil pan, and if the pan has been replaced, then drop the pan again and with a straight edge and a feeler gauge, check the flatness of both mating surfaces of the pan and the bottom of the block. A few thousands out of flat should not be critical because the sealant should take care of that, but certainly something is not flat there, or the threaded holes in the block are stripped out. Finally, evaluate the type of sealant being used here. Perhaps they are using a sealant that wasn't designed for the oil pan. Hard to imagine, but hen this is an odd problem.

Anybody know the torque for the pan bolts ? If it's stripped, how to prove it to the dealer without being finger-pointed ?

[njerald]

Originally Posted by atoyot6

Anybody know the torque for the pan bolts ? If it's stripped, how to prove it to the dealer without being finger-pointed ?

80 in/lbf or 6.7 ft/lbf.

Dealer should stand behind their work and fix it.