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While cleaning throttle body, found burnt residue on top of this
Not sure what it is but I think it may be related to this problem of oil leaking into a puddle on top of my transmission. I still have not been able to locate the source of the oil leak. Valve cover gasket had been replaced a couple months ago. I know this is not left over oil residue from the valve cover gasket leak because I cleaned this area twice and oil still finds it's way there. Can someone point me in the right direction of what I need to check or fix?
I was cleaning my throttle body so I took some pictures while the intake was removed. I smell sulfur when driving on long stretches of road. Could this be related to that smell? It doesn't smell burnt, just sulfurish. And no, it's not my battery that's causing the smell because it's brand new and the cat should be okay because if it weren't the CEL should come on, I think. So please, anyone?
The sulfur smell could simply be the sulfur content of the gasoline you are using. Try a different brand for the next couple of tanks to see if it goes away.
I'm not as worried about the sulfur smell compared to the oil leak. I wish to find the source before it gets any worse. I brought it to the dealership today and they said it is not the distributor o-ring. They sprayed some white sticky stuff everywhere around that area and checked for leaks. Nothing. Apparently, they left the car idle for about half an hour. I believe the car has to actually be driven for oil to leak over time. So in conclusion, they said no oil leaks. You know I'm not going back to that dealership.
I'm not familiar enough with the 5S-FE engine bay to give you a definite answer, but my speculation is that your crankcase breather hose may be the source of that oil.
I thought someone mentioned before that gen 4's didn't have distributors? Well I certainly don't see it or I'm probably blind. I looked at it some more today and seemed as if the oil dripped down starting from the 1st picture and made its way down to the 2nd picture. Could it be possible that the head gasket is leaking on the side? I don't see any oil above where the cylinder head mates with the bottom part (crankcase?). Seems like it's coming from the head gasket area since there really isn't anything else that would leak oil there. I still haven't found where the crankcase breather hose is.
Just looked at a diagram in the Haynes, was wondering could it be the crankshaft rear oil seal? I hope it is not...
Last edited by 97&02camryleI4; 03-23-2005 at 04:37 PM.
Okay the crankcase breather hose is fine. There's nothing dripping out from that.
I'm going to make sure there's no oil on the bottom of the tranny where it mates to the block. So the possible point of leakage as of now is only the distributor o-ring? I didn't know I had a distributor and I can't find it in my Haynes. Can someone describe its location? I see where the spark plug wires end up in the coils. I see the numbers 1, 4, 2, 3 on the side of the coils. The leak seems to be around there.
I'm not going to take the dealer's word that the o-ring is okay because they might not have even checked it, since it was a "complimentary inspection".
Does anyone know if this is the oil sending unit? Could that be leaking? That thing looks soaked.
Last edited by 97&02camryleI4; 03-23-2005 at 08:50 PM.
Your ignition is indeed distributorless. The thing in the red box is your vehicle speed sensor. It could be leaking from the tranny around that, but then you'd have ATF on your tranny instead of oil, and it would be red.
97&02camryleI4,
I have exactly the same problem. There is always oil on top of trans and it burns when the trans gets hot. I suspect my problem is valve cover gasket. I plan to replace the gasket in a couple of weeks. I'll see....
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