[livewire88]

Ok I have a 96 Toyota Camry LE that has 146,000 miles on it, 2.2L automatic. I bought the car a couple of weeks ago for a work car. It looked good under the hood all original except for road grime. Drove it about two days and developed a oil leak. I have tried to locate the leak with no success. I pressure washed the engine as much as possible to remove the grime and oil so I could discover the leak. This is whats weird. When I first got the car it was full of oil, not the cleanest, but not bad. I always change ASAP. As soon as it started leaking I checked it and it was a qt low. After 125 miles it was another qt low. I thought "oh crap" this is a bad leak. No smoke whatsoever while driving or on startup except when it gets on the exhaust pipe and gets into the car after it gets hot. Thats what keyed me in that I had a leak. I filled it up again and drove it 250 miles still full. Next morning checked it, still full, drove it to work (35 miles) checked it at end of shift 1 qt low (no big puddle on ground either just a small spot). Added a qt drove it 145 miles, sat overnite, checked it 1/2 qt. Filled it up Drove it about 3 days close to 300 miles before it needed some added (wasn't a whole qt but wife was not sure how much was in it, less than half. ???? Oil on bottom of car is from center of car all toward the tranny. Had it on the rack still could not find oil leak. Is this going to be a rear seal or oil pan. There was a little oil under the distributer but after washing took two days to seep back out to where you could feel it with fingers. Same on Valve cover. Oil pump seems to be fine but would seem to be the best bet with that much loss. Maybe crankcase pressure. seems to get better as I add clean oil. I'm changing the oil this weekend and I'm checking the PCV valve.

What Gives.

 

[XNavyflyer]

I have a '94 4 cyl that developed a oil leak that ended up being o-rings. My mechanic said that there is an integral oil cooler under where the filter screws on and the o-rings went bad on it's fittings. It was a quick and easy fix. It was leaking pretty bad too.

 

[livewire88]

Come to think of it those lines do run right by that area. I'll check it out. Maybe thats all it is.

 

[toyomoho]

Check for leaks with the engine running. Often an oil cooler or oil pump seal will only leak when the engine is running.

 

[livewire88]

Yea I thought about that, that's what i'm going to do next time i put it on the rack. With there being no oil on the timing end of the engine I figured it was not the oil pump. That is where it is located isn't it.

 

[livewire88]

Still leaking

Well I changed the oil and the tranny fluid. I ran some engine flush before I changed the oil and now it has gotten worse, still can't see where it is coming from. I think it is only leaking while going down the road with the RPMs up. There may be a little oil under the timing cover now I have to check that out. Cleaning out the gunk may have caused the oil pump to start leaking. Do they have a die to put in you oil that you can buy.

 

[xtremeskier97]

You dont need dye to put in oil...as you can SEE oil. Dye is put in things that cant be seen by the naked eye...like in your a/c system.

And yes..the oil pump is where the timing belt is.

There are several seals on the timing belt side of the engine that can leak. When was the last time your timing belt was changed?

 

[livewire88]

Well I work at Advance Auto Parts part-time and a couple of our commercial customers use the dye (we can't get it) for the oil because if you have oil all over the engine and the componets around it you can't even begin to see exactly where it is coming from. They said you put in the die turn on the uv light and start the engine and as soon as some dye seeps out into a visible area you can shut of the engine and follow the dye to the leak. That way you don't have a bunch of hours looking for the leak. My leak doesn't have any kind of spray. You can clean off the engine with degreaser real good and then run the engine for ten minutes and nothing. But you run to work and by the time you get to work it is already blowing on the exhaust and smelling in the car. I have two jobs so i'm having a hard time finding time to look for the leak more than maybe twenty minutes before dark. After you drive the car a couple hundred miles it will be on the front of the block near the starter. On top of the tranny and all over the tranny pan which blows back onto the exhaust. I was afraid it was the rear seal but the hole in the bottom of the bell housing does not drip. You can get under the car with the motor running and after a few minutes it will start dripping off of the pan but no obvious flow. And nothing out of the drain on the bell housing. could this be my head gasket.

 

[Kep]

OK, when it starts leaking you can tell that it is dripping onto the exhaust because it gets into the cabin. Can you stop the car, pop the hood, and see smoke still wafting up anywhere? I'm kind of with XNavyflyer. I'm not sure that I can see that much oil burning without a very large plume of smoke though. However, the exhaust and catalytic converter are right in that area. Plus, you didn't mention any problem when you checked out the car before you bought it and one of the first things that you did was to change the oil (and filter?) which may have aggravated the seals in that area.

From your description I do not get the feeling that the smoke is coming out of the exhaust pipe but that oil is burning on the exterior surface of the exhaust pipe (and hence smoking). Is that right?

Kep

 

[livewire88]

Yes that is correct it gets on the pipe when your driving down the road. It seems to just get enough on it where you can smell it at a stoplight or while sitting still. I have seen trails of smoke when I stop but by the time the you get out of the car it has dissapated. I think that it is just droplets flying back onto the pipe. You can see when your just sitting there the drops start forming on the tranny pan with very little on the engine its like the distributer gasket is leaking real bad while going down the road. I took off the Dis cap and its all dry on the inside. I think I'm going to Get a Distributer seal and valve cover and change them first. As for the filter change I bought the car and the engine was dry I had not yet changed the oil when it stated leaking. After I changed the oil and did an engine flush it has gotton worse. If you get under the car the oil is all up under the driver side of the car where it is blowing back, Its bound to be leaking more while driving. The top of the tranny, the front and back side also have oil on them so its bound to be coming from up top. I'm going to take the intake pipe off this weekend were I can see and I may go ahead and do the valve cover gasket too. There is no oil around the filter or cooler it is all around where the tranny bolts to the engine. Just drove it 414.7 miles had to add 1.5 qts during this time. Got 27 MPG though.

 

[jsroller]

it is your rear main seal on the eng, it is a common spot for them to go out, about 600-800 to fix eng has to come out.

 

[livewire88]

Wouldn't the drain hole in the bottom of the bell housing be dripping oil after shutting off the engine. I am thinking that is what it is to.

 

[jsroller]

i wouldnt say dripping but there should be some droplets hanging out there, i have the same problem, it really only leaks when the engine is running cause of the pressure behind the seal. then drops on to the exhaust pipe and burns i use about the same amount of oil as you, hope i helped.

 

[Kep]

My distributor seal deteriorated and there was oil on the top of the transmission but I don't recall any smoke. However, it is a pretty easy and cheap fix. Just remember which way your rotor was pointed when you took it off and put two marks on the body and engine so you can put it back right.

Kep