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What part are these that are leaking?

965 views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  romtom7456  
#1 ·
I'm looking at buying a used 2nd gen Highlander. With the age of this generation, there's always going to be one issue or another. I want to know what issues are easy to fix and what to avoid.

When I looked at one (2012 limited) the other day, I noticed leaking fluid behind the passenger and driver side wheel well. I'd like help identifying exactly what is leaking and if they are expensive to fix.

Below is the image when looking behind the front passenger side wheel. In the red box fluid can be seen. It doesn't look like oil. Maybe it's coolant. Is that the waterpump? If not, what is it? Does it require the whole engine to come out to fix it?

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The second image below is from behind the front driver side wheel. That looks like oil in the red box. I watched a YouTube video from the Car Care Nut. I think he mentioned that this is the transmission. Is that correct? If it is, he mentioned that it's not a big deal since this side isn't under high pressure. Is that correct or would this be something that would need fixing immediately?

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Thank you all in advance to help me understand if these issues are serious or minor.
 

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#5 ·
The first pic is almost certainly the timing chain cover leak. Very common, and very expensive to repair as it is an engine-out job. Unlikely to be the banjo bolt.

 
#6 ·
Mine looks very similar at 175k. The timing cover leak is common and a little over 1k to fix, and is reported to return 10-16 months later. Use is as a bargaining chip, I would be more concerned with the amount of rust on the bolts. 2nd gen are great, majority of issues from 1st gen were resolved.