I would check out the crankcase ventilation devices first, then I would investigate the range of suitable oils for my climate before I would consider paying the quite large amount of money to get this fixed.
You will be wanting to consider replacing some parts if/when the timing cover comes off, adding to the financial hit.

What is your mileage?

What is your climate's lowest temperature?

Is your water pump perhaps due for replacement?

What oil grade are you using now?

No drip, no smoke, no problem.

 

Yeah I would definitely want to replace the other components like water pump and idlers while the engine was out. It's got 138k on it currently so not new but not destined for the scrapyard for a long while.

I was wondering if a thicker oil might help. It's Arizona so doesn't really get below 40 for any length of time even on the coldest days. My only concern is that a thicker oil would take longer to circulate on cold starts which could add additional unwanted wear. Using the recommended full synth 0-20 for the time being.

 

Outside of the warranty period, this is not worth repairing. Engine has to come out and it is an expensive job. It leaks where the head and timing cover meet. Our 07 seeped but has now sealed itself. Some folks have had success applying silicone sealant after cleaning up the area. Since there is no lose of performance, there is no much harm in this leak. Just monitor that it doesn’t get worse.

This leak has plagued 3.5 engines across all models, including the rear wheel drive 3rd gen Tacomas (2016+).

Look up video by Car Care dude. He takes apart the engine to show where it leaks. He also suggests it may not be worth fixing it.

 

Yeah I've seen this exact video lol. Normally I'd agree but with the way car pricing is atm, I want to make sure I take as good care of this one as possible. Provided it doesn't start dumping all over the driveway I'll proceed as things are. Oils not even low on the dipstick so can't be too bad at this point.

Getting flashbacks from the dried up 1UZ I used to own...

 

Ah yes, I forgot to mention that I went to a thicker oil as well. Book on 07 calls for 5/30 and I changed to 10/30. The seepage did reduce. I am in southern CA so no worries about cold weather here - it rarely goes under 45. This car is close to 300K and hardly seeps any oil now. I noticed the seep at about 60K and started using 10/30 at the next oil change. Engine burns about a quart every 2K but she still drives strong.

 

I maybe wrong but this looks to thick to be engine oil and it appears to be spinning off a shaft, not running down from above like and oil leak would be.
Are you sure this is not grease coming out of the constant velocity joint which I put the red X on?

 

Yeah I was initially hoping it was just that but unfortunately it is the timing cover. Been seeping for awhile so I knew it'd be an issue eventually.

 

While it’s possible the CV boot could be leaking as well, the timing cover is most certainly leaking. The oil line extends up and behind the PS pump where the CV can not reach. Mine looked the same, although not as messy cause I wiped it down every oil change. The oil coagulates from the engine heat. The oil runs down the block and also drips down from the power steering pump. I also had a thin line of oil on the under carriage that spun off the CV shaft.

 

This is a well known problem with 2GR engine family. These engines will leak oil from the timing chain cover - it's a question of "when", not "if".
It's a very expensive repair because it requires dropping the engine, transmission, steering rack and the entire front subframe. Unfortunately this is the only way to access the timing cover to put a new RTV gasket and align the cover. The cost ranges anywhere from $2400 to $4000 (dealer). Any mechanic that tells you that he can fix it for much less doesn't know what he's talking about and will likely make things worse.
It isn't a big leak, and aside from creating a mess, it doesn't have major consequences. You won't run out of oil. If the dirt doesn't bother you, you can keep driving until you graduate and get a well paid job.
This leak also happens from a very specific place - the point where the block, head and timing chain cover converge. See pic below.
Here is what you can try. Make sure that the engine is cool to the touch. If it is above 100-120 F you may have a fire, the products mentioned below are extremely flammable. Clean the area very well to remove all grease. You can use spray brake cleaner because it removes dirt and grease, dries quickly and doesn't leave residue. You can buy it at any auto parts store. It isn't expensive. Then, apply the product on the pic below to the place from which the oil is leaking. You don't need much. Just a couple of square inches is all you need. Let it dry for a few hours and apply a second layer. Let it sit overnight. With a little bit of luck it will reduce the leak to a sip, and while it may still leave stains on the engine block, it won't drip on the axles and make a huge mess.
The engine photo is my 2018 2GR-FKS in a Highlander. The 2GR-FE will look a bit different because of the VVT oil line, but both leak from exactly the same spot.
Hope this works. If you do it, let me know the result. I'm curious.

 

Well it certainly wouldn't hurt to try. Thanks for the informative suggestion. I'll give it a shot when I change the oil in the next 1k. Will update if it helps.

 

The oil seepage is its own problem. But that CV boot is decidedly slinging grease. It's just dumb luck that one leak lines up over the other. Look at the photos for context. Oil doesn't pile up like that and it wouldn't have spatter marks all over the cover if the place oil is being thrown from is inside the engine. Considering how light weight oils are these days, the engine would have to be cooking and coking up gear oil for that to even make sense at all. And for that matter, even if the engine was somehow able to spit out that much oil, impact lines and spatter marks would be on the firewall and subframe. The block would only have a stream or a leak trail from the originating point. You could try to argue oil is leaking onto the axle and the axle is slinging it back. The problem with that is the engine would literally have to be pissing oil. You'd have to be pretty low on oil by now due to a major PCV system fault and you'd probably be able to count on some wet crank seals or other leaks than just that one point of seepage. That CV boot would also have to be soaked with actual oil by now, too. If you regularly check your oil, your engine oil dipstick can probably back me up by showing you no oil lost since the last time you checked it.

An easy way to prove me wrong would be to have a UV dye put in the oil. Drive the car for a week or two and inspect the seam with a UV flashlight. I'd bank on minor, if any, evidence of new seepage where you originally noted the seepage. Another silly trick you could try is to clean all that grease thoroughly off the block and then wrap the interior boot seam up with tape. I'm not suggesting it as a fix. The point is to see the leak stop for a week or two of regular driving. Then cut the tape off and it should show you a big snotty line of grease underneath. Personally, I'd just replace that boot or the half shaft altogether & clean the grease off while you have the shaft out.

 

The oil seepage is its own problem. But that CV boot is decidedly slinging grease. It's just dumb luck that one leak lines up over the other. An easy way to prove me wrong would be to have a UV dye put in the oil. Drive the car for a week or two and inspect the seam with a UV flashlight. I'd bank on minor, if any, evidence of new seepage where you originally noted the seepage. Another silly trick you could try is to clean all that grease thoroughly off the block and then wrap the interior boot seam up with tape. I'm not suggesting it as a fix. The point is to see the leak stop for a week or two of regular driving. Then cut the tape off and it should show you a big snotty line of grease underneath. Personally, I'd just replace that boot or the half shaft altogether & clean the grease off while you have the shaft out.

You're half right I think. The substance on the block I have confirmed to be engine oil (smell, consistency). However, the leak is occurring where katekebo previously pointed out which just so happens to be directly on top of the axle. The oil is then getting flung all over the block making it look a lot worse than it is. The boot doesn't have any tears and the clamp is on solid so I highly doubt its an issue at least at this point in time.

 

You guys know this is an axle grease "leak", right? Have that band replaced.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

Nope it’s a very well known motor oil leak that can leak down on the axle boot. The boot could be leaking but the pictures indicate the infamous timing cover leak. Clean it up and use high mileage oil. It has an additive that makes seals swell snd at least slow down a leak.

 

On another note. Suzuki FSM does recommend trying epoxy on transmission, differential, and transfer case leaks after good cleaning with what else: brake cleaner.

 

Wow. is this thread sideways. That is CV grease from the boot.

 

I think contrary. Looks like curddy old oil to me. If his cv shaft lube is that color he's got some kind of "what da hell" issue.
You must be noticing the splatter drops of oil spinning off the axle/cv houseling and onto the the timing cover. I believe that is a result of oil dripping from the cover onto the axle. As a result centrifugal force flings the oil out appearing as if it originally came from the cv joint. Have you ever serviced a cv joint and looked a the color of of the lube?

 

I agree also that is axle boot grease is leaking and getting thrown around. It is pretty common and if left to long can cause axle shaft balance issues. As you can see it is coming from the end of the boot pass the band. Something with the boot rubber being harder over time, band loosening up just enough, and grease thinning out over time cause it to come out. Best of luck getting funds to get it repaired. Which ever you decide, but do the axle boot repair first, because if cover was leaking I would wait for funds first and then wait till it actually shows up on floor.

 

The person you bought the 2012 Camry from knew the engine was faulty and did not have any warranty or that it expired and time to dump it off to a Chump. Most likely the previous owner had basic minimal maintenance done and never really took good care of the Camry. Best to buy Certified Used or New, Before buying a Used car from a private seller, you should take the car to be inspected. Best to spend $30 to $50 rather than to get stuck with a Lemon. Never purchase an "AS IS" unless you are willing to invest lots of money. You have a 50/50 chance of getting a good vehicle and less odd of any "AS IS" lasting for more than 3 years. Buy a car with less than 80K miles and under 7 years old. Check out CarFax.
Full-Time Student and No Income for the last 2 years ... you must be living at home leeching off your parents. Time for you to get a part-time job of 20 to 25 hours per week! Contribute to expenses. Gasoline and Auto Insurance. You are a liability, financially insecure, and have no signs of being Independent. No employer will want to hire you. Oh! a college degree does not guarantee you a good wage or that you will be hired as soon as you finish college. Get yourself motivated and find a job today. Be ProActive in life, and you will do fine. Common Sense.

 

Full-Time Student and No Income for the last 2 years ... you must be living at home leeching off your parents. Time for you to get a part-time job of 20 to 25 hours per week! Contribute to expenses. Gasoline and Auto Insurance. You are a liability, financially insecure, and have no signs of being Independent. No employer will want to hire you. Oh! a college degree does not guarantee you a good wage or that you will be hired as soon as you finish college. Get yourself motivated and find a job today. Be ProActive in life, and you will do fine. Common Sense.

Ouch 😶

 

There is multiple opinions.
To find out if you have an oil leak I suggest you monitor your oil level on a weekly basis or more often.

You may have an oil leak somewhere as stated earlier, but I do not believe this is what caused the line of grease.

If you are not using oil, the line of lubricant was likely caused by grease from a leaking CV Joint seal which can be easily fixed if you replace the low cost clamp on the boot. You would want an clamp suitable for installing with the shaft in the car which many aftermarket dealers such as NAPA sell. If this is grease and all the grease leaks out as in the video, you will be replacing the entire joint which could cost over $500 depending on where you take it.

I have attached a video which shows the grease at the same location as yours 45 seconds into the video.

Good luck.

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If oil was landing on the CV Joint and being splattered on the engine, the CV joint would be soaked in oil which it is not.

Oil will wet (spread out) over the surface. Grease does not spread out over the surface. Grease comes in many colors.

The picture below what oil wetting to metal looks like.

There is no wetting shown below.

 

I've been aware of this issue with the 3.5L 2GRFE for awhile

I watched the car care nut video, and I was thinking because it’s such an expensive repair. I would just put some kind of a mat down and let it drip where I park the car.. but I believe the problem is it might end up on the hot exhaust pipe and make fumes.. so if you want to put the repair off as long as possible, buy some aluminum, flashing and rig a way to keep the oil off the exhaust pipe.

Also, I don’t know if anyone has tried this:
The repair is horribly expensive, and they know exactly where it leaks.
I wonder if there might be a way to load up some kind of sealant in a syringe, and inject it at those locations.

 

I've been aware of this issue with the 3.5L 2GRFE for awhile and noticed some small seepage on mine when I first purchased it over 2 years ago. I change the oil every 5k and check it each time. It's remained relatively constant but I was under the car today for different reasons and noticed it has gotten exponentially worse in the last 3k.

It's not quite dripping all over the ground yet but I was still wondering at what point has anyone else gotten this taken care of? I'm perfectly fine cleaning it off every now and again as long as it won't start dumping oil while I'm on the highway.

Given that this is an engine out kind of job (and full time student = $0 of income), definitely not something I'm going to even look into doing until it absolutely needs to be done.

(Also would appreciate good Toyota specialist recommendations in the Gilbert AZ area in preparation for the inevitable)

View attachment 419012
View attachment 419013 View attachment 419012 View attachment 419013

Go to Youtube and look for Car Care Nut who is a master Toyota mechanic and he has a video of this same job. Very interesting .

 

I really like listening to the Car Care Nut.

What makes the repair any less likely to eventually leak than the original factory seal?
If the repair can be done proplerly why is this still a problem on newer 2GR-FE Engines (or is it)?

 

It shouldn't be hard to wipe off some of the slung lube and inspect it, to see it it is oil or grease.

Totally looks like flinging grease to my eye, in the photo of this car's crankcase area.

Heavier grades of oil (up to 20W50 for temperatures 30F and above) will definitely slow any actual oil leak.
0W20 printing on oil caps is more of an EPA-mandate (since nearly all modern cars are EPA-certified using the very thinnest-permissable grade of oil).
5W30 is a better grade of oil for these cars, it has no lower temperature limit as shown in any market's manuals, and is actually the oil grade that this engine family was designed to use.

2GR-FE/FSE/FKS 3.5 V6 Engine - In-Depth Look at Design and Reliability

What is the 2GR-FE/FSE/FKS 3.5 V6 Engine? Is it good or bad? Read about Toyota 2GR-FE/FSE/FKS 3.5 V6 Engine design and features, its the most common problems and relaibility.

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The foreign-market owner's manual's oil charts tell the whole story with respect to suitable/optimal oil grades for this engine, used in different ranges of outdoor temperature.

The seal-swelling additives in "hi mileage" oils likely won't help much if at all with this type of leak that some here are saying is coming from "a metal cover joining using sealant".

 

There definitely seems to be a split opinion on whether its CV grease or engine oil. While I know for a fact that the engine is leaking since I've observed it prior, I'll concede that axle leaking may not be entirely out of the question. In the next couple weeks, I'll clean the area spotless and isolate the boot with tape or something so that whoever was right can have the opportunity to feel superior.

Regardless, massive thanks to everyone who offered suggestions! Being able to pool knowledge like this is incredibly useful.

 

You need to have that the inner boot kit done before dropping the engine, That is way too linear and looks exactly like my fiance's avalon with leaking inner boot. Those clamps can still be firm, but the grease looses viscosity and seeps out. If you have any mechanical knowledge, it can be done quite easily and multiple youtube videos of it including CCN.

 

You could wrap cloth medical tape around the stationary (engine side) of the CV joint boot clamp, wrapped in the direction of spinning and tacked down with weatherstripping adhesive or other strong glue so it won't unwind.
This will control the slinging for a bit, but will more importantly confirm that the end of the boot is leaking.

I looked at a Jeep Patriot yesterday with this sort of leak on the outer joint, slinging grease on the tire and rim and threatening to contaminate the brake rotor surface. You cannot count on these leaks having any particular color, I've seen grey and I've seen brown. It's a pretty thin grease in most cases, more so when it's hot.

 

So whether this particular case is the classic 2GRFE timing chain cover leak or not, I'd like to share a trick that worked well for me where, with 100% certainty, I had that problem.

The leak was bad enough to create a dirty, oily accumulation that was worsening around the timing chain cover area, but not so bad as to drip onto the garage floor where we parked each night.

The recommendation I got from our service advisor was to add one quart of Lucas Oil's "Engine Oil Stop Leak" to each oil change (and of course, delete a quart of the engine oil from the same.) That was about 60,000 miles ago. Since then the exterior of the engine has stayed clean and we continue to stay 100% drip-free. The additive contains some chemicals that cause the synthetic rubber seals exposed to oil to swell a little and thus stop leaking if the leak is relatively minor.

For me, I'm more than happy to stay with this regimen rather than spend the long coin to pull the engine and reseal the cover properly. HTH.

 

The leak is coming from the timing cover. Not the boot. The picture clearly shows the line of oil on an area of the axle that isn’t covered by the boot. The boot is bone dry and sealed off. Another thing you can do is use brake cleaner and a rag to thoroughly clean the oil off the water pump leak and apply high temperature gray silicone along the leaking area. Wait overnight for it to dry and the leak should stop. If it leaks again later just scrape it off and repeat. I think I’ll do that if mine starts leaking. I’ve stopped much worse leaks than that on some of the old cars I’ve had.

 

Thicker oil will help too, the engine can handle up to 40 weight oil according to owners manuals in other countries.

 

The dreaded timing cover leak is from the portion just next/below the the banjo bolt for the VVTI line (where the block/head/cover all contact). This grease extends all the way to the valve cover and all the way down to the pan, you can clearly see grease leaking from the boot in the pictures posted.

 

I stand corrected. RobbieOh is right. For some reason unknown to me, my phone only brought up one picture in the beginning. I looked again just now and it is very clear that the boot is leaking. I apologize for giving you the wrong information.