[Bean brain]

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?

 

[AvalonMark]

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

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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.

 

[startrekengineer2012]

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.

 

[Hacker_man]

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 😶

 

[AvalonMark]

Ouch 😶

I totally agree. Why lecture someone about life with no way of knowing the whole story. Uncalled for.

 

[katekebo]

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?

Yes, it's a super common problem in all Toyotas with 2GR engine - V6 Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Lexus RX, etc. Most people in Camry forum don't know about because they have 4-cyl engine.

 

[dcm0123]

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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www.amazon.com

 

[czcorona]

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.

Sorry bud, but if I sold this as an oil leak I would have a pissed customer. Put a new clamp on that boot. Classic grease leak.

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[Bean brain]

Sorry bud, but if I sold this as an oil leak I would have a pissed customer. Put a new clamp on that boot. Classic grease leak.

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Its your Video the cv grease slung about is thick and GREY as cv lube should. NOT brown and thin as is the original posters oil leak which, once again for the stubborn, has been spattered back up thus the small drops of liquid oil as opposed to big chunky grey grease.
When have you ever seen thin brown cv joint packing? Even my 50s VWs and 60s Saabs had grey lube for cv packing.
czcorona are you color blind? Or just blinded by your stubbornness?

And a big ps:
l'am diffently not your "bud" so I'll ask you to please not address me as such

 

[dcm0123]

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.

 

[czcorona]

Its your Video the cv grease slung about is thick and GREY as cv lube should. NOT brown and thin as is the original posters oil leak which, once again for the stubborn, has been spattered back up thus the small drops of liquid oil as opposed to big chunky grey grease.
When have you ever seen thin brown cv joint packing? Even my 50s VWs and 60s Saabs had grey lube for cv packing.
czcorona are you color blind? Or just blinded by your stubbornness?

And a big ps:
l'am diffently not your "bud" so I'll ask you to please not address me as such

Instead of getting angry and insulting people, why don't you listen to a pro wrench (T-Ten schooled too) who did this on a daily basis? You just might learn something. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.

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[qrumcar]

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.

 

[Davey 182006]

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 .

 

[Hacker_man]

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)?

 

[dddd]

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.

www.motorreviewer.com

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".

 

[AleksLZCR]

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.

This may be true in many cases, but certainly not in mine. The car had extensive service history with regular oil changes and maintenance at the dealer. I'm no professional mechanic, but I have had enough experience to recognize a clunker and this was far from that. Burns zero oil, shifts flawlessly, engine is quiet on startup, some cosmetic defects and poorly repaired body damage but otherwise mechanically solid. The oil leak I'm dealing with is a common issue with all 2GR's, maintained or not.

I would agree that a PPI is usually well worth the money for those who are not automotively literate, but not all of us have the budget to restrict ourselves to 80k and 7 years, especially in this market. Aside from an alternator and general maintenance, I've had to do nothing to this car in the 2.5 years I've owned it; I would assert that maintenance history is far more important than age or mileage.

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.

Not sure where this came from lol. Guess my upcoming very well paying internship was just a coincidence? A college degree is worth exactly as much as you put into it which is why I elected to spend my time maximizing its potential rather than work that will be irrelevant to potential employers in my field.

 

[AleksLZCR]

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.

 

[Hacker_man]

Not sure where this came from lol. Guess my upcoming very well paying internship was just a coincidence? A college degree is worth exactly as much as you put into it which is why I elected to spend my time maximizing its potential rather than work that will be irrelevant to potential employers in my field.

It came from a troll. Keep doing what you're doing it's great.

 

[dddd]

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?

AKA, "grease".

Got some normal oil seepage, and a CV joint grease leak that needs attention.

The oil seepage has not become much of a problem at all, no dripping and no smoking. Even my 4-cylinder 2ARFE has a bit of oil seepage and it's no problem. One single drop of oil will "wick" along any porous, textured or dusty surface and look like a huge damp spot. But if the rate of seepage is very small, this never becomes more of a problem than your mechanic possibly getting his gloves dirty.

Grease by itself (aided greatly by heat) will leave an ever-growing oil-wicking spot, since it has lots of oil in it. So fixing the CV joint leak and then cleaning off the grease thoroughly are THE first two steps toward a more "quantitative" final diagnosis.

 

[RobbieOh]

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.