Ok, on this '90 T we bought, it seems to be a mess underneith. Oily mess. Leaks are engine oil. Above the oil pan. I think they're coming from the timing belt job seals... cam seals, oil drive seal, and crank seal. Is there anything else I should know about oil leaks on this thing? I changed the plugs today and found a bit of oil in the "valley" where the plugs go. is that normal? The previous owner said he had the valve cover gaskets done recently and I found receipts for it. So I hope it was left overs from them leaking. the Oil looked pretty nasty and the engine oil is currently new and fresh looking. So.. I dont know. I degreased what I could today. Gonna do the timing belt job tonigt with all the Toyota seals, see what that does. am I on track or out in left field?
Oil leaks... eeek!
- Thread starter Supra5MGTE
- Start date
You're on track for sure. There really aren't that many places that these cars leak oil, and if you replace a whackload of seals, chances are it'll stop.
Valve cover seals, cam seals, oil pump driveshaft seal, front and rear main seal, seals on the turbo lines, and replace the hoses to your oil cooler.
The oilpan might leak, but fixing that is a wait until you pull the engine job... and there are a couple seals between the engine block proper and the timing belt cover, but those rarely leak.
Valve cover seals, cam seals, oil pump driveshaft seal, front and rear main seal, seals on the turbo lines, and replace the hoses to your oil cooler.
The oilpan might leak, but fixing that is a wait until you pull the engine job... and there are a couple seals between the engine block proper and the timing belt cover, but those rarely leak.
i just replaced cam seals yesterday, i could see oil running down the back side of the metal plate behind the cam gears once i took it off. fixed the leak so now i get to do the timing belt again soon.
Looks like the oil cooler lines are leaking. what kind of hose do I replace it with? Dealership or aftermarket 3/8" Fuel injection hose?
I replaced mine with aftermarket - just took a sample into my local Lordco (parts store) and told them it's for the oil cooler. They hooked me up, only cost a couple bucks.
Thats the thing with these cars,if you get someone else's problem,you'll spend alot and a long time replacing everthing that the other guy didd'nt! Goota replace everything that looks questionable. Gunk engine cleaner and Simple Green are your friend
Ok, I'll just use some Power Steering hose then. It's high PSI rated and good for Oil and put some good SS clamps on the ends. I already de-greased it pretty good. There was oil/gunk behind the timing belt and accumulating at the bottom of the lower timing belt cover. It's just gonna be a period of replacing odds & ends that need done, like oil cooler hoses, Timing belt etc. I got a good start I think. Can't do much work on it until next week so we'll see what kind of progress we made on the leaks. thanks for the help guys.
Just a plain old oil rated single wall hose is more than enough for the cooler circuit as it's burst is 150+psi is nice and flexible and a damn sight cheaper than PS hose.
The last time I blew a head gasket it blew externally and was shooting oil all over the down pipe via the back of the trans as it was leaking from the back of the head through the head gasket. They tell me it's kinda rare but not totally uncommon. I had no internal leaks just that oil squirting out of the back of the head where it bolts to the block. Good luck
:cry: I just finish replacing my bearing and one connecting rod cause it spun the bearings real bad,but now i am noticing an oil leak from the front of the engine in the timing cover area?i changed crank shaft,oil pump,cam shaft and cam shaft cover seals and it still leaks the only thing left is the o-ring for the pick up coil.it really leaks bad while im idling to the point were when i wait at a light i will see a couple drops of oil.please help jack frost is already here and i dont have a garage:aigo:
suprabad said:
Uh oh... I'll bet you didn't change the block to timing cover seals while you were in there... 
Only way to track it down is to tear apart the front again, I'm afraid. If it's the block to timing cover seals, your timing belt itself will still be dry - if it's one of the seals you already replaced, the timing belt area will be contaminated.
Only way to track it down is to tear apart the front again, I'm afraid. If it's the block to timing cover seals, your timing belt itself will still be dry - if it's one of the seals you already replaced, the timing belt area will be contaminated.
Have you looked around where the head seals against the block?... especially at the back of the engine...I think I'd try to eliminate that possibility first. Because if you're leaking there, its teardown time, no need to go any further.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
Ok guys,this is what i did yesterday.I sprayed the front clean with carb spray and let it run until i started to see the oil and this is were i pin pointed it to be comming from,I have my top half of my timing cover off were i can see the cam gears and the oil is comming from the area were the head meets the block and leaking mostly in the bottom half of the timing cover area,I better tell you guys the truth,I kinda ran out of money half-way threw the build and i was forced to make a choice to use back the head gasket and it looks like i might be paying for this bad choice.Its 7am and i am going and check everything you guys told me to check and hope i dont have to tear down AGAIN!.I will let you know the deal by tonight.
uh oh. well our oil leaks aren't bad, compared to at 1st when we got the car. right now we got 1 spot hitting the ground overnight. and she's not low on Oil like it was at first.
its either the hg or the cam seals, that cam backing plate made me think mine was a HG leak too... but once i took it off it was the cam seal...
:3d_frown: Well i checked the back of the head and the cam cover and it is dry back there,the dam hg is leaking from wright in the front of the block.its going to be good weather for most of the week so i WILL be tearing down the head and put a stock hg to get me through the winter and next summer i will be stepping up the pistons and related parts for the bottomm to handle at lease 700hp.:cry: :icon_evil :biglaugh:
was under the car today to clean out the IC and change the Diff fluid. First off the leaks are really under control. Very dry under there now... making me happy. Yes the IC had some oil in it... flushed it with gas a ton of times. Wasn't as much as I thought would be though. So got that done, then drained the Diff... mother of god. nastiest diff fluid ever. no wonder it was making noises when it had to differentiate. Put some 80W-90 Wal-mart gear lube to flush it out. Also noticed the Driver side CV seal is leaking on the side of the diff. So I'll drive it around for a few hundred miles and then replace both diff seals and pour in som Redline Gear lube like I have in my 4runner. Should I replace the Pinion seal while i'm there? It has no signs of leaking.
Sounds suspiciously like someone milled the block and DIDN"T mill the timing belt cover at the same time.Grenadian7mgte said: