94 camry(4 cyl) engine oil leak - How much it costs

[Ramakrishna Devisetti]

Hi,

I changed engine oil two weeks ago and my engine oil light is blinking when
I am applying breaks.

I checked the oil level and found that it is almost emptied.

I fill the oil again with 3 qts. I found the engine oil leaking on parking
lot.

I checked around with touching oil pan with hand (not visual inspection)..
drain plug - No oil stain / wet
Engine filter - No sign of leaks
Around the oil pan - Good leak on left corner of oil pan. All other
corners I see the sludge..

1. Is it Oil pan gasket leak ??
Is this Do-it-your-self type ??
Any web pointer showing the steps/pictures..

2. How much it might cost for repair (labor & parts)

Appreciate your help in this regard.

Regards,
Rama

[Daniel]

Post by Ramakrishna Devisetti
Around the oil pan - Good leak on left corner of oil pan. All other
corners I see the sludge..
1. Is it Oil pan gasket leak ??

===
I don't know what you would pay for this repair. If you do your own it
is around $12 for the Toyota form in place gasket material used to
seal the oil pan, however you do have to remove the "center" exhaust
pipe to gain access. I would recommend replacing the exhaust gaskets
and fasteners.
If you haven't changed them yet, it is also likely you're getting
leaks from the timing belt area.
When I changed the timing belt at 120,000 I found most every gasket
material hardened and embrittled so I changed the oil pump seals,
valve cover gasket, PCV valve and grommet, distributor O ring,
crankshaft and cam shaft seals along with the oil pan seal. As it
happened a prior mechanic had stripped two transmission pan bolts, so
I wound up replacing the transmission gasket also.
Now the car is completely leak free -- not one drop anywhere.
Not long ago I also changed the oil pressure sending unit as some
seepage was developing.
It is a really bad idea to allow the engine oil to run three quarts
low until the low oil pressure warning light comes on. At that point
you have insufficient oil pressure to properly protect the moving
parts inside your engine.
Labor tends to be the more costly aspect of repairs. Most of these
parts are relatively inexpensive.

[o***@hotmail.com]

Did you change the little gasket on the Drain plug?
Bg

[v***@hotmail.com]

Post by o***@hotmail.com
Did you change the little gasket on the Drain plug?
Bg

Hi All,
Maybe able to offer some advice here.
I presume we are discussing a 3sfe or 5 sfe engine type?
unless you have cleaned down the engine and test driven it to enable
an accurate visual inspection,you are completley wasting your time. I
would suspect that the oil leak you describe will be the oil pump to
block seal ,this is a VERY common fault in both of these engines.It is
also nessasary at this stage of strip down to replace the front crank
seal and the oil pump shaft seal.
As you at this stage will have the timing belt removed ,it would be
lunacy not to also replace this.As in any timing belt replacement,
the idler and adjuster pulleys should ALWAYS be replaced.
Leaking sump(oil pan ) is very rare, however leaking rocker cover and
cam seal very common.This is a rubber gasket and a lot of people fail
to use a sealant ,using 3bond or similar is the only way......
Distributor o ring is common but on replacing this you will need to
reset the vehicles base timing, as the disributor must be removed.
In the very unlikley event the sump is leaking use a 1/4 drive soket
and rachet to first ensure all bolts are tight,BE VERY CAREFUL these
are untempered machine bolts and break very easily.We are constantly
removing same for "home mechanics".The sump gasket replacement if
required is not difficult in a well equiped workshop , and with good
trade skills but................
Hope this helps,

kind regards,

Dave Strachan ,AIAME,Toyota master tech Australia
***@hotmail.com

[Daniel]

***@hotmail.com wrote:
I

Post by v***@hotmail.com
would suspect that the oil leak you describe will be the oil pump to
block seal ,this is a VERY common fault in both of these engines

==
Thanks for providing such a thorough description, and appreciate the
suggestion about always changing the idlers.
Had been doing all these items already, but didn't realize the pump to
block seal leakage was common.

[Ramakrishna Devisetti]

Hi,

I gave my car for AAA approved mechanic.

First they looked the signs of Valve cover leaking and replaced Valve cover
($180)..
Problem didn't go away.

Now they open the bottom part and changing the seals and gasket Dave
Strachan mentioned.
Seems they are learning this new things too because they are finding leaks
even after replacements.

Some how during timing belt, water pump change, mechanic didn't check/change
the seals/gaskets etc..
Roughly estimating another $500..

I am not sure whether its worth spending $700 for $3500 value car..

But going ahead and getting the work done..

Post by v***@hotmail.com

Post by o***@hotmail.com
Did you change the little gasket on the Drain plug?
Bg

Hi All,
Maybe able to offer some advice here.
I presume we are discussing a 3sfe or 5 sfe engine type?
unless you have cleaned down the engine and test driven it to enable
an accurate visual inspection,you are completley wasting your time. I
would suspect that the oil leak you describe will be the oil pump to
block seal ,this is a VERY common fault in both of these engines.It is
also nessasary at this stage of strip down to replace the front crank
seal and the oil pump shaft seal.
As you at this stage will have the timing belt removed ,it would be
lunacy not to also replace this.As in any timing belt replacement,
the idler and adjuster pulleys should ALWAYS be replaced.
Leaking sump(oil pan ) is very rare, however leaking rocker cover and
cam seal very common.This is a rubber gasket and a lot of people fail
to use a sealant ,using 3bond or similar is the only way......
Distributor o ring is common but on replacing this you will need to
reset the vehicles base timing, as the disributor must be removed.
In the very unlikley event the sump is leaking use a 1/4 drive soket
and rachet to first ensure all bolts are tight,BE VERY CAREFUL these
are untempered machine bolts and break very easily.We are constantly
removing same for "home mechanics".The sump gasket replacement if
required is not difficult in a well equiped workshop , and with good
trade skills but................
Hope this helps,
kind regards,
Dave Strachan ,AIAME,Toyota master tech Australia