Another 3vze mystery leak
12-20-2013, 09:09 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Another 3vze mystery leak
Hello all, please bare with me it's my first post 
Recently purchased my 95 4runner 3.0 3vze.
The only issue the seller said it had was a leaking oil pan gasket which I thought no problem, ez fix.
After driving it home and parking I see a massive amount of oil puddled below on the ground. Everything from the oil pan to the rear end was soaked. Cleaned all oil off and traced the leak to the main seal. I pulled the front off and changed the main seal, oil pump, and oil pan gasket. After test drive I look under truck and the oil problem is still there. I have oil covering everything again.
The leak only appears to be major when driving. I sat underneath looking for a drip with the truck idling for 20 min and no luck. The source (wet spot) is up behind the AC compressor. Could it be the R corner of the valve cover? When changing out the main seal I did not see any leakage on the cam seal and the valve cover from what I can looks dry. No white smoke, no oil in coolant, and the oil is not milky so I don't suspect a head problem. The previous owner said he recently put new valve cover gaskets and head gaskets in.
Has anyone ever had this issue, any suggestions?
Recently purchased my 95 4runner 3.0 3vze.
The only issue the seller said it had was a leaking oil pan gasket which I thought no problem, ez fix.
After driving it home and parking I see a massive amount of oil puddled below on the ground. Everything from the oil pan to the rear end was soaked. Cleaned all oil off and traced the leak to the main seal. I pulled the front off and changed the main seal, oil pump, and oil pan gasket. After test drive I look under truck and the oil problem is still there. I have oil covering everything again.
The leak only appears to be major when driving. I sat underneath looking for a drip with the truck idling for 20 min and no luck. The source (wet spot) is up behind the AC compressor. Could it be the R corner of the valve cover? When changing out the main seal I did not see any leakage on the cam seal and the valve cover from what I can looks dry. No white smoke, no oil in coolant, and the oil is not milky so I don't suspect a head problem. The previous owner said he recently put new valve cover gaskets and head gaskets in.
Has anyone ever had this issue, any suggestions?
12-21-2013, 07:26 AM
#4
Registered User
Welcome to the forums.
People tend to over-tighten valve covers, the 3.0 are plastic and I've seen more than one engine with cracked valve covers from that. Also the fsm recommends fipg at the corners, and only torque to specs, 4-5 ft lbs, no more. I've stuck cardboard under my truck to see if I can find where it's coming from, and I wouldn't rule out what fdj says, the pressure side of the ps pumps can leak at the fittings and pump out a lot of oil. It should be red but when I changed my oil last week I check my ps fluid and it was dirty so it could look like engine oil too.
People tend to over-tighten valve covers, the 3.0 are plastic and I've seen more than one engine with cracked valve covers from that. Also the fsm recommends fipg at the corners, and only torque to specs, 4-5 ft lbs, no more. I've stuck cardboard under my truck to see if I can find where it's coming from, and I wouldn't rule out what fdj says, the pressure side of the ps pumps can leak at the fittings and pump out a lot of oil. It should be red but when I changed my oil last week I check my ps fluid and it was dirty so it could look like engine oil too.
12-21-2013, 07:50 AM
#5
Registered User
Thread Starter
12-21-2013, 07:51 AM
#6
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Thread Starter
12-21-2013, 07:55 AM
#7
Registered User
Thread Starter
Welcome to the forums.
People tend to over-tighten valve covers, the 3.0 are plastic and I've seen more than one engine with cracked valve covers from that. Also the fsm recommends fipg at the corners, and only torque to specs, 4-5 ft lbs, no more. I've stuck cardboard under my truck to see if I can find where it's coming from, and I wouldn't rule out what fdj says, the pressure side of the ps pumps can leak at the fittings and pump out a lot of oil. It should be red but when I changed my oil last week I check my ps fluid and it was dirty so it could look like engine oil too.
People tend to over-tighten valve covers, the 3.0 are plastic and I've seen more than one engine with cracked valve covers from that. Also the fsm recommends fipg at the corners, and only torque to specs, 4-5 ft lbs, no more. I've stuck cardboard under my truck to see if I can find where it's coming from, and I wouldn't rule out what fdj says, the pressure side of the ps pumps can leak at the fittings and pump out a lot of oil. It should be red but when I changed my oil last week I check my ps fluid and it was dirty so it could look like engine oil too.
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12-21-2013, 08:19 PM
#8
Registered User
Thread Starter
Hello all, please bare with me it's my first post
Recently purchased my 95 4runner 3.0 3vze.
The only issue the seller said it had was a leaking oil pan gasket which I thought no problem, ez fix.
After driving it home and parking I see a massive amount of oil puddled below on the ground. Everything from the oil pan to the rear end was soaked. Cleaned all oil off and traced the leak to the main seal. I pulled the front off and changed the main seal, oil pump, and oil pan gasket. After test drive I look under truck and the oil problem is still there. I have oil covering everything again.
The leak only appears to be major when driving. I sat underneath looking for a drip with the truck idling for 20 min and no luck. The source (wet spot) is up behind the AC compressor. Could it be the R corner of the valve cover? When changing out the main seal I did not see any leakage on the cam seal and the valve cover from what I can looks dry. No white smoke, no oil in coolant, and the oil is not milky so I don't suspect a head problem. The previous owner said he recently put new valve cover gaskets and head gaskets in.
Has anyone ever had this issue, any suggestions?
Recently purchased my 95 4runner 3.0 3vze.
The only issue the seller said it had was a leaking oil pan gasket which I thought no problem, ez fix.
After driving it home and parking I see a massive amount of oil puddled below on the ground. Everything from the oil pan to the rear end was soaked. Cleaned all oil off and traced the leak to the main seal. I pulled the front off and changed the main seal, oil pump, and oil pan gasket. After test drive I look under truck and the oil problem is still there. I have oil covering everything again.
The leak only appears to be major when driving. I sat underneath looking for a drip with the truck idling for 20 min and no luck. The source (wet spot) is up behind the AC compressor. Could it be the R corner of the valve cover? When changing out the main seal I did not see any leakage on the cam seal and the valve cover from what I can looks dry. No white smoke, no oil in coolant, and the oil is not milky so I don't suspect a head problem. The previous owner said he recently put new valve cover gaskets and head gaskets in.
Has anyone ever had this issue, any suggestions?
Have any of you experienced bad luck with head gaskets from there? Going to get a Toyota gasket from the dealer and hopefully that takes care of it.
This a was my first big job on an import(god bless!)
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