xafinac

What a great forum I've found here! Not sure if I would have bought my 4Runner w/3vze if I would have known all the issues though...

Bought 4Runner 4x4 2 days ago for $2500. Very very clean (body and interior) with 172,000 miles on it. Major oil leak on right side of engine, can't track down. Get this... checked auto transmission fluid and it "appears" to be so dark (not red) that I'm wondering if it is possible for my leaking engine oil to penetrate into the transmission?? What if rear main seal was shot on engine? Could it get into transmission? What did I get myself into... any and all help would be appreciated.

pwd

Well I'm sure its nothing major. The 3VZE's valve cover gaskets like to leak quite a bit of oil. That *could* be your culprit. I've replaced mine on my pickup and it stopped 99% of the leaking oil. The transmission fluid I can't chime in on since I don't know enough about it, but wouldn't it be dark after that many miles of wear etc anyway?

PismoJoe

Well, you bought possibly the worst engine ever produced by Toyota lol but that doesn't mean it can't run like a top...

When you say major leak, how much oil do you lose?

Chances are that your transmission fluid really is that dirty...if your rear main was leaking it would be leaking oil at the back of the engine, and would just coat your torque converter and transmission with oil if its bad enough, it wouldn't get into the transmission.

There's a few possibilities for odd colored transmission fluid. Do you know if it has an external transmission cooler hooked up, or is it in the radiator still? There are some very good threads on that whole issue on here....

Do you have any service records on the car? Timing belt is the important one. It should be done every 90k, and if neglected you could have some leaking cam seals that could be contributing to or is the cause of your oil leak.

So try and look at where exactly the oil is coming from, this helps alot. If these are your only issues, I'd say 2500 isn't too bad for a clean 4runner

xafinac

Thanks PWD and PismoJoe for the replies.. much appreciated.

I don't have any service records for the car unfortunately so I don't know if timing belt was ever changed. I'm unable to do this myself, so does anyone have an idea of what a belt replacement and water pump change should/would cost on the 3vze?

As far as the amount of oil it is leaking I would say maybe 1/4 quart on the ground in the morning after a 20 minute drive the night before. I've avoided driving it because it also has extremely low oil pressure (at least according to the meter in dash) once it gets warmed up. Seems on right side of engine but am unable to tell myself when looking for it from underneath. This also seems like a characteristic of this engine from what I've read here. I guess I should get a real gauge on it and read the actual PSI as Idle and at higher RPM. Anyone know what oil pressure PSI should be?

I'm glad to hear that the motor oil could not get in and mix in with the transmission fluid! I don't know if it has an external trans cooler and can't go look at this minute because I dropped it off at a friends house to see if he can figure it out when he gets a chance. Should I get a tranny flush done? Approximately what should it cost to have done? Sorry for questions about costs... I'm on very limited funds at this time is the reason I'm concerned about money.

I was hoping to diagnose exactly where the leak/leaks are, low oil pressure, before spending any money on a timing belt/water pump, trans flush, etc. If it appears that the engine was going out on me and require rebuilding I would just turn around and sell immediately before sinking more good money after bad.

I look forward to hearing from you all. Thanks