whiteyota93

Hello everyone!

I have owned my 93 Toyota pickup v6 pickup ext cab for about 6 months now and it has always leaked a bit of oil from the passenger side, somewhere near the top left corner of the timing cover or in that general area, it started as a slow leak and has slowly gotten much worse. Before I go further I'll tell you a bit about the truck.

It has 332000km on the original motor, head gaskets were done at 325 or so along with all the gaskets required to get to the heads, a few other things were replaced also but I'm not going to bore you with all of them. It runs like really well, I drive it to and from work every day and minus the leaking there are no issues.

So now for the fun part,
We've pulled the front plastic timing gear cover and run the truck a few times to see if there are any obvious places that we could see oil coming from with no luck. Cam seals look dry, and front main has a bit of oil around it, but it appears that the oil is settling in there and not coming from the main. We put uv dye into it and used a black light to see if we could see it, the only place we could see oil coming from is a bolt that goes into the head that holds the black metal timing cover on the front of the motor behind the timing gears, but it didn't look like enough to be the source of the leak.

I've looked through every forum and all links regarding leaks on that side of the motor and so far I can find any info that would help me.
I would appreciate any ideas you guys can think of as I'm going to be doing a tear down on the front of the motor in the next few days and want some advice from people who have owned these trucks with a v6. Anything helps!

scope103

The MOST likely place for an oil leak on the 3VZE is the valve cover. The FSM dictates that RTV (or FIPG) be used in certain places; if that isn't done a leak is guaranteed. It is also necessary to clean the contact surfaces VERY well; RTV doesn't like to stick to oil.

whiteyota93

Thank you, I know they were changed when the head gaskets were changed but the guy who did it has not gotten back to me on whether or not he used any rtv on the valve covers. If it were the passenger side valve cover, do you think it's possible to be leaking about a half litre of oil a week? Doing roughly 500-600km?

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

The smallest leak will add up quick. I very well would suspect you leaking that much in the drive distance you are talking about. Cleanliness is key but also make sure there are not any nicks or dings that could cause a small opening.

scope103

I can't tell if you feel that there is no oil on the outside of the engine (but you're still using 1/2 quart of oil in 400 miles), or there is oil on the outside (because it's on the driveway?) If there's no oil on the outside, you're burning it, and that's not good (duh!)

So assuming you've got a "drip" somewhere, you need to find it. Use spray-on degreaser and a garden hose to get the engine sparkly clean. Run it until you see oil on the surface. Remember that gravity is not your friend; every leak works its way down and back so it looks like it's from the main seal. (That's why you clean the engine first.)

whiteyota93

So I'd like to thank you guys for the input and ideas.

Update on leak -

Pulled some stuff away from the front of the motor and passenger side to take a better look. Couldn't really see anything with it running after we cleaned it all off. Minus a small power steering leak at the back of the pump.

So we took of the upper timing cover off and inspected further, we couldn't find evidence of it leaking from valve covers or cam seals. However, we could see a small amount of oil on the inside of the timing belt. So I immediately started to tear down to do the front main, which surprising is really easy. Once you get the rad and fan out there is a ton of room for activities. Crank pulley was fun to get out without a puller, but thanks to a piece of bar stock and 3 holes and bolts, she came off with no issues.

Main was flopping around the crank, barely in the hole, and the inner spring of the main was mangled

Anyhow after all that, I am no longer leaking oil!!! Now to tackle the power steering pump and replace my original distributer as the bearings or going.

Thanks again guys!!

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

If your power steering is just a minor leak, what I do is add a teaspoon or so of brake fluid to the tank. The seals usually harden and the brake fluid will soften the seals up and stop some leaks. It can take a while to get the brake fluid thru the system and soften the seals. Some may not approve of it but it has been working on one of my trucks for a few years now. Been doing it for years on other trucks in the past.

whiteyota93

At first that sounded like a bad idea, but that actually sounds like it's worth a shot. My only concern would be the bushings in the rack . But that minimal amount shouldn't do any damage. I'm running a mix of power steering fluid stop leak and fluid right now and it's only a drop or two a day. But some days it's worse. I may try that until my seal kit comes in for the pump. Thanks!

scope103

Power Steering Fluid? That is likely the CAUSE of your leak. ATF only.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

ATF fluid is what is used as power steering fluid in our trucks. In an automatic transmissions, seals tend to harden up.

Look at an old Mater Cylinder or Slave cylinder in the clutch or brake system. When exposed to brake fluid the seals are soft if not deteriorated. They are not hard. You are just adding enough to soften the seals backup a little bit. That is the reason so many of the Master or Slave cylinders fail as the seals are just to soft.

Just add a small amount and you can always just flush the system out. With a small amount you wont do any damage to the rest of the system but enough to soften the seals. In worst case scenario you are still out a power steering pump just because you have a leaking seal on the pump. The pump is good other wise.

It only works for the power steering pump and is only for a minor leak. If you are running a heavy mix, I would not leave it in the system very long. Its just a suggestion like many other fixes on here. I have done it on several trucks, my old bronco had a leaky pump on it, I did it and that was still on the truck for ten years. I flush my systems out with new fluid every few years so the brake fluid eventually gets out of the system.

Poke on the seals on your rack, I bet they are rock hard if you can get access to them. I don't care to run stop leak on anything as it is just chunks up and makes a plug or clog to fix a leak. Brake fluid is more of an additive to counter act the hardening of ATF fluid.

whiteyota93

Thanks for the input,

I've been keeping an eye on this for a while and so far it's very consistent, and it's definitely the rear o-ring. I have never used stop leak products before and wanted to see how it would perform. Definitely hasn't made it worse or better. I'm going to flush the system and replace the seals in the pump next weekend. I'll pick up atf for it instead and give it a go.

The rack is actually in great shape on this truck and all the bushing are still in good condition, that's the only reason I was a bit cautious of the brake fluid. I've had the front end apart recently to do suspension and cv axles, and that's when I found my ps leak in the first place.

Any specific brands of atf you guys use?

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

I don't think you can get Dexron II anymore so use Dexron III.