Whiplash Willy

My 22re is going through about 1/2 qt of oil every 80 miles or so. I have been trying to locate the leak, and narrowed it down 2 locations. First, some information:

93 Pickup 22re 5-speed 4x4 170k mi
Engine doesn't smoke, and has good compression across all 4 cyl
Never see any evidence of oil leaks, on the ground, where I park the car

The bottom of the trans housing, where it meets up with the engine is always wet, which points to a rear main seal. However, there is some grime buildup near the back of the oil pan, but it isn't wet.

My friend is a toyota tech, so I am taking it to him to replace the rear main, and the clutch, but I wounder how likely it is that it would be a bad oil pan gasket. I would hate to have all of that work done, and still leak, however, I want to minimize the cost of this repair. How likely is it that the oil pan gasket would be bad after 170k mi under normal usage?

mattaway

why not have your friend do the rear main and the oil pan gasket? it'll be right there while he has it apart.

toyota seal is inexpensive and works perfect as a oil pan gasket.

9o7yota

high temp rtv sealant is working so far for me as an oil pan gasket.

Murakami

that's strange that you're going through 1/2 qt. every 80 miles and never see any oil on the ground.

anyway, try and narrow down the leak before you have someone start working on it.

OutlawMike

x2, with that rate of leak, if it was external to the motor, you would be seeing it on the ground and all down the chassis. You very well may have a seeping rear main or pan gasket, but that 1/2 qt is going into the exhaust and getting burned off, otherwise it would be on the ground. Even a small amount of oil makes a big mess, and 1/2 qt is not a small amount of oil in 80 miles.

If you have good compression, that leans me towards the valve guide seals. Do a leak down test to be absolutely sure that your rings and valves are sealing properly. If they are, then I would vote for valve guide seals as the culprit, unless you find some catch basin on your motor to catch the external drips....

tj884Rdlx

i have this same condition. half quart every couple weeks, no drips on the ground, back of motor by the bell is wet. my opinion is it IS the rear main seal. so do them both and feel confident you're not throwing money away by doing the RMS. if it was the pan, you should have a leak all the time. with RMS you have leak mostly under pressure while driving, so those drips could be hitting the road or burning off. that's my best guess on why there's no puddle.

yodta

might consider the rear half moon seal at the valve cover.
I thought I had a rear main leak and it turned out to be the half moon. much easier fix

re: the oil pan. I never use the regular RTV silicone sealants anymore, nor do I use the cork oil pan gaskets. oil pans are such a pain to pull if you have 4wd, so it's one of those jobs you'd rather avoid for the sake of a naggy leak. Permatex The Right Stuff. it's the only sealant I ever use anymore. it works, and it's ready for exposure in minutes. highly resistant to oil, coolant, and other fluids, and it stays pliable without coming loose.

also comes in the manual cartridges for use in caulk guns.

looks like aerosol cheese, but doesn't taste the same, so don't put it on crackers.

ayoung101

if you're not noticing any oil spots, i'm guessing you're probably burning it, whether it smokes enough to notice or not. have someone drive behind you with their windows down. tell them to get a good whiff and see if you're the kind of person that pisses them off when they are driving for real. lol