sb5walker

It's common for the 3VZE to leak from the back of the passenger side valve cover. If that's your leak, MaxLife probably won't do anything. The only way I got mine to stop leaking was to use a thin coat of the Toyota Black Sealant (RTV) on both sides of the valve cover gaskets and camshaft plugs when I changed the head gaskets. I made sure the surfaces perfectly clean and dry first. That lasted about six years before it started leaking again, but it's just a small drip.

It's a bit of work to get at those gaskets, of course. You have to remove the plenum. But that is something every veezy owner should do periodically. The exhaust valves are known to stretch or tulip over time and tighten up clearance until they stop closing fully. Then they burn. So adjusting valves should be done every 80-90k miles or so. Also, pulling the plenum gives you a chance to relatively easily replace the PCV valve and grommet.

tardman91

I know it's probably hard to tell by my pictures, but do you think it's more likely that the valve cover is leaking and dripping down there than it being the rear main seal? That would be such a cheaper fix.
I would think if it was the rear main it would leak more from the bottom, but I don't know.

Mr.Utah

At this point I dont think anyone can tell you with certainty what is leaking, your going to have to do some investigating and find out where its coming from. The only way to do that is to isolate the leak. When you have oil everywhere its hard to tell where its coming from. Somehow clean up the motor, run it a little and get some lights, mirrors and whatever it takes to find the leak. Then, you can begin to work on the problem rather than guess what is the problem. My 2 cents.

tardman91

I know I'm starting to beat this to death, but I have one more question. If the rear main seal was leaking, the truck would probably leak oil just sitting there, right? Mine only leaks oil after it's run for a few miles. I know this because i can wipe it, let the truck sit for a couple of days, and there's NO oil leak. This leads me to believe it's coming from somewhere that only sees oil when it's pressurized. Am I crazy or am I thinking correctly?
Hopefully that means that it's not the rear main seal, and getting if fixed would be relatively cheap. Hopefully...

blake.nemitz

put some uv dye in it and clean it up, start motor with black light under vehicvle to find leak. an idae

jason191918

That is not correct. The oil level with the truck off is far below the main oil seals. It only leaks with the truck running.

sb5walker

In fact, when at rest all of the oil is probably below the joint between the oil pan and bottom of the block, unless parked on a hill.

Neither the main seals nor the valve cover gasket ever see oil under pressure, unless the crankcase vents are blocked.

tardman91

Oh well. I'm going to try to live with it for as long as I can. It's so minor that I only get a drop every few days. It's just annoying to me that it leaks anything. I just have to come to grips with the fact that it's 17 years old and has 177,000 miles on it. I came from an F150 that I bought new and it only had 55,000 miles on it when I got rid of it.

spc mike

what ever the fluid is, whether it be motor oil or Gear oil.... if its leaking just a couple drops a day and you run it long enough you will contaminate the clutch disc and not only have to replace a seal but a clutch too. If you just smell the fluid it will be either Gear oil (VERY distinct smell) or motor oil (Obvious smell) i will grantee it! Either way its a good idea to get in there and fix it as soon as you can.

tardman91

I'm not sure how transmissions work exactly, but does my automatic have a clutch disc? And its definitely motor oil.

Sensei

No, your automatic does not have a clutch. It has a torque converter bolted up to the flex plate. There are internal clutches inside your trans but they have no bearing on your current fluid leak.

spc mike

Sorry, didn't realize you were a different person than the OP.

tardman91

Ok, so I've been cleaning and observing to see if I can sort of pin point my leak and I think I might have finally found something that hopefully points towards a valve cover leak.
I noticed a little bit of oil on some hard lines on the passenger side of the transmission, just past where the arrows are pointing in the picture. That part (is that where the upper control arms attach? I don't feel like crawling under there AGAIN) was in the way. Then I usually get a small drop of oil where I circled around the bolt, and then it follows it's way down the bell housing to the bottom where I usually find another small drop. The oil on the lines leads me to believe that the leak is coming from up above, rather than between the bell housing, which is where it would be coming from if it were the rear main seal if I'm thinking correctly, right?


So I popped the hood and tried as best I could to peek around in there with all the hoses and vacuum lines in the way, and it seems like I can see what might be some oily residue in the general area of my red circle, but deep down in there. And, right below that area, is that part on the bottom of the last pic (UCA mount or something like that?) so hopefully it's just a valve cover which would be LOADS cheaper than the rear main.


I think I'll go to my mechanic on Monday and see if he thinks it's a valve cover gasket too. Does anyone think I'm on the right track of thinking here, or am I way out in left field again?

sb5walker

Yeah, it does seem likely your leak is from the valve cover gasket, back of passenger side. As mentioned above that's a very common leak spot on the veezy. I recommend finding a good independent shop and have them adjust the valves and replace the pcv valve and grommet. Best to supply them with the valve cover gaskets, pcv valve, pcv valve grommet, and Toyota Black FIPG (sealant), all from the dealer. That way you're sure you'll have good parts that will fit and last. Be sure to tell the shop to pull the rear cam bearing caps and cam plugs and clean those surfaces and use fresh sealant all the way around the plugs and on the bearing caps in the spots indicated in the fsm. They also should clean the valve cover gasket sealing surfaces thoroughly and use a thin coat of the sealant on both sides of the valve cover gaskets. Mention to them that it's the only way people have gotten these things to stop leaking oil.

Also mention to them that the exhaust valves are known to stretch and tighten up over time on this motor, so if they have a choice, set the clearance nearer to the wide end of the spec: (0.009" - 0.013"). Intake valves can be set near the middle of the spec (0.007" - 0.011"). Your shop should use Toyota shims; in my experience it's best to call the dealer ahead to make sure they have all the needed shims in stock; I had to go to two dealers to get all the sizes I needed when I changed head gaskets. Since dealers will often reuse shims, and sometimes the numbers on the used ones are not clear, you should tell your mechanic to bring a micrometer to verify the shim thickness at the dealer parts desk.

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...71services.pdf
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...68cylinder.pdf