camo31_10.50

i've recently heard that Valvoline MaxLife has some "seal swelling esters" in it.


as many of you know, i've rebuilt my 3vz recently, i have about 1500miles on it at the moment (1480 right now actually). and i have a pretty good oil leak at my Cam Seal on the driverside head, and both of my Valve Cover gaskets i believe
i'm thinking that MAYBE....just MAYBE this Valvoline oil will slow down my oil leak at the cam seals?????

the part i'm MOST worried about...is this oil is a Synthetic Blend....and with my motor basically still being "NEW" will it be okay to switch to this oil? i don't wanna make the switch, and all the sudden my rings become "unseated" or some crap.

i had planned on switching to full synthetic around 10,000 miles...but never thought about the synthetic blends?

i'm not looking for this oil to STOP my leak, just slow it down a bit.

if anyone has any other recommendations i'd appreciate it!!!

i'm also going to be using the Purolator PureONE PL20195 filter, so i'm good on the filter

Teuf

I used Dino oil from 0 miles to 270 k then switched to Valvoline syn blend 5/30. All is good with that oil, and I have a small front seal leak. I will be switching to Rotella 5/40 full syn next change. You are all set as I can see, good luck.

camo31_10.50

I appreciate your input Teuf!!


whenever this dang oil leak gets fixed, i plan to switch to full synthetic..and increase my oil change intervals out to about 10,000Miles (i would likely change the filter though at around 5000)


i told my dad to pick up some Valvoline Maxlife 10W30.....and he got Valvoline Premium because they didn't have the MaxLife.
i'll probably take it back tomorrow and find some MaxLife.

UNLESSSSSS, someone knows of a SAFE oil additive that might help slow down my leak?

Teuf

Nah I think additives do not work. Just keep an eye on the level an add when you need. I will tackle my leak this march, via a diff thickness oil seal, and or a redi sleeve.

camo31_10.50

i was hoping maybe there was SOMETHING that might work? lol


it's not so much as having to add oil, that doesn't bother me...it's the big ass ugly stains that i have to clean off of my concrete...lol

and just the nastyness of everything underneath the truck.


my entire tranny bellhousing has oil on it, as well as the back of my front diff, entire front driveshaft, and the entire bottom of the tranny back to the crossmember, (physics, lol it'll drain back because of wind going down the road)

it's a pretty bad leak though...almost a full 1500 miles and i've had to add roughly maybe ~1 to 1.5 quarts of oil...bout a half quart every 500 miles

Xeo

Ive used No Leak made by Gold Eagle i believe...anyways its supposed to stop leaks at around 3000 km or less i think, mine stopped at around 1500km. You should give it a try and see if it works it only costs ten dollars for a bottle. Cheers.

camo31_10.50

i'll check it out XEO.

i'm looking for something that has a lot of background, something that a lot of people have used and i can read a lot of reviews on it.

i don't wanna use something then a few thousand miles later it mess something up?

snobdds

If it was me, I would fix the cause of the leak making all other "what if's" a mute point. It only has 1500 miles, fix it right and have a good strong motor for many miles to come.

camo31_10.50

Fixing the motor requires pulling the motor back out of the engine bay....i don't have the time to do that at the moment.

the plan IS to pull the motor and fix the leak in the spring, but until then i was hoping i could slow that dude down a bit

MudHippy

What?! Pull the motor?! To replace a camshaft seal and/or the valve cover gaskets?!

No...I don't hardly think so. Pulling the motor to replace those seals/gaskets(or any seals/gaskets on that engine)isn't necessary by any stretch of the imagination.

And what's your excuse for not having installed new seals when you did your "rebuild". They're super cheap, and you can plainly see what happens when you don't. Don't try telling me that you did either, because there's no way in hell a new camshaft seal would be leaking after 1500 miles(IF it was installed correctly). And if it truly is leaking after that much run time(and it was installed correctly), then the seal's not the problem. So replacing it, or trying to band-aid it with some kind of hocus-pocus sauce, isn't going to get you very far(if anywhere). You'll need to fix the sealing surface on the camshaft itself, or replace it. Unless what you're talking about is the plug on the other end of the head, and not the actual camshaft seal. Those don't contact the camshaft and wouldn't require removing the timing components to replace. You can, and should, replace those at the same time as valve cover gaskets. Which only requires removing the upper intake/plenum chamber and the valve covers themselves. Piece o' cake! A couple hours at most.

Now on the valve cover gaskets leaking after 1500 miles maybe, or rather probably. I'll buy that. The valve covers on the 3VZE are about the most prone to leaking of any part, on any engine, known to man. So my advice there is to get used to it, they're always gonna be that way.

BTW, your avatar. What's with that anyway? I know you know how to fix it, you used to have one that worked. Atleast turn it off so we don't have to stare at this.


Hint: User CP(Control Panel), Edit Avatar, under Your Current Avatar select "Do not use an avatar".

camo31_10.50

okay muddhippy, you can take your lazy butt and go through my rebuild thread, and if you want then i can even take a picture of the receipt of the gasket kit that i bought, that came with both cam seals and brand new valve cover gaskets.

it's the seal on the BACK of the driver side head, the camshaft seal that is held on with the bracket that is bolted down with two small (10mm i believe) bolts...i can see the oil coming out of it while the motor is running.

ever pay attention to how much room is behind the driverside head at that particular point? apparently not because if you did you would realize that there is MAYBE 4" of space, not enough to get a new gasket in there effectively let alone pry the old one out.

i have a plan to fix the leaky valve cover gaskets that another member used and said his still aren't leaking after ~90,000 miles

My avatar works on my computer Mr. Hippy. thank you very much.

and ever think that the cam shaft seal MIGHT have been damaged? it happens all the time, some Rock Auto headgaskets fail after a few thousand miles while others go 200,000 or more...fact of the matter is, both seals were installed correctly, and the driverside is leaking.

if any kind of "hocus pocus sauce" can get me until the spring when i'll have more time to fix the leak, then i'll use the stuff (as long as it has no adverse side effects).

if you could kindly point out how i shall go about replacing the seal without pulling the motor then be my guest. i'm telling you i can't think of a way, because there just isn't enough space.

and i'm not pulling the head off.

i can have the motor out, seal replaced, and back in within a full weekend.

Clifford91

If those seals are anything like the 22RE Seals you should be able to just pull the valve cover off and grab it with a set of pliers and yank it off... If it's not similar, then I don't know.

Did you silicone the seals before you put them in? Do that when replacing if not.

I will say Valvoline mixed with any other kind of oil will seal off your leaks, mostly cause it will turn the consistency of potatoe salad. Big fan of valvoline here...

Personally I run Wal-mart SuperTech Oil cause it's cheap and pretty pure, then buy BG MOA(Motor Oil Additive) in bulk off E-bay for cheap and put a can in every oil change. Do mine about 5000 miles and it's still really clean/light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnFmf...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ethe3fnR02I&NR=1

Check these out,

and good luck

Clifford91

Forgive my ignorance. I just checked the Factory Shop Manual and the seals are different then 22RE. I don't know about clearance but I'd imagine if you can get to the seal and pull it off you could put a new one on. If you've got 4" of room to use i'd say it could be done. Although I've never done it.

BTW ignore the silicone comment, not the same style seal

You might have had a bad seal. It happens. I'd use a Factory Toyota one if you didn't before. Always best to use factory. Should be just a couple bucks.

again, good luck.

snobdds

Those cam seals and the valve cover gaskets can be installed with the engine in the truck. I would never pull and engine to do that job. I would rather spend 4 hours, at the most, replacing then an entire weekend pulling an engine.

Is it work, yes, but either way you look at it is going to be work. Just trying to encourage you to fix it right.

camo31_10.50

are you SURE it can, because i just looked at my truck AGAIN, and the seal on the back of the driverside head has roughly 4" of clearance from the firewall.

camo31_10.50

valve cover gaskets can easily be replaced with the motor in the vehicle, i was just going to replace them because they're leaking slightly

camo31_10.50

i Picked up some Barr's stop leak stuff last night while i was gettin some shotgun shells at walmart, gonna give it a rundown for a few hundred miles.

i'll report back with my results when i get some miles on the stuff.


truck runs a bit better though now that i changed the oil, now i just gotta change out my fuel filter and hope that's why i'm havin a hard start (cranking for 5-10 seconds sometimes)

Clifford91

I am Clifford91's friend. I worked at a Toyota dealership for 5 years. I grew up around Land Cruisers. I have replaved the seal in question in about 4 hours including a valve adjustment. Take off the upper plenum and the valve covers. Then unbolt the cap holding the seal in, don't try to pry it out the back. Install a FACTORY NEW plug and valve cover gasket. Use a torque wrench to re titen the cap. Apply some scilcone to the cap only on the outer edges, dont fill in the oil groves. If a NEW FACTORY valve cover gasket with a drop of scilcone in each of the corners where it meets the head does not stop an oil leak you need new valve covers. There should be no reason for there to be oil leaking around the valve covers no mater how many miles if they are good. I will be starting my own account on this forum now. I go by cruiserfj45 on other bords.

camo31_10.50

if i simply unbolt the "bracket" that holds the seal in place...then that does nothing..i still have to FORCE the seal out...I'm guessing, since i had to force it in there, i will in turn have to force it out, Correct?

my FSM calls the part in question a "Camshaft Housing Plug" and the "bracket" a "Camshaft Housing Rear Plate"

i'm not talking about the seals on the front of the motor.

i'm talking about the seals on the BACK of the heads, up against the firewall.

i keep looking at my FSM and i don't see how i can get that seal out with only having ~4" of space....my seal puller tool is about ~4" by itself

camo31_10.50

My leak has slowed down CONSIDERABLY though.

now it's dripping a little bit, not a crap ton like it was before.