AgRunner06

Anyone here ever done an oil pan gasket or resealed it on the 3.slow?

As you can tell from my pics, it looks like the majority of my oil is leaking from the oil pan. Upon further inspection it appears that it is leaking from almost all around the edge of the pan. However the oil only goes a short way up the block so I'm figuring that it is the oil pan gasket/sealer. I already tried some gasket sealer stuff that you put in the oil but it didn't help much. Right now I'm going through about a quart ever 1K miles. I was looking in my Haynes manual and suprisingly it didn't seem too involved. They didn't mention anything about having to pull the motor or lift it.

So who's done it and how hard was it to do?





Thanks for the input.

vudbster

I would say, check your valve cover gaskets first because they leak more frequently than the oil pan. I work at a toyota dealer and we see that more often than pan reseals.

Just my 2 cents.


Mike.

Brendan

while we're on the subject of oil leaks. I had a moderate leak for about 6 months that I finally decided to fix. It seems to have stopped and all I had to do was tighten the oil pan bolts. I had oil spots on the hood though as well. Is it possible for a leaking oil pan to somehow get up to the hood?

EDIT: 22re

AgRunner06

My valve cover gaskets were done a little over a year ago when the 2nd HG recall was done.

I may see about tightening up those bolts. It's worth a shot and it won't take too much of my time.

Thanks for the info.

beachtaco

it's a pain in the ass. i did my oil pan when i had my front diff pulled. i don't see a way to do it any other way. once the front diff is out of the way, you'll have access to most of the bolts. you'll have to remove the front transmission cover plate and bracket to get to the back oil pan bolts. you can see the brackets in your second picture that connect/support the transmission to the engine block. the only other issue i had was clearing the oil pan with the drag link. i think i cranked my wheel right and it cleared fine.

beachtaco

i'm assuming you have to pull the plenum off to get to head bolts.

tuquoque

how did this go for you? Pretty hard/easy or somewhere in between?

AgRunner06

I didn't replace the oil pan seal. I did, however, take off the skid plate and tighten up almost all the oil pan bolts. I did find some that struck me as being on the loose side. I'm hoping that helps fix the problem. Otherwise, with the skid plate off, it looked like it might be a feasible task as long as you can get the bolts that are between the back of the motor and the tranny. It's a tight fit. I think there was one bolt that I wasn't able to get a socket on, but I didn't have a swivel either. It looks like you might be able to pull the oil pan out the front when the skid plate is off. But I could be wrong.

I hope that helps.

Astralplane

After checking or fixing the valve cover gasket look at your oil cooler.
I had leaks in both places. Your pics look very familiar.
I knew my valve cover gasket was leaking, but after fixing that i still dripped oil from the same spot. After changing the oil cooler gaskets I have been completely dry. Changing these was very messy and frustrating and it is bolted on very tight.
On a unrelated side note, I also replaced my steering seal at the fire wall.
It was a miracle worker for reducing the loud valve ticking noise.

JohnStra

If you do have to drop the pan, it's a lot of work (for 4x4s), but not difficult. You have to pull the front diff, which can be a real bear. I just wrestled mine out without a jack - don't recommend that approach but it worked for me. You do have to jack the engine up 2 or 3 inches to get the pan free. To get to all the bolts on the pan, you have to remove the stiffener brackets (someone mentioned that above). When you put the pan back on you should rehearse a few times before you put the sealer on it so you can see how to work it back in without scraping the sealer off against all the obstacles.

Also, don't over-torque the pan bolts - I think they're 8 ft. lbs.

AgRunner06

I also had the seal on the oil cooler leak. It was supposedly fixed when my HG recall was done over a year ago. How can I tell if the oil cooler is leaking? Actually, where is the oil cooler? I know it's down there somewhere, just not sure where.

Thanks



EDIT: Astralplane, check out this thread, https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/replacing-steering-seal-2nd-gen-28607/.

outdoorfever

yea you gotta take off the front diff which is a pita needless to say. thats what the mechanic thought was wrong with mine but it wasnt. i cant remember now what it was though.

Astralplane

The oil cooler is mounted on the block in the same plane as your oil filter.
The hose that runs under the oil filter is connected to it.
I didn't remove any else on the truck except for metal bracket plate that allowed for access to oil cooler bolt from the wheel well.
The job was just real messy.

tuquoque

do you have a part # per chance for the oil cooler seal? anyone? also am i correct in assuming that the oil cooler is the round thing on the same plane as the filter about 6" to the rear? i am working on a 90 4runner v6.

Astralplane

I don't think I kept my receipt because it was only a couple of bucks, but I will look again.
There are 2 gaskets. The dealership will have the breakdown.
One goes between the block and the cooler and the other is on the cooler itself.
We reinstalling the cooler make sure you align the cooler properly.
My truck had a bracket that aligned the cooler and also keeps it from turning when tightening.