I need help figuring out an oil leak. It's coming from the passenger side around the ac compressor. Ive replaced the valve cover gaskets few months back and their still dry and not leaking. Would it be the front main seal? It's a 92 4wd 4runner 3.0 auto

 

Clean the area real good then run for a short time and see if you can tell. They sell a dye you can put in your oil to highlight leaking areas. Oil leaks can be a pita to nail down... Have you eliminated PS fluid leak?

 

Yea my power steering is never low but my oil gets low between oil changes it's definitely a tight spot to see

 

Bump for more opinons

 

I had oil coming from the same spot on an 88 runner I had. Turned out it was leaking from the head gasket, where the oil return port is. I replace head gasket and leak stopped. Get a flashlight and get under the truck and look at the bottom edge of the passenger head....

 

Alright thanks I'll check on that

 

Hello Y'all. Is it copacetic to jump on someone else's thread to talk about My oil leak? sorry if I'm stealing your thread, but I need help too. Ok, its '90 4x4 pickup 5 speed and I have oil coming down over the transmission, its dripping off both sides from above around the tranny fill plug and down the body wall of the other side, dripping off the cables going back to the transfer case and e-brake. Could the oil be from the engine? I checked the tranny fluid and its full. Thanks for reading. BTW, Corey, did you find your leak?

 

If I'm reading this correctly, sounds more like a rear main than anything. You didn't specify your engine though. 22r-e or 3zv-e?

If your tranny fluid was low I'd suspect the seals up top for your shifters. Keep a close eye on that tranny fluid and check your engine oil too. Find out which one's leaking, then you'll know where to look.

 

thanks for the reply. It's a 22re motor, and Im gonna do a good washing tomorrow and try to pinpoint it. Can you tell me anything about the "half moon" gaskets on the valve cover? If it is the rear main, what does that all entail? tranny removal? any tips?

Im new to older toyotas and really want to learn more, they seem like vehicles that are not too complicated/maybe relatively easy to work on

 

All I can tell you about your valve cover is if you can't see oil anywhere on it, don't worry about it. I've only worked on 3 22r-e's while they were leaking oil, but that part was never an issue. Good to replace it during a major service or if it's just really stiff though. The half moons worry me even less. They're just so you can get to the cam without pulling the head from what I've been able to tell. And these little 4 cylinders are good learning projects. They're pretty easy to work on, and have a relatively simple setup.

 

And on the rear main replacement, I can tell you that you will have to pull your transmission, clutch, and flywheel. I did mine with the engine out of the truck, but just clean the end of the crank real good so you don't burr it and then pop on your new seal. Assuming you need to. It'd be a lot of trouble for nothing if it wasn't the culprit.

 

Yikes! I'd say! Im hoping its something higher up. a garage mechanic took off the valve cover recently so maybe they didn't reseal it correctly or something. Heres hoping anyways.