I'm a newbie to this forum and would like to ask a question. I just bought a 95 4runner ( automatic, 2wd with 184,000k for $2,500. Most of the mileage was from highway driving so i jumped at the chance). Had the compression checked and it was ok. Aside from shocks, rotors and maybe freon recharge everything works ok. I did notice that there old patches of oil leaks around the heads or covers ( minimal) but my concern is a noticeable leak from either the oil pan or maybe the rear main seal ??? I will be using this as daily driver and would like to get an opinion from you pro's out there. If it's the rear main seal, should i just put up with the leak until i replace the motor??

thanks
Mr. Sabroso

 

biggest ? is, 3.0? if so, check the vin with a stealer to see if the recall for the h/g has been done. give us some more info to work with, there are plenty of knowledgable members here that are willing to help.

lee

 

Thanks Lee,

It's a 3.0. What other info. do i need to state. (I'm a newbie)
Well the local stealer (ha/ha) here in town has been giving me the round around and hasn't given me a concrete answer. (shady huh what else is new ) The other closest toyota dealer is in San Antonio and it's 150 miles away. Is there a possible web site on the net where i could maybe plug in my VIN and get this information??

 

Give the other dealer a call, they'll be able to tell from the VIN if the recall has been done.

As for the oil leaks the valve cover gaskets could be leaking up top. Parts are cheap to fix them but it's a lot of work. The lower one could be the oil cooler O-ring, the cooler is the round thing on the block about 6 inches behind the filter. It has an O-ring between it and the block which gets hard and leaks. Cost is about $10 for the O-ring, and about 1-2 hours time and a few scraped knuckles.

I would start by giving the engine a good cleaning and see if you can narrow down the leak. If it is the rear seal it depends on how bad the leak is whether it's worth fixing or not. That's another job where the parts are cheap but there's lots of labour invovled. One good thing about an auto is there's no clutch to get ruined by the leaking oil. Check the oil weekly and drive it for a month or two and see how much you're losing. If you're paying for labour a new rear seal could cost a few hundred, that buys a lot of oil.

 

Two fairly common leak areas are the rear main engine seal and the transfer case rear output shaft seal. I'm betting on the rear engine main seal. You might try switching to Castrol High Mileage Oil like I did. I've read good reports on bobistheoilguy.com about it working in some cases. I'm on my 2nd rear main. It's about $450 for the dealer to replace it. Try the Castrol first.