I went out to my truck this morning (1990 4runner, V6) and noticed a considerable amount of oil on the ground, so I backed it up, and had a look. It was definately coming from the front passenger side of the engine, I just can't tell where. I cleaned the whole thing off (as best I could) and started the engine back up. It appears as though the oil is dripping off of the A/C compressor, but I would imagine that it is coming from higher up than that. I smelled it, and it didn't smell like power steering (I did some searching on here, and thought it may be that) but upon further inspection, there is quite an oil mess in that area.

My question is this; what else is in that area that could be leaking? Again, it doesn't smell like power steering fluid, and it is definately dripping off of the A/C compressor (probably from higher up though), and from what I could tell, the valve cover wasn't leaking. What else should I check? I'm not sure what else is even in that area.

Thanks in advance!

 

It could be A/C compressor oil. If you have a A/C pressure gauge you can check the pressure yourself. If pressure is low you can shoot a can of leak dectectorinto the system. It is just a colored solution that will show up at the leak.

 

My A/C system is dry as a bone, so I don't ever run the compressor-- could it still be that?

 

It sure could be. When you run your defrost the compressor still could be engaging until the low pressure switch kick the system off. Just because there is no pressure in the system does not mean there is not oil in the system.

 

So if it were this (I will examine it tomorrow to determine if it is) How would I go about repairing it? Would it likely be leaking from the compressor itself, or a seal somewhere?

One thing that leads me to believe that it isn't is that it looks like it's coming from higher up on the engine and dripping onto the compressor and then dripping off of the compressor and onto the ground.

I'll get a photo of the situation tomorrow and post it here.

 

I don't remember if Toyota is like most A/C systems, but there may be an o-ring on the back of the pump that is leaking. Was the oil clear?

 

It isn't clear, it looks to be slightly darker than the oil in the crankcase (about a week old), but I just figured that it was engine oil that is picking up grime somewhere.

Does the A/C compressor use engine oil? How is all of that intertwined?

 

No. There is a special oil that is designed for the system. It is put into the system the same time the system is serviced with freon. It is clear, but may have dye in it that is used as a leak detector. The dye would be a high visability colror like red.

 

It's definately not red- for sure brown or dark yellow like engine oil.