foppert

I am fairly new to my 1989 4runner with about 226k on it. It has always had some leaks but nothing worth worrying about. I just recently however drove it from SF to LA and now instead of the few drops that i am used seeing under the car there is a reasonable pool of oil. I noticed some oil sprayed on the top of the fan shroud after the trip as well (the fan itself doesnt seem oily) which is new. the puddle is on the passeger side along the a arm. (the lower suspension arm and steering linkage are covered in oil. The engine has always leaked oil and had some neglect, so the whole engine is covered in oil and making this difficult to trace. But hey, my transmission isnt leaking

My question is where should i start looking? What is the most likely place that an oil leak would start after an unusually hard drive?

I am currently in college and only have access to some basic tools, but i might be able to find time to fix it myself/im not driving anywhere very far very soon.

87 Deathtrap

I would start by degreasing and pressure washing everything so that you can see what you are looking at. Once everything is clean and dry it will be much easier to locate the source of your leak. Good luck.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

My question is just how much oil did you need to add to the engine after you saw the big puddle?

How many quarts do you put in during the course of a normal week??

What weight oil are you using??

The longer the trip the engine and oil get hotter then on the 10 mile trip around the neighbor hood . The few drops add up when you drive that far.

start with a good cleaning could be front seal valve covers get it clean then you should be able to see

greencactus3

could be power steering too

foppert

I stopped halfway checked it and it was fine. It was after the grapevine (very long, very steep mountain pass) it was a quart low. I added a quart and kept going. I went about 20 miles highway after adding the quart. Ill check it today and see what the level is. I am putting in 10-40 oil, i have no idea what the previous owner put in.

I did have a powersteering leak for a bit, i did some work to fix it and havent seen the red fluid under the car, im sure the powersteering is still leaking a bit, but i am pretty sure that this leak is oil.

As for pressure washing, im currently in college so i wont be able to do the cleaning myself. How much is average for a pressure washing?

Id rather be able to try and dignose the leak by selective cleaning etc so i dont have to take it to someone.

greencactus3

bottle of simple green + rags + hose + time will do it

foppert

Will do, i sure hope they dont get pissed at me for working on my truck in the college parking garage.

The magical search button has pointed me to the valve cover gaskets, which i knew were leaking before... and the cam half moons. So i am going to start cleaning around there.

Would these seem like something that could go due to hard/long driving?

foppert

So i finally got under the car with a proper light,
10 points to whoever said power steering. Looks like im in for a rebuild. I added the picture of the oil spots, because it looks like there are two separate puddles, but i figure i will deal with the powersteering main puddle first then track down the oil leak. I've been reading up on the powersteering rebuild here and i think i can handle it.
Thanks to all that replied.

BMcEL

Is your power steering (atf) fluid as brown as it looks in the picture? Or is that motor oil on the ground?

87 Deathtrap

Glad you found your problem. That pump is pretty easy to rebuild. My old 3.0 pump leaked for a year or so. I finally rebuilt it before I sold the truck and regretted not doing it sooner.