Newbie - 1986 Pickup Oil Leak
 

I am the proud new owner of a 1986 Pickup SB I4 with a manual transmission. Awesome!

The engine has an oil leak that seems to be emanating from the mid-to-top of the engine, like around the crankcase area. The oil is fresh, and doesn't seem too dirty or mixed with anything. So, I *don't* think it is a head gasket issue.

The problem is, I don't know too much about car engines. I know how they work and the basic parts, but I can't visually identify parts too well. I will upload a picture in a few days, but my quetion is:

Based on the information I've provided, is this a crankcase gasket problem? I assume this differs from a head gasket? Is the crankcase gasket and same thing as a valve cover gasket? Or is it all the same thing?

The car starts and runs fine, actually. Didn't notice any blue smoke out the exhaust.

Does oil seem to "sling" all around even on the inside of the hood? Prob the front main/oil pump seal. Quite common on these.

it could be the valve cover gasket cause i had the same problem and thats what it turned out to be. so ya might wana check that as well.

^Could very well be. Also the half circle gromment infront of the head my be leaking as well. Usually its easy to spot the valve cover leaking..... if you can't see oil dripping down the side of it when its running then its prob not that... Could also be leaking out the timing cover... If its in the front thats really the only places it can be...

Hey, guys, thanks for the quick replies.

It doesn't splash around, just seeps out the side. So, based on your details, it seems to be the crankcase / valve gasket leak. Are these reasonably easy to replace?

valve cover gasket takes minutes.

Well, minutes for a newbie like me might mean hours. But, anyway, do I gotta get special tooks for it, like a torque wrench? Or, can I use my basic ratchet set, etc.?

yea just a basic tools for that. just for the valve cover bolts just "snug" them don't tighten them too tight.

a 10mm, 12mm and possibly a 13mm socket wrench and/or crescent.

....no such thing as a 13 on a a toyota but ok Should only be a 10mm for valve cover bolts and 12mm for the sensors on the valve cover

Make sure when you reinstall to put some rvt under the half moon seals, even if you put brand new ones in ive seen them leak.

Would the Haynes repair manual have the procedure listed? I would assume I drain the oil pan, take the cover off, remove the old seal, clean the surfaces of the old gasket, residues, etc., with the fine file, put the new seal on, and put the cover back on, right?

What is rvt?

No you dont have the drain the oil. Remove bolts and the few hoses that are attached to the valve cover. Then remove valve cover. The gasket is a rubber band, it will pull out all in one peice so no cleaning necesarry. Then there are two small half circle seals, one at the front of the head and one at the back so remove them. Clean it all with brake clean or some oil cutting cleaner. Put some silicone gasket maker under the half circle seals and put in, then put the new cover gasket in, it sits in a groove in the head, then put the valve cover back on and return all bolts and hoses, no scraping needed. RVT is just that high temp red silicone gasket maker.

If the half moons or valve cover gasket doesnt fix it there is about only one more thing that would leak from.Is it towards the middle right under the distributor (wich side l or r).

I've had 13mm bolts on the valve cover plate that holds the VSVs on all three of my 22res. 12mm for the valve cover nuts ;)

If you are looking at the engine bay, it is on the left-hand side.

get some of this stuff:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...r/DSC_0206.jpg

Form in place gasket

You might also want to check your distributor O-ring, common place to leak. (just look around your distributor for sludge)

and the half moons aren't on the left side, they're smack dab in the middle of the cylinder head, under the valve cover. one in the front, one in the back. Use some of the FIPG under those.

Well, I think I found what I thought was the oil leak.

I think it actually is/was an old, patched leak in the radiator that is leaking again and spewing coolant all over the engine bay. Ran the engine for 10 minutes and lifted up the hood and saw it leaking. I don't think it was quite hot enough / pressurized enough yet to send it streaming all over, but the leak seems to match "stains" on the inside of the hood and where it was wet in the engine bay.

Now, I could be wrong, because the fresh fluid was brown, but I don't know if that's because it's been mixed with dirt, etc. The coolant / antifreeze I put in is green. Is there brown coolant on the market?

Kiroshu mentioned an oil pump . main seal. Since it's kind of slinged around the engine bay, maybe it is that. I just didn't see anything other than the coolant leaking. Where is the main / oil pump seal? Is is easy to get at?

The main seal is behind the bottom pulley(crank puiiey)if you look from the bottom up at the pulley you will see a stream wiped clean if it is leaking there.the oring is between the oil pump and timing cover.when you take the crank pulley off you will see 5 12mm bolts that is the oil pump.take the bolts out and keep where they go because they are different.the oring and front seal are most common.you will also get a leak from distributor oring which will just leak down the left side of engine.it all depends where it is leaking and falling to ground .I would try front seal and oil pump oring first because of they are most seen.anything I can do let me know.
Rich