The oil leaks around the bottom have really picked up over the last couple weeks. I have been doing a fair amount of driving, commuting as well as a short trip or too. I assumed it would leak slower..oh well, hope the seal fixes the issue!

 

Took care of the rear main seal swap this past Saturday. I've never been so afraid of something falling on me as when pulled that auto. Big differences when removing an auto instead of a manual: Many more plugs to detach and much heavier! All said and done it was a twelve hour job. Big thanks to the guy who helped tackle the project in his garage. The use of a 36" extension was used quite frequently, keep that in mind if you are thinking about doing this.




Tranny on the floor...We removed the cooler lines to get things out of the way when lowering it down. Therefore, the only tranny fluid that we lost came out of the lines, leaving the transmission quite hefty.




Old rear main seal. Note much more oily around the bottom of the seal than the top; surrounding areas and below coated. Past rear housing plug leaks also visible in top of picture.




Remove the aluminum backing plate and the seal will come out with it. Don't forget there are eight bolts total, six on the front, and two on the bottom that go through the oil pan. We then twisted the old seal out with a pair of vice grips and tapped the new one in evenly with the edge of a large socket.


Rear of the housing plug leak. Cleaned that up with some brake cleaner as I had resealed all of that stuff the week prior.

Five days later and no leaks yet. The only minor hiccup involved the rear main seal that I ordered online. It came in an old toyota package with a reprinted label. The seal was dinged as if someone had test fitted it then tried to carefully pry it back out without damaging it. Well they weren't successful and the inner lip was compromised. Fortunately a local dealership had two in stock on a Saturday. Got raped on the price, but what are you gonna do, just one of those things...

 

Oh man. I am stoked someone finally did this and posted pictures!!

Two jacks huh?! I could imagine for something that long!!!

12 hours! EEK!! What was the most time consuming part?

 

There's a surprising amount of things that need to be unbolted on the 4runner. Both driveshafts, two crossmembers, unplugging harnesses, tranny lines, all the bolts holding the tranny to the engine. That little seal issue ate up around an hour and change for lunch.

We actually used a strap to lower the front down, and the big jack to lower the transfercase end. The strap also added some factor of safety. That thing on two jacks would be sketchy to say the least .

 

Nicely done cyi5! and thanks for the pictures too!

Now i'm getting the itch to drop the tranny down and fix the leak.. all i need is a garage!
Baja, do you know a good mechanic in S.B?

 

My 4Runner looks about the same at the moment. I've got the tranny out to replace the torque converter...I am planning on replacing the rear main seal while I've got it out (I figure I probably won't get any closer to it than what I am right now)...Seeing as you were just there I have a couple of questions...

When removing the aluminum backing plate, did it have a gasket that needed to be replaced or a silicone goop of some sort?

Did you have to remove the oil pan to remove the baking plate?

 

The backing plate does have old RTV that needs to be scraped off. Replace it with grey RTV when reinstalling it. The oil pan remains in place thankfully . Just make sure you add RTV to the bottom of the plate where it contacts the oil pan.

 

??? I used gray RTV on my trans pan and it leaked, I also used it on the aluminum rear main seal backing plate...My question is- Can oil leak if the gray RTV did not seal perfectly on the backing plate that holds the rear main seal?

 

FYI--you dont have to remove the aluminum plate when doing the rear main seal....Just use a seal puller or screw driver with electrical tape around it and pry it out. Or being more careful--knock a hole in the seal outer ring and use that to pry it out.

Ive done a fair amount of these and never removed the aluminum plate......$.02

 

Good to know but a little late now...I think my backing plate is starting to leak a little...I'll have to see how it goes, I surely don't want to pull the trans again...

 

thats why i never mess with them. I posted so others would know about it......

Toyota FIPG and Grey RTV make for a great and lasting seal--swear by that stuff

 

I'm getting ready to do the valve covers myself, I would really appreciate it if someone who has done this can post a list of all the parts needed. I have the gaskets, RTV, PCV grommet, grommets for the spark plugs and I'm trying to find the plenum gasket. Do I need to get a throttle body gasket too?

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread, gave me all the info I need to do this myself. Funny I can tear apart a helicopter and put it back together, plenty of suspension work just never really owned a vehicle long enough to deal with the engine too much !

Gary

 

WOW! What timing! I've been a long time 'reader/researcher' of this forum, but finally signed up after reading this great thread! My 4runner is finally showing it's age (~190k) and it's time for me to do a ton of maintenance on it.

From what I know:
- Timing belt
- Water pump
- Cam cover gasket and seals
- Clutch
- Rear main seal
- Something in the rear end. Dry bearing sound during load. Would that be the third member/rear end?
- Wheel bearings possibly

I will be posting an intro thread with some questions, but this thread has been tremendously helpful!

 

Only if you remove it from the plenum. I put a modified gasket on from Rimpainter.com; not sure I can tell all that much difference but I did change the crossover at the same time (shame on me, two changes at once, I was pressed for time so what can I say) but the theory is good. The stock gasket has part of the opening occluded, which may make some sense for noise or PCV draft, but can't help breathing any. Effectively makes the TB a bit smaller!

 

The intake plenum gaskets can be found on www.toyotapartsales.com Remember you need 2 of them for the top and bottom of the plenum.

 

I used synthetic and produced leaks around 110k. Switched gaskets and leaks went away for about 4 months while I still used synthetic. Castrol to be exact. Then replaced gaskets again and used a semi blend not full synthetic. No more leaks at the new gaskets. But I am getting a minor leak around the back of the bell housing. Current mileage 181k

 

I have leak Valve Cover gasket that needs replacement. I will be doing this my self when i'll have a Whole Sunday to my name . here's how mines look:

and here:

 

Alright I know I've seen some thrid gen valve cover replacement write ups a while back but I'll be darned if I can find them.. Yes I have searched. Does anyone have a link to a good write up with pictures etc?

Thanks..

 

Okay, great thread. Just got done with my 3.4L's valve cover gaskets. I ran into no major issues or unexpected problems. Let's hope they stay sealed!

One question: how important is it to re torque the valve cover bolts? I can not see taking everything apart again to get to the two drivers side bolts under the air planum...what a PITA!

 

I have a 97 t100 and just behind the oil filter is like a 3 in. round gold colored canister about 2 in high with a 3/4 hex head on it to tighten to the block, its leaking oil where it goes into the block dealer doesn't know what it is, does any one else?