I've finally decided to do some preventative maintenance a little more than just oil and such. 1999 4Runner 3RZ 2WD, 163k mi.

I just ordered polyurethane front sway bar bushings because mine are splitting in half. I'm gonna do all the fluids and everything too. Also, just did my brakes.

So my question is:

I have a small leak I guess. I've noticed tiny little oil spots underneath my car. I took of the skid plate and the entire side of the engine from underneath the oil filter is drenched. I know a lot of it is from when I take off the oil filter every change, I am lazy and I dont like to waste time taking off the skid plate.

I couldn't really pinpoint what was leaking or if it was because I was in my driveway and bleh, you know.

Took it down the street to my buddy who has a shop and he says that my "oil filter housing seal" is leaking.

He said, though, that he's called all over and said that there's no one that has an oil filter housing seal for a 3RZ. I also googled it, couldn't find anything.

So does this sound logical? I figured I can just go to the dealer and get it if so. I've just never heard of this leaking, what would've caused it?

Also, considering I have the 3RZ, the fuel filter is in hell. It's a bitch to get to and my buddy also said its a wise idea to change, but I've heard from so many places that it is a lifetime part. i really dont want to have to replace it... it's in the worse place in the world. I wish it was underneath the drivers seat area like in the 5VZ 4Runners. Do I have to replace it?

Thanks everyone. I'm not a normal poster here but I wouldn't mind posting here more often. I got banned from T4R for posting in a spam thread... yeah lame.

 

Just get a new oil filter, they come with a new seal. They sometimes leak if you don't wipe the mating surface clean before installing it, or if you don't wet the seal with a little clean oil, or if you over tighten or under tighten it.

 

It's not that, if it was that I'd not have posted anything. That or my mechanic is a moron... I'll take a closer look because I'll be honest, I didn't look after he inspected. I should probably do that before posting a thread.

Any info on the fuel filter?

 

There is no other oil filter seal on these trucks, the oil filter screws directly onto the block.



Now if you're talking about a BMW, yes there is an oil filter housing seal. And the oil filter element is sold seperate from the housing. The housing is about $200 and the filter element is about $10.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that's the 5VZ motor.

I have the 3RZ. I very well do have a housing that is bolted to the block. I just took a look and yes, it does seem to have a leak. It's unknown to me how such a part began to leak... though.

 

Wow, you sure do! I stand corrected. I never saw that before, the FSM calls it an "oil filter bracket" and it looks like there is an oval shaped gasket and an O-ring to seal the mating of the block. http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/2003/Repa...ylblo/comp.pdf

 

Haha no worries dude, thank you for your help.

I just went to Power Toyota Irvine and I got both the oval and the o-ring.

The oval im sure is whats leaking but for a few bucks, worth doing both. I'm waiting for the o-ring to arrive tomorrow and I have the oval already. I had to get the diagram and I got your last reply about the same time.

So yeah, you were right about the gaskets. I'm gonna do it all when I get the new sway bar bushings in.

Thanks again.

Here's the diagram and also my invoice with part numbers...

I also got extra grille clips in case, and a fuse kit with 80 fuses for 10 bucks, score!


So, fuel filter anyone?

 

I have the same 3RZ-FE oil filter housing leak and I had opened a thread on it over here:
YotaTech Forums > Toyota SUV & Truck Tech > Newbie Tech Section > How difficult is it to fix an oil leak by replacing the oil filter housing & oil pan?

Is the replacement of the oil filter bracket extension a simple DIY?

 

I have the same 3RZ-FE oil filter housing leak and I had opened a thread on it over here:
YotaTech Forums > Toyota SUV & Truck Tech > Newbie Tech Section > How difficult is it to fix an oil leak by replacing the oil filter housing & oil pan?

Is the replacement of the oil filter bracket extension a simple DIY?

 

Also, considering I have the 3RZ, the fuel filter is in hell. It's a bitch to get to and my buddy also said its a wise idea to change, but I've heard from so many places that it is a lifetime part. i really dont want to have to replace it... it's in the worse place in the world. I wish it was underneath the drivers seat area like in the 5VZ 4Runners. Do I have to replace it?


The fuel filter isn't actually all that hard to change. I would definitely recommend it. Take the driver side front tire off and the inner fender well and you can reach right in (provided you don't have Popeye arms). The upside is the fittings are beefier, and not easily corroded.

 

Thanks for the reply. Welcome to the forum, too.

Thankfully, I finished the job back in 2009. Maybe I should consider another change soon, though. A lot of things have changed around that filter in the past 4.5 years.

 

So the oil filter housing on my 3RZ is leaking pretty badly. Its more than likely coming from the area marked in RED but it almost looks like its coming from the area marked in BLUE even though they dont seem to come apart. Is there a way to delete that middle section and just screw the oil filter to the housing itself?

 

Looks like that middle section is an oil cooler, I would'nt think it would be a good idea to delete it even if you could.

 

The stud and nut in the middle of a water cooled oil filter housing tends to unscrew itself after years of unscrewing the oil filter, on my mitsubishi it has the exact same water jacket oil filter housing and i had a leak that was quickly fixed by tightening the large shallow nut sealing the area in blue you indicated was leaking, very common issue with the 4g63T 2,0L turbo