i just developed my first oil leak in my truck (in a 22re), and it's a big one. i need to know 2 things, because i narrowed it down to 2 possible locations, and can't distinguish which one is the culprit.

1, it could be an oil pan gasket leak. or 2, it could come from this sensor (see https://www.yotatech.com/attachments...-pict1811b.jpg for picture). i'm not sure what the sensor is, so i don't know if it could be oil related or not.

the guy at toyota wasn't too sure about it, but he said the oil pan gasket is a liquid gasket. is this true? and if it is and this turns out to be the location the leak is coming from, is it possible to just goop the crap out of the side of the oil pan with more sealant and have it actually seal? or do i have to drop the oil pan to apply a fresh coat. (note, i don't need it to seal PERFECTLY, the truck is 20 years old, a few drops won't bother me, but it has to be better than it is now).

thanks for the help!

 

Gooping sealant on the outside probably won't cure it or even slow it down much. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I've never had any luck doing that.

I did recently hear of a method that sounds kind of promising for doing it though. I have not tried this, but in theory it sounds like it might work. The idea is to connect a vacuum cleaner to the oil filler holeon the valve cover to create a low pressure in the crankcase, then spray leaking pan gasket with brake cleaner. The vacuum is supposed to draw the cleaner into the leak area which will clean it better than just spraying it on the outside. Then, with the vacuum still in place and running, you gob the sealant on and hopefully the vac will suck it into the gap.


I have not tried it, but like I said, it sounds like it might work. Take it for what it's worth, which isn't much!

If the leak is really bad, I would suspect the sender instead of the pan gasket, because the sender is going to be a pressure leak, while the pan gasket is a simple static leak.

Hope this helps.