So I’ve been hunting an oil leak or probably leaks on my 94 22re for a while. It’s a slow but steady drip. I found this spot today. There was a bunch of oil below it and when I touched the bottom there was quite a bit of oil and the edge of the gasket broke off. I’m guess It’s a block off plate for the older 22r or for a 22rte connection? Any ideas?



Leaking plate on side of head…. What is it called?


I don’t know what it’s called to look up the gasket? I was thinking maybe I can do permatex instead but it’s so messy it might not work well. I’m due up for an oil change and would like to do it when the oil is fully drained. Though it’s so high I’m guessing it doesn’t reach up there anyway. A piece of the gasket cracked off in my hand when I checked to see how much oil was down there so I know it’s old!

This once clean engine is looking pretty messy these days. Thankfully it’s just a slow leak and I can top up inbetween changes but I prefer to not have to leave oil anywhere.

I suspect there’s possibly a leak on the oil pan. I pulled it when doing the clutch to rust treat and repaint but two bolts snapped one during install and one just recently when I was checking if any were loose. I barely put the socket on it and it fell off 😭 in hinds site and for anyone considering redoing their oil pan gasket with rtv or toyota sealant GET ALL NEW BOLTS! Hahaha. At some point I’ll have to get the broken bits out and put some new ones but since that means dropping the front diff for now it’s gonna stay as is.

 

That's the block off plate of the mechanical fuel pump on the 22R engines. You want a gasket of the mechanical fuel pump.

 

thank you! I’m gonna look into ordering it tonight 🤙🏽

 

https://209yota1.com/products/fuel-p...reted-engines/

This is the best I could find, I emailed them because fitment doesn't say for my year truck. I cross referenced it to Servco Toyota parts here in Hawaii and same thing. But it sure looks like it would work. Another site selling the block off plate recommended using permatex ultra grey so I may go with that. I just feel like a gasket would work better for how messy that situation is. Even with cleaning it it's gonna be a little oily I feel like.

 

could be the block off plate that is leaking, or that oil could be leaking from the valve cover. leak sources can be misleading because of the flow of air from the cooling fan.

 

Good points I’ll take a closer look but my initial look at valve cover showed pretty clean, and I replaced it about 2 years ago. I suppose it could use a freshen up, but I sorta feel like it should be good for longer than that?

I have been looking at the 22reperformance machined half moons that they sell with the gasket and I’ll probably get a new metal pcv and oil cap from them too at some point

 

just something to check; may not be leaking. as far as the half-moons, i have a generic aftermarket pair in each 4runner, and used rtv as described in the FSM. neither leaks at the moons (or valve cover) after significant miles. not sure the spendy metal ones are a need.

for the block off, i'd just use a thin bead of rtv and call it good.

 

Be advised the PCV grommet often hardens making it very difficult to remove the PCV valve without destroying the grommet. They are only a couple bucks if you can find one. I think i got a carded Dorman one from CarQuest/Advanced Auto.

Agree with Wally, RTV is probably fine for the block off plate.

 

I agree re the grommet. It's generally a good idea not to try to pull the PCV with the valve cover installed. If the grommet IS brittle, and the valve causes it to fall apart, it can get down into the valve train, or even wind up in the oil pan! I always do the grommet when I do the valve lash, about once a year, or once every two years. Why not? I already have the valve cover off anyway..The first time I did the grommet, the valve cover was on. It was on my pickup, and it was 3 years old, with about 60,000 miles on it. It disintegrated, and I was really P/O's at myself. I spent a few hours getting chunks out of the valve train area.
I also replace the valve cover gasket, half moons, and grommets for the valve cover at the same time. There are kits out there for about $20.00, and I feel it's a small price to pay to keep the leaks down.

Always, ALWAYS use OEM PCV valves, BTW. Never use the auto store cheapies. It matters, both for life span, and correct pressure settings.

Have fun!
Pat☺

 

Well we'll see how it goes. I found a paper gasket at the parts store and RTV'd both sides popped it back in while doing an oil change, valve adjustment, swapping o ring on the distributor, and since it was all apart I decided to cleanup and paint the valve cover! After doing this I really want to do the EGR and air injection delete. The cover looks great now with a hammered metallic black finish, but all the vacuum switching valves and hoses covering it look terrible lol.

Hoping this little gasket was the main leak. It was in terrible shape totally shot probably the original. Dry and flaky in some areas and totally cured to the plate and head in others. Took a fair bit of scraping with a razor blade to get it all clean.

I definitely am going to be putting new half moons, a new rubber gasket, and new plugs in the top too. They've ben in there a fair while and while nothing was really leaking I feel it's time. So when I have the bucks for a new PCV and the rest next month I'll do it all at once.

 

Nice.
There’s no oil residue on the underside? Oil pan, etc.

 

oh no there’s quite a bit unfortunately, but despite two broken bolt heads on the oil pan the uv dye test I did showed mostly a leak from the upper part of the motor. I made the mistake of driving the truck for ten minutes instead of letting it idle/run for ten minutes and watching for the leak so it was sprayed all over by the fan. I wiped up what I could but am waiting to check for more leaks before doing any real cleanup.

I repainted the oil pan white with duplicolor to match the body when I was replacing the gasket and clutch. At the time because the truck was my only transport, it was the best paint I had, but there’s a reason they paint them black usually haha. It’s a grimy mess part from the red dirt we have in Hawai’i and part from this oil leak that’s been making it’s way down the front and getting spread around by the fan and highway speeds 😂

 

The way the oil has accumulated on the right side of the fuel pump block off plate makes me think that the origin is elsewhere. The most common source of external leaks on the 22R# is the front crankshaft seal and/or the oil pump o-ring. A common symptom of those leaks(you know, besides everything coated in oil) was the tips of the fan blade having a oil film on them.
The reason I bring this up is the lower radiator hose is in the line of fire if the crankseal/o-ring is leaking. Keep in mind, you have two lower hoses to contend with, and both are hard to see by merely opening the hood and looking down. If oil gets on those hoses and allowed to sit it'll ruin the hose to the point of failure. the rubber will soften and the hose will swell and eventually burst. The one right under the alternator can often get missed.

 

I found this video for the seal and o ring replacement if it needs doing I feel like it’s a pretty manageable job and worth the cost of the strap wrench.

 

Great thank you! I’ll look more at those areas over the next couple days as I watch for leaks.

 

Great video!

 

Right! he’s really thorough in his videos. Covers everything pretty well and not a lot of fluff in music and graphics whizzing by haha

 

Well it definitely appears to be the front main bearing/seal leaking. I’m not able to do this for a while so I’ve just been keeping oil in it. It’s not ideal but it’s been handling for a few thousand miles.

I’m just wondering if there’s anything that seals oil leaks that I can pour in there that would help with this? Is it the seal that’s leaking? Or is due to the groove worn on the crankshaft?

Even if it helps slow things down it would be good. There’s tons of products so I’m not sure what is quality. I’ve done blue devil on vehicles but not sure they work that great.

 

if it's the front main, it is probably a combination of a worn seal and a groove in the harmonic balancer. the crankshaft doesn't leak. it is encased by the harmonic balance/pulley, and the balancer has the smooth machined surface which the seal rides on.

this is a one-hour job to replace it properly, done in the driveway with basic tools. don't mess with pouring crap into your crankcase. fix the leak.