Hi y’all!

This year I acquired a 1988 pickup standard cab, manual, 22r, long bed. Amazing truck, I feel very lucky to have it.
I purchased with a blown head gasket and performed the repair myself.
I just drove from New Orleans to Detroit (1050 miles) and when I got there, I was about 1.75 quarts low on oil.
Then I freaked out!
I’m seeing oil leak from the front of the engine, and I’m just not sure what’s causing this or how to fix it. Realllllly hoping I don’t need to tear the timing cover off. Any advice or diagnosis is really appreciated!
I attached a couple photos of the leak for reference.

 

Most likely the front oil seal.

Get some degreaser, clean it off really well, then drive for awhile and check from below (easier to see if it's the seal).


Easy to fix. Just pop off the front pulley and replace the seal. Only use an actual Toyota seal.

 

hey dude thanks for replying! This is after I cleaned it all off ( I should have mentioned that) so it is definitely leaking here. Which seal would this be?

 

Are things good by the distributor? I had that o-ring start leaking and it's an easy fix.

 

 

Typically, the oil pump o-ring and front crank seal get replaced together. The oil pump comes off easily, just make sure to keep track of the bolts. They’re not all the same, and it’s critical to get each one back in the right hole.
Also, make sure the upper and both lower radiator hoses are clean of oil splatter.

 

Oil leaking from the front seal will go all over the place due to the cooling fan blowing it every where. When you put the oil pump back on use a little bit of grease to hold the o ring on the back side of the oil pump in place. If it gets pinched while being installed it will leak like crazy.

 

Whelp, y’all. I replaced the distributor shaft o-ring. Was definitely leaking there a little, the old o-ring was hard as a rock and I could see leakage. I was hopeful that was all. I drove it a little ways and it was still pissing oil. Then I saw this! Looks like when I replaced the head gasket, I must have overtorqued that hidden bold under the cam drive gear and it cracked my timing cover.
I’m so close to cleaning and scuffing the surface and taking my chance with JB weld as a temp solution. Winter is coming, and the truck goes on jack stands and gets covered anyways, so I’m thinking I can replace the timing cover (may spring for the whole dual row kit) in the spring. I even bought a new crank seal (the thinner one from Toyota) so I could do that at the same time.

 

Blast it with carb cleaner then brake cleaner.

Let dry.

Blob some ultra-grey RTV over it.


Mine didn't crack, but it leaked on the top of the timing cover until I ultra-greyed the whole seam. (I messed up the bit of head gasket between the head and timing cover when doing a timing chain replacement)

Also ultra-greyed the transmission case seam on my motorcycle that had a slow drip........

 

J-B could work, I learned to never underestimate it’s possible uses. Getting the fissure free of any residual oil is key. I’d probably remove the bolt and clean the bolt hole of any oil too. Also, the fissure may open up a bit, making it easier to clean.

I know some people endorse the shortcut of pulling the timing cover while leaving the head and oil pan in place, but I’m not a fan. Especially since your goal is to remedy oil leaks. I think in the long run the FSM method uses up less time.

 

Theres really no reason to convert to a dual row chain. It still has all the same problems as the single row.