So I have a 94 4runner with a brand spankin' new 3.0 and the original 5 spd. Two problems have arose all of a sudden. (And I mean, almost overnight!) The engine is just about to turn 14k miles,and it's beginning to leak oil from the rear of the block. Not real bad, maybe a qt every 2k miles. But it souldn't be leaking at all. I did searches a found some useful information, but I could use some more input. Is there a good engine oil 'stop-leak' I could add? I just put in some STP Stop Leak when I changed my oil last week, with no geed results so far. It seams a lot of you with 3.0's have had to replace the rear main seal. This is a likely suspect. So is the oil pump. I'm trying to avoid taking my runner down for maintenance for long periods of time right now, though. It's currently my dd.
My big concern is the fact that I'm losing coolant, and I don't know where. It's not leaking, not puddles, no pools on the engine are accumulating. It's just disappearing. Dare I suspect my head gasket is leaking so soon. Has anyone experienced this? Any ideas will help.

 

Oh yeah,
no water in the oil. No loss of power, 4runner runs fine.

 

Anybody?

 

When you say "new 3.0".... everything is brand new, or just rebuilt completely?

If it is the rear main seal, was wondering if the old crank was used and a new seal, perhaps there is a fitment issue. The crank can wear at the seal and make the next new seal not fit as tight as it needs to be.

I have a similar leak on my rebuilt 3.0. Not looking forward to pulling the tranny again to get to it. My crank was old, and I think the problem I am describing is the source of the leak I have.

I have heard a neat trick that one can take the new seal and sand it on a flat surface to reduce the depth. That way, the new seal sits further back on a new part of the crankshaft.

 

I have a 130k 3.0 that doesen't leak that much oil, but still leaks some. Mine is leaking from what appears to be the valve covers but seeps down the back of the motor and looks like its comming from the rear main, but I'm 99% sure it isn't.

 

stop leak... (shutter)


my vote... valve cover gasket

 

When I say new, I mean new as in crate motor from TMC in San Fran. Everything is brand spankin new. I have done no work in the interior of the engine, yet. I took a good look at the backs of my valve covers when I went to clean my engine, and I think they're a likly suspect. Both are "seaping" a little from the back. But what's ending up on my garage floor is much more than what's coming from the Valve cover gaskets. I think I'm going to replace them anyway.
Could my oil cooler be leaking? It's sort of in the right spot to be suspect.
Still not sure where all my coolant is going. Overheated again today driving to work. I've gone through about a half gallon in the last week.

 

Got Warranty?

 

Missing oil and coolant... seems like a possible HG failure, but surprising with such a new engine and relative low miles. Does seem if you are at least finding leaks, the HG wouldn't be to blame for loss of oil though. Coolant... maybe a small leak or bad hose?

Perhaps check your compression in all cyclinders. Might give you a clue. I'd agree with Gohawks and check your warranty. My oil cooler did leak by the way. Previous owner or mechanic had twisted a seal when repairing.

 

Update:
Found the loss of coolant. Thermostat housing was spraying just enough to drain, but it was evaporating quickly. Thank god it wasn't my water pump. That thing's a pain to get to. I'm still not convince that all the oil is coming from the seeping valve covers, but I've completely cleaned and degrease my entire engine and inspected everything from every angle possible without pulling the motor, and I can't find a significant leak anywhere else. I guess it is time for a compression check, but I'm not losing any power???

 

More new developments:
Replaced the t-stat. Thought I was in the clear. Now rapidly consuming coolant, smoking like crazy, but subsides when engine gets warm. Not happy about replacing the HG with only 10k on my engine. Which brings up another issue; got the paperwork on my engine. Guy I bought if from said it was new, but come to find, it was reman'd by a local shop. Although it was a 100% overhaul, It's still not new. So 10k after a rebuild I have a leaking HG.
I really don't have the time to take this thing down for weeks to attempt this repair myself. It's my DD and I need it back, soon. Has anyone had their HG replaced by a shop or dealer? Any ballparks on what it ran $$$? I've read about the recall on some HG's, but don't know if Toyota's still doing it, or if it applies to my model/year.
Any ideas?

 

sounds like they didnt use new head bolts when they put it back together which resulted in poor HG performance.

its really nothing a local shop that knows toyotas should be able to take care of.

If your still within the millage range i belive toyota will still honor the HG reacall but as you have had yours worked on already, i dought they will give you anything.

 

Wow John, that is one sad situation. Nothing wrong with a good reman but if the company did a cheep rebuild as in old head bolts and cheep gasket set like felpro then that would account for your problems. I would talk to Ted at engnbldr.com about your problems and see what he has and recomends.

I would really pull the engine to see what all is leaking as there shouldn't be any leaks at that milage. If your valve cover and rear main are leaking then I'd seriously consider doing a gasket set on it to save another surgery in the future. Whatever you do talk to Ted his products are top notch and the price is right.

 

Elvota, i'm having this exact problem right now. Brand new motor, has lost two rear main seals in less than 2 hours on the motor. I'm not sure what i'm gonna do this time. It's not leaking as bad as the first one, but still a leak on a brand new motor. Just curious if you fixed yours with the sanding method, or something else. I'm not looking forward to pulling the tranny again, but would rather do that, than go with the stop leak method (looking pretty good at this point.)

 

I seem to remember Ted from engnbldr.com having a solution for this that was better then sanding. Maybe drop him an email and see what he says.

 

Doesn't Ted have some sort of sleeve for the crank that remedies the issue?

 

I emailed ted, and i'm talking with a buddy right now that is talking about something like this. He called it a wedding band for the crank, anyone have any info on this