Timing Cover Leak - fix it or leave it?

Hi all,

I finally acquired another Tacoma after selling my 2007 5 years ago.

I purchased a 2016 TRD off road with 55k miles from a Toyota dealer. Beautiful truck that was babied by the prior owner. Two days after I brought it home I noticed what appeared to be an oil leak behind the power steering pump and dirt and grime in the area. Brought it to the dealer who cleaned the area and put dye in it and told me to return in a couple weeks.

After some research on here I am concerned it is the timing cover leaking. The dealer includes a 90 day warranty so I believe they will cover it if that is the case. However, I am concerned with how invasive the procedure is to reseal the timing cover and am concerned something else will get broken during the repair. I would like to keep this truck for 20 years or so. It appears to be a small amount of oil leaking/weeping and I doubt it will be noticeable between oil changes.

I am curious if any of you have had this seep and decided just to leave it and clean the area each oil change? Is there any harm in doing this and will the leak get worse over time? I appreciate your opinions.

I likely would not have bought the truck if I would’ve noticed it at the dealer, but I missed it despite thinking I looked over at thoroughly.

 

What dealer is it ? If Toyota have em fix it

 

Sold as is beyond the warranty he stated. That’s why PPI is important to do.

 

I had mine fixed 15k miles ago under my extended warranty. Saved me $3200. I paid $2800 for my warranty, so about a horse trade. I have only 3500 left on my extended, so I’ve been watching carefully for reoccurrence. So far so good. I was told the shop foreman senior Toyota mechanic did mine. I also had an $800 power steering pump replaced before timing cover leak. But I suspect there was never a problem with power steering pump. I’d wager that was the same misdiagnosed leak. Use your warranty.

 

I would leave it alone, but what you can do is remove the power steering pump clean the area very good to make absolutely dry. Then apply sealant on the seam and let it dry overnight . Put the pump back and it should be fine . Other people have done this successfully. Remember that cover just gets oil splash, and there is no real pressure there . It’s definitely worth a try and I really think you will be fine . It’s not very hard to do and what do you have to loose ? Nothing except a little time

 

Thank you for the responses so far,

Yes, it is a Toyota dealership. They say they pride themselves in thoroughly checking their used vehicles before selling, but I guess they missed this one. I had no idea this was an issue, so I did too.

Bishop84, I see you are a Toyota tech from prior posts. Have you seen mostly success from the repair? I have read posts where it starts leaking again later, or something else was broken during the repair?

 

FYI. If you want to tag Bishop84, you need you need to put an @ symbol before the name. @Bishop84 see above...

 

I was in here and deleted once I saw there was no warranty haha.

I've only had them leak again during 2020 and the parts shortages. I did a 2GR on a highlander that leaked 2 years later. We found aftermarket sealant on the invoice, so I was off the hook haha.

As long as its done by a reputable shop you'll be good, but OEM sealant only.

 

Thanks for the advice on tagging. There is a 90 day power train warranty included and I just bought it last week, so it should be covered if their diagnosis also confirms it’s the timing cover.

when I was in the first time, the initial thought was the power steering pump but now that they have put dye in it I have been watching it, and it smells like motor oil to me.

 

Get it fixed under the 90 day warranty. It is very expensive to fix.

 

You’re going to wish you got it fixed for free when you had the chance if/when it gets worse and starts leaving puddles. Don’t neglect to do it because you think they might break something else in the process (which they’d also have to fix for free). Get it taken care of and then enjoy the truck for the next 20 years.

 

I have a 2016 with the same issue. Unfortunately, it started after the warranty was up and there was no way I was going to pony up to have the timing cover resealed. I did what one of the above posts recommended and got the pump out of the way, cleaned the area really good and coated the seam with Permatex Right Stuff. I have checked it daily over the last few months and it seems to have done the trick. I also sealed the pressed in bearing that is in the block directly above the pump. Other threads said this might be the issue and it was the area I observed the most oil.

 

That’s great to know that it worked

 

if you have a dealer 90 day powertrain warranty then yes, get that crap fixed

 

I’m curious why it’s not a Certified Preowned being that it’s under 100k and from a Toyota dealer. You’d have a one year bumper to bumper and 100k power train warranty in that case. Maybe try to work that into the deal if you get it fixed?

 

My 2021 with 4K miles in 2022 wasn’t a CPO either. Don’t know why, I asked, they told me I could pay $1900 to make it a CPO. I passed. All good so far.

 

It’s just barely too old to be a certified. According to Toyota’s website, it can only be six years old to be certified. Mines a 2016 so barely passed that.

 

If they will fix it under the 90 day, go for it. Enough here have been fixed for the same and I can’t say I’ve seen any issues post repair.

 

Some will say leave it alone , i would ask first how much is it leaking?

 

Get it fixed under the warranty. You will be glad you did.