Timing cover leaking?

I was talking to a certified Toyota mechanic this past weekend at a Christmas party, and we discussed this exact topic. He said it is one of the most common repairs they see for the older 2nd gens, and far from being a threat to your truck unless it's a profuse leak that requires oil top-offs every month or sooner.

Mine has been leaking for well over 50k miles, but it's so minimal it rarely ever drips to the ground. I have maybe 3 oil drips in my entire driveway from it. An occasional degreaser spray on the affected area, and it's all clean again.

I just need to get in there and fix it. Just so many things to get out of the way, and so many bolts. I'm just lazy.

 

wrmathis, Dude you rock.

Are you talking about griding down the metal hinge on the powersteering pump itself, or the metal on the engine? Which part did you grind?

 

on the Power steering pump its self. i didnt even take off that much. used a dremel and took off very little. enough for it to just slide in there with no issue

 

honeslty, all u need to do is remove fan and shroud, engine belt, two bolts that hold the power steering pump. then just grind down a little off the power steering pump. and its just the top bolt hole that needs to be done. the bottom doesnt get sandwiched like the top part does

 

Would it re-seal the timing cover automatically...by relieving the pressure? Or once it blows, the gasket needs to be replaced, then the PS pump ground down to prevent it from happening again...?

 

dont think the timing cover has a gasket other than the FIPK or whatever it is that they use. its just like ultra gray really. anyways, i'd ground it down to see if that works (clean up the oil residue) and see if its leaking after that. if its leaking, then that sucks and probably be a pain to do any kind of sealant

 

I have 53,000 on my 07. Am I screwed on this

 

5 yrs, or 60,000 miles warranty

 

I tried JB weld high heat (amazing stuff) for flat cracks...like on a valve cover, but I wasn't thinking...(seam). Never put JB weld over a seam...ahhh. I'm sanding it down now with my dremel. Oops. They also sell epoxy acid at Home Depot for $10, but it takes several coats to put a dent in JB weld.

I guess I'm going to try Flex Seal after grinding it down lol

 

Is it 5 years 60k. Whichever is 1st?

 

Really, I don't see this a threat as you put it. I took my Tacoma to my dealer back in 2010 back when i read there was a TSB out. If any owner does their due diligence, it wouldn't be a catastrophe as you are making it seem. The oil seepage is minim land most if not all won't notice ny major oil loss over 5K. I'm sorry and not trying to be a dick, but this thread reeks of troll.

 

if you guys are still sub'd, would you mind snapping a few pictures of where you mean? thanks

 

Pull the steering pump off and it's where the top bolt goes. I did the part on the pump itself that faces the front of the truck. I don't have any pics tho

 

thanks for your help, i'm not too mechanically inclined, but i might get the balls to do this sometime if i look into it more, i'm not even sure if this is the right part, but you mean shave off part of where the bolt goes through?

like in the picture?

 

Yeah or the part closes to the pulley. Also, I did it with out disconnecting any lines. Basically shave some off until that part slides into it's mounting part easily

 

cool, thanks for the info!

 

Mine ended up being the head gasket after the dealer tried 3 times to reseal the timing cover. That fixed the leak but they didn't tighten the damn harmonic balancer bolt. Luckily I found that before it did bad things but was still pissed at the lame dealer shit. Glad to be rid of the 05. Too many seal issues on that truck.

 

I have an 05 Taco Pre-Runner with 224,000 miles only minor repairs have been needed otherwise this truck has been a beut...Until Now looking at my engine there is LOTS of oilycrud built up on the passenger side of the engine starting from around the P/S pump towards the engine and leading all the way down to about the front of the transmission...now I'm hoping by some miracle it's not the timing cover, but it most likely is. Once again I'm obviously past warrenty with the age of the truck and the 224,000 miles, So I have no idea what to do why there isn't a free fix from Toyota for this I don't know I personally am supprised that there isn't because it's so widespread.


So if there's anybody that can help me with this PLEASE DO! Because yesterday I went to go to school started the engine and immiediatly heard knocking too which I found out I had no oil left do to this leak ;(
Thanks!

 

anyone have an idea why one would keep leaking?
i brought mine in for the timing cover repair and 2 months and 4000kms later leaking again!
is there maybe a vent or something that might be plugged ? maybe the cats are plugged in the exhaust?
any help would be great thanks

 

Mine has been leaking for about 2 years now currently have around 160,000 miles on the truck. I have a plan in place though once I acquire all the necessary parts to fix it. The stealership quoted an outrageous price($2400) to fix it and I told them I may never come back for service here again after hearing that estimate. The leak has been getting worse though. At first I noticed that it wasn't that bad and I thought oh I can just let it go and it will be fine. But now it has gotten to where I have to add an extra quart of oil between oil changes. I notice performance is not that great anymore also and I have lost 1-2mpg in the last couple years also. That may be partially due to larger than OEM sized tires too. But I can visually see the spot in my parking spot getting bigger and bigger. I have a local mechanic from this forum that is going to help me knock it out once I get everything ordered.