Timing cover leak

4000 sounds like a very high price to me. How much oil are you losing? I would get a 2nd quote from a shop besides the dealership

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Welcome to Prius Chat !

I see you identify yourself as located in the Bay Area. What dealer were you using? At 75 k miles, have you owned since new? Did you buy the extended warranty which was for 8 years and 125 k miles?

That quote is rather high. I had the same leak repaired at Momentum Toyota of Fairfield for nothing as it was covered under warranty . The quote with labor included was $1600.

How bad is the leak: is it puddling or just starting to seep out? If just seeping, your good for awhile. I would get a second quote though if it is out of pocket.

Good luck.

 

That's absurdly high, I've been quoted I think almost half that on a full head gasket job... from a Toyota dealership. An enterprising mechanic could tackle the timing chain cover without removing the engine.

 

It is a lot of labour. Remove wheel, remove water pump, remove pulley, remove engine mount, remove windshield cowl, remove valve cover and then remove timing chain cover. Can you pinpoint exactly where the leak is with a pic please. There is a pulley seal That can be replaced with just pulling the pulley.

timing chain pulley seal

oil filter bracket "o" rings x2

Or it is leaking from the timing chain cover itself, clean area with alcohol and apply grey rtv silicon generously.
timing chain cover off.

or use this and follow all instructions, works extremely well on rubber seals.

 

And, I might add, switch to a heavier motor oil from the 0W20 as soon as you can. Like 10W30

 

That's the part of their advice you should listen to. This is not a serious problem. There's a good chance it will never get beyond a seep, and you'll probably never have to get it fixed. How much oil does your car use between oil changes? If not much, you don't have anything to worry about. Even if your car does consume some oil, most of the consumption is probably not due to that seep.

Keep an eye on it by checking your oil level frequently. If consumption increases, check that location for signs of more than just a seep. It's on the passenger side of the engine. The seep is probably near the bottom.

My car with 168K miles has the same seep. The last dealer to see the car pointed it out to me and said to just keep an eye on it. They did not recommend fixing it. On my car at least, it doesn't cause a measurable amount of oil loss as measured at my oil dipstick.

 

As @Raytheeagle said, the going rate is around $1600 (another Priuschat member posted $1700), $4000 is preposterously high. And yeah, if it's a minor leak, I would just live with it, at least for the interim. That's the one good advice your dealership has given, lol.

I've attached a little light reading, on the sealing and torquing procedure. I'm not sure how possible this all would be in such tight quarters, without engine removal (another can of worms, best avoided). Judging from the last few steps in the attachment, it assumes engine was removed.

 

keep an eye on where you park every night, if you don't see it dripping on the floor, keep watching and ignoring.
you might want to check with luscious garage for a second opinion.

 

I had mine covered under warranty.
The attached link will show you what was involved to have it fixed.

Timing Chain Tensioner "O" Ring Under Warranty? | Page 2 | PriusChat

 

I had that problem fixed. It would've cost me $1200 but I had extended warranty so it was covered.

Oil leak? | PriusChat

 

That's an excellent in-depth description in the invoice. They should keep that guy!

Unless he just cut-and-pasted it from some service bulletin, lol. Still, an interesting step-by-step, what a lot of grief, to fix a lame duck design.

 

I have a 2012 Prius with 77k. I took mine in last month for a routine oil change at the Toyota dealer. The service guy came back out with the shocking news of $2400 to replace the timing chain gasket. I was a quart low and they let me take a look at where it was leaking. I was told by the service guy that they see a lot of these leaks and that the gaskets they use now are better. I was also given 15% off, so it brought it down to $2000. Still not what I wanted but went ahead and told them to just do it.

After they fixed it, I sent the receipt off to Toyota with a complaint on the cost and how disappointing it was after 77k miles, something should have a repair cost this high. After about 2 weeks, they got back with me and gave me a $500 credit towards future Toyota related parts/service. I would have rather had a refund, but was glad I was able to get something rather than nothing.

 

That's awesome! I'm in the same boat here today, although the quote was a little less. Can you help describe how you went about contacting Toyota with the receipt? Thanks for any help.

 

I'm sorry. I haven't been on in awhile. Hopefully you were able to contact Toyota.

I went through Toyota.com, at the bottom of the site is "help - contact us" then the next page was "email us" (or you could call, I preferred email). Then just wait for the response. I believe you can attach your receipts, etc. Just let them know how disappointed you are, etc. With the amount to get this fixed, it pretty much sucked up any gas savings my car had achieved in the last few years I had it, especially at only 77k. So not only did I pay more for this thing than a normal gas vehicle, I got to sink more money into it. So the disappointment is real.

 

I know this is an old thread but I had mine replaced at around 86K miles. It was replaced under a TSB, I think, with a $50 deductible. I believe this might be part of the powertrain warranty? They even supplied a free loaner car while the repairs were being done. The loaner may have been supplied by the dealer and not Toyota, not sure. I have no extended warranties. Originally they were going to replace the head gasket under warranty, same terms, but it turned out to be the timing chain cover gasket. I would not go to that dealer anymore as they sound dishonest. I would report them for gouging.

 

First things first.

We've to be clear.

You said oil started to ooze out from below the timing chain cover?

If that's the case, under the timing chain cover, could mean, 1) crankshaft pulley area that has a rubber seal, or 2) the sump close to the timing chain cover.

If its the leaks at the crankshaft pulley area, only the crankshaft seal can be removed, without removing the timing chain cover.

You just use a small pry bar, orr screw driver, to pull the seal out.

The passenger side tyre has to come off, then the crankshaft pulley is removed using a 19mm socket and wrench.

If you are a DIY, it won't take you up to 30min to replace. While replacing with the one you've ordered, ensure the recess where the seal would fit in is cleaned of debris or oil.

For the timing chain cover, its a hell of a work. Because of the tightness of the space in between the crankshaft pulley area, the engine would have to removed for easy access.

For the sump area, same as timing chain tasks. Not an easy job.


PS: Be specific about what kind of leaks the dealer told you about. That would determine the cost of repairs.

Independent repair facilities can handle the job too. You for to have one you trust.

 

Timing chain doesn't have a gasket! What they do is to apply some hardened silicon glue to mate the surfaces together to prevent t leaks. That's what basically happens from the factory too.

Its only the top cylinder head and valve cover, that has gasketkand rubber seals for the valve cover).

 

Yeah I wonder about that. Engine removal seems like the one way to ensure proper preperation/cleaning and accurate placement of the beads of sealant. Do they though...

I'll attach the Repair Manual instruction for timing chain cover install; it's just nuts.