My 2010 with 98k miles may have an oil leak. I didn't notice any oil on the ground so I'm guessing it's just a very small leak but the location of the coating worries me. I bought this car as a certified used so I have another 2000 miles left on my warranty so I'll let the dealer know when I take it in for the side airbag recall. I'd like to see if anyone know where it could be coming from. Thanks!
i can't see anything, but i've heard about timing chain leaks, which can be ignored. if you can get them to fix, it's worth quite a biy since there's some extensive disassembly.
Hard to tell where the picture is from, but a semi common area of concern is the timing chain cover gasket. There are several threads and pictures of the subject, including one I started.
I didn't realize how bad the pictures look when it's in full size on my computer compared to my iPhone. It's pretty deep in there. I'll try to take some better pictures tomorrow.
Bill, I am at 195K miles on my Gen3 which I purchased used at 60K. It has had a small weep of oil in the same area as yours. To me it looked like it was coming from the timing chain tensioner cover. I resealed that with the Toyota FIPG when I purchased it. Based on comments from other members I am inclined to think the real leak is from some small area on the timing cover or from one of the timing cover bolts. I typically clean the area when I change the oil and it has not gotten any worse. If I was still under warranty I would see if they will fix it, but for me, 140K miles later it has not been a big issue.
The dealer gave me a 2107 Corolla rental to drive for the time being covered by the certified pre-owned warranty. They confirmed it was the timing cover leak and they said it'd be a pretty extensive repair. Thank goodness I found it before my warranty is up.
Yeah, it's good that you can get it taken care of under warranty. Don't get too spoiled by the Corollas' LED headlights.
This seems the best approach. I've looked at the install diagrams for that belt cover: the complexity of bolts, areas to be caulked, is just nuts. And of course it's in very tight quarters, down the side of the engine.
Got my car back. Didn't try the Corolla's LED headlights fully because there was still a little bit of daylight left but I can tell they're MUCH better than my Prius's even with HIDs. It was my first time trying the radar cruise on the Corolla and it is very nice. I think I can definitely get use to that for my 2-hour round trip daily commute which 90% of it is highway driving. So it would've cost me $1222.96 including labor and tax but I paid $50. Here's the parts list verbatim: FIPG OIL PAN GASKET, CAMSHAFT BEA VALVE SUB-ASSY, VENT TENSIONER ASSY, CHAI GASKET, CHAIN TENSIO SEAL, TYPE T OIL 2 RING, O GASKET, CYLINDER HEA REPLACEABLE ELEMENT 5 0W20-SINGLE QUART TRAF ANTIFREEZE I guess they have completed part of my 100k tune-up. For $50, not a bad deal at all.
Someone here who had to pay had to come up with $1700 IIRC. And others were quoted higher. That sounds like a decent dealership.
I think the labor time is reduced now since people have found that it is possible to R/R the timing cover without removing the engine.
I was just quoted 17 hours and $2,000 by a dealership to fix a small timing cover leak. They said they use the hours provided by Toyota.
That’s about what I was quoted 4 years ago at the toyota dealer. But at the time I was under an extended warranty, so they covered it. If out of warranty, I would just monitor the oil level as well as the area of the leak and if it got to the point where it was actually dripping, I’d consider doing something. But you probably just have some seeping or dried oil around the seal. Not worth te quoted price, but it’s close to the end of the month and they probably have an expensive toy they need your help paying the monthly bill on. Good luck and keep us posted .
Thanks! I think that is good advice and what I plan to do. The car is running fine and there is always the fear that if they start mucking around in there, it will spawn another problem. I am looking at replacing it about this time next year, so hopefully I will make it until then without any big investments. It's been a good, reliable car.
Here's a TSB for piston and ring replacement. The time allotted for that is 16.6 hrs. To be fair, I think it'd take more time, but anyway: that TSB is a lot more work I would think: removing/installing the timing chain cover would be a minor blip in that job. Again, I would not jump in on this, just monitor for a while (like the service writer suggested). It's a serious intrusion, and might even end up more messed up.
