Expensive Repair at 100,000 for REPLACE TIMING COVER GASKET

welcome!

glad you took a minute. it is a totally unnecessary service that many dealers try to take advantage of people with

 

It's absurd that they'd "drop the engine" to change the timing chain gasket. The going rate for this seems to be around $1700. I would strongly recommend you look for yourself, see how bad the leakage is. You can kinda see, looking from above, on the passenger end of the engine. For a better view, remove the front/passenger side wheel, a few of the fasteners on the plastic panel at back of the wheel well, and flex the panel back, see what it looks like.



If the leakage is minor, you could just "monitor".

 

Is the engine losing oil quantity? If not, it’s 100% deferrable. “Visible” doesn’t mean the gasket needs replacement.

 

The most obvious wear point in the timing cover is the front crankshaft seal. That's basically the only part subject to wear. It is a really easy repair, and the seal cost no more than about $12.

It is a common replacement item, years ago, in engines with timing belts.

1. Using a holder, remove the harmonic balancer center bolt.

2. Pull the crankshaft pulley with the appropriate puller.

3. Remove the square "key."

4. Pry out the old seal.

5. Oil the new seal and drive it in with the appropriate size piece of pipe or custom driver.

6. Reverse the order from numbers 3-2-1, and you're done.

The timing cover needs not to be removed, and you need not to pay $1700 to the dealer.

 

The question would be have we heard of this issue on Prius chat? No, I am thinking.

 

A leak in the front crankshaft seal will migrate to the harmonic balancer and be spun and spayed all over the front cover. It's a high profit margin item for the dealer, when it is most likely the front crankshaft seal -- a much less expensive replacement.

 

It's not that uncommon. Dealership come up with leaking timing chain cover pretty regularly. It's not clear from OP what they want for just the reseal, but it seems pretty steep. Dealerships were on a few occasions coming in around $1700.

About half that amount seems fair, my guesstimate. Just off the top of my head:

1. Remove valve cover.
2.Remove oil filter and oil filter bracket. (some oil will spill)
3. Remove crankshaft pulley.
4. Remove engine mount.
5. Remove all timing chain cover bolts.
6. Pry timing chain cover partially loose, then unbolt and remove water pump. (some coolant will spill)
7.. Completely remove timing chain cover.
8. Clean all mating surfaces between timing chain cover and engine block/head.
9. Apply bead of of Toyota seal packing, spec and location per Repair Manual.
10. Install timing chain cover and install/torque all bolts, per Repair Manual.

Reinstall remaining items in reverse order, torque per Repair Manual.

A leak in the front crankshaft seal will migrate to the harmonic balancer and be spun and spayed all over the front cover. It's a high profit margin item for the dealer, when it is most likely the front crankshaft seal -- a much less expensive replacement.

Not sure, but it seems as often as not the leak is between the seal cover edges and the engine block/head. It's a form-in-place gasket. And when ask to see proof or pictures, often they (service writers etcetera) kinda fade away. I think sometimes it can be gross leakage, but we've have a few cases that were absurdly minor.

 

I would still check the seal around the crankshaft first. In older cars with timing belts, the camshaft seals were prone to leak with age and wear, too. That's not the case with timing chains, since the timing chains are totally within the engine and wetted by the oil galleries.

It's worth a try, since the crankshaft seal is inexpensive and does not require removing the entire timing cover.

Sounds unusual that Mendel does not mention replacing the crankshaft seal even after removing the timing cover.

 

Must be old age. Things get forgotten. Don’t ask how I know this.

 

Most of the reports here are met with similar resides to ignore. I don’t recall any coming back reporting further problems.
It isn’t even enough oil to leave a drop on the ground after overnight parking

 

I see this YouTube summary about used Prii reliability does mention it as a generic Gen3 issue at about the 7.5 minute mark. Yes he says the dealers hustle a bit on this one, and to wait.

 

Prime "acid trip" styling... and "robot face steering wheel that can't be unseen"... LMAO

 

Not sure I agreed exactly with what he said about accidents as far as insurers totalling easily.
The flip side is that the used Prii retain value pretty well so if the damage is in the $2-3K range it makes sense to fix otherwise they owe you $6-7k for 10-yr old Prii

 

Guys, I solved the oil leak on crankshaft seal with this product, AT-205 Re-Seal from Amazon at $9.59!!!
My 2013 Prius V has 185,000 miles and use for Uber/Lyft. No more oil leak with this product.

 

Why I always buy new...

 

Me, too.

And, I will never be an "UNTER" driver. I don't like driving that much. My 2012 Prius v hasn't reached the 22k mark.

 

I had my 2012 Prius V in for 90k mile service. Got the same drill from a dealer in Northern California: $3500 to replace the gasket on the timing chain cover. I just laughed. The car is 8 years old and has 2 years remaining on the traction battery full warranty. The vehicle will be sold or traded before I get to the end of the battery warranty. It really takes absolutely incredible brass to quote such a price to replace what should be a $10 part. It's the kind of thing where one wishes Toyota would lean on dealers about.

 

Yeah again, the going rate seems to be around $1500~1700. It's not a physical gasket: the cover is removed, mating surfaces cleaned, and fresh sealant applied from a tube.

And: look for yourself first, see what you're dealing with.

It is not a trivial job, a fair bit of wrenching to get the valve cover off, and the reseal is painstaking work. Maybe 3~4 hours, for competent and experienced mechanics.

 

Hi Mendel — Do you know if similar issues apply to Toyota Avalon hybrids? I am facing this recommendation (leaking timing cover replacement) on my 2014 Avalon hybrid for over $2800 US. The inspection report said “Timing cover gasket: Noted the front portion of the timing cover is starting to leak oil.” And they listed it as a “needs immediate attention“ repair. But in reading about it online, and particularly this thread, I am definitely wondering if this is over charging for something that could actually be fixed (or at least tried) in a different and much cheaper way.

The car has 140,000 miles on it, and I really can’t afford to replace it, especially with current used car prices. I worry that my big “Toyota 5-Star” dealer generally overcharges (though I think they perform good service), and such an expensive repair will have to go on a credit card to be paid off at bad interest rates

I apologize for bringing this up in a Prius forum, but I will say that a used Prius might be one of the cars I would replace it with when the time comes. Thank you for any insights you may have.

Jane
PS - I attached the four photos they put into the inspection report.