1999 Toyota Camry LE ( I think its a four banger ). Front wheel drive.

Hello helping a friend diagnose bad oil leak. It drips a couple times per second when engine is on. We degreased the engine and I believe found the source of where its leaking. Its not something easy like valve cover gasket (as that was just replaced), or the oil pan gasket. But its something on the side of the engine where the belts are. I'm attaching a picture that points to what I believe to be the exact source of the oil. If anyone knows what I should do next to help my friends car stop leaking oil it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

The picture is just a couple inches above oil pan gasket to give idea of what we are looking at, on the side of the engine where the belts are (passenger side).


heres youtube video of what I believe to be exact engine:

Heres screen shot I took from video that shows the spot oil is coming from:


Took some more screenshots from the video. From what I can tell perhaps the oil is going from the crankshaft seal, and theres a little shoot there for the oil to drain out the timing chain cover so that the oil doesn't build up in there in the event there is a leak:



What do you guys think? I'm trying to identify exactly where the leak is so I can help my friend determine whether he will keep his car or not. If I can say its for certain the crankshaft seal then we can decide if we fix it ourselves or if he pays a shop or just sells the car.

 

Its common for the oil pump drive shaft seal to leak when the engine is running. This can cause a steady drip with the engine running, The drip location is from under the firewall side of the timing cover bulge that covers the oil pump pulley..

The oil pump has an o-ring seal between its housing and the large housing its bolted to. Rare for this seal to leak.

One can buy the oil pump drive shaft seal and change it out. YouTube may have video's of this job.

When taking off the oil pump TAKE NOTE of what direction the larger outer oil pump gear is oriented. The pump has an inner gear that is part of the drive shaft and an outer gear. This outer gear can be installed into the large housing two ways and you want the same way it came out.

You will also need a new o-ring.

See private message.

When putting the pump back together apply a little grease or oil between the gear faces and housing areas to help seal the clearances and allow for self priming with oil. Has happening the pump will not prime..

 

Thank you for the very helpful reply.
Question, considering the engine is leaking only when it runs, does that suggest the culprit is likely the oil pump drive shaft seal and not the crankshaft or camshaft seal? When servicing that area of the engine, should one just replace all the seals in the area (crank/cam/oilpump) since the work getting to them is about the same?

 

Yes to all.

Given your statements, the steady drip in the indicated area when engine running is indicative of a bad oil pump seal. This seal is under oil pressure while the other seals are not.

It is common to replace the cam/crank seals if the area is taken apart. If the seals are leaking there can be signs of oil.

Before taking the cam/crank seals out make sure you can put them back in with the tools you have. The crank area has room to drive a seal in but the cam area is restricted. YouTube may have videos on the cam seal installation.

All seals and the oil pump o'ring should be available. You will need a soft jawed vice or such to hold the oil pump inner gear to unbolt the pulley nut from the integral driveshaft.

Again make sure you put the outer gear into the pump housing in the same orientation as removed and apply some grease to the all gear edges to seal the area for better priming with oil.

Also best to change the timing belt, pulleys, etc as easy to so and belts due break. The life rating is between 60K and 90K depending on year of car. Get a decent brand belt such as Bando.

Some people also change the water pump.

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Lack of trans fluid can cause slipping.

Or could be a bad converter or trans clutch slipping.

 

hello again!
I think your comment "Lack of trans fluid can cause slipping. Or could be a bad converter or trans clutch slipping." may have been intended for another thread?

But while I'm here I'll give a status update. Replaced the oil pump seal and gasket. Noticed camshaft seal appeared to be leaking pretty bad too so replaced that. Crankshaft seal appeared fine but replaced that too. As you suggested, got a new belt as well. Although locally I was unable to get a bando, but I got a Gates which I read was fine. Today I'll be putting everything back together so I'm using the FSM to gather torque specs.

Thankfully a parts store in town sold the lisle 58430 which made it possible for me to pull the camshaft and crankshaft seals. Unfortunately I could not find anything for reinstalling them, and spent the better part of a day trying to find a way. Eventually ended up fabbing something using PVC pipe and washers, then using the tensioner pulley bolt on the camshaft and the crankshaft bolt for the crankshaft for resealing the seals. Hardest one was camshaft seal. It can appear to be seated all the way when it actually is not because of the grooves that stop it from having a flush surface all the way around. So one must have exact fit of something to push that seal in. Eventually I figured out that just using the old seal to make contact with the new one, then the PVC and washer was the way to get it in all the way. So hopefully I did the camshaft seal right.

Now I begin putting it all back together. Does the timing belt cover require a gasket? There appears to have been a silicon one there before, but some of the youtube videos they replace it without one.

 

Yes, mistook your thread for one having a trans leak out of the bell housing.

Your actions to install he came seal are well thought out! Good job.

The belt cover has a groove for a seal similar to weather stripping The seal keeps out debris and water but is not fluid tight hence the use of silicone seal as a substitute. Window screen spine might work in a pinch who knows. The correct seal is still available from a dealer or after market.

Before installing the cover MAKE SURE the cam/crank pulley timing is correct. Do this by aligning the pulley marks as done to install the belt then rotating the pulley CW two times to see if the marks are still lined up. Has happened the cam pulley moves when releasing the belt tensioner causing the alignment to be off.

 

I think I got the timing right. Started it up before putting the cover back on and revved it up and it sounds good. I used a clip to hold the belt to cam before tensioning the belt.

I have some of this I used on the oil pump gasket. Should I use it for the timing chain covers aswell? https://www.autozone.com/sealants-gl...3oz/554295_0_0

Theres also this but I'm not sure if its what I need:
https://www.autozone.com/internal-en...5920/73634_0_0

edit: ended up using the silicon but letting it dry first.

Now the car is fixed and back on the road. My friends really happy about it as he didn't have the money to pay a shop or buy another car, but now his is fixed thanks to camryforums.com!

Thank you for your help.

These are the main youtube videos I used incase anyone else comes here for help.

I had already purchased the 08887-01206 grease before starting.... but things I would have made sure to have before starting if I was to do this a second time are the Lisle 58430 Shaft Type Seal Puller for getting the seals out. And I would have purchase cam seal installer tool as well because it look so long improvising something that worked. And I would have payed more attention to where the long and deep bolts go on the pump and belt cover, because some are shorter or longer and I wasted a couple hours trying to figure out which ones went to the right place when putting it back together. Also a chain wrench is a must for holding the cam/crank shaft still for torquing if one doesn't have the specialized tools for that as well... also good to have some paint pens for marking TDC or alignment things as helper.

 

Great Job! Thanks for the overview of your process and references used.

The Ultra Black sealant works well. Best to let it cure 24 hrs to seal fluids or such but assume for the cover it does not matter as nothing liquid or under pressure to seal.

The timing belt cover gasket is below:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...zPTzH7HA%3D%3D

Suggest in the future to use a bolt-on crank pulley holder which bolts to the front of the pulley. The pulley is a two piece design with a rubber insert between them. Too much torque on the outside of the pulley can cause the insert to give way and the outside pulley rotate while the crank doesn't move.

 

Ah I see what you mean I think about the crank pulley... using a chain wrench (which may work well on the cam), may not be the way to go when torquing the crank because the outside of the pulley can turn freely from the inside of the pulley under high torque?

I had actually used a 1000lb impact gun with extension to tighten the bolt at first, then used the chain wrench on pulley to check the torque using a torque wrench and it clicked without needing to turn the bolt any.