Hello! New member here. I have a 98 Camry 2.2L 4cyl with 231,000 miles. original owner.
Question about oil leaks.......
2 years ago I resealed the oil pan gasket.
1 year ago replaced,resealed the valve cover gasket.

Recently noted 2-3 inch circle of oil on garage floor each morning and smaller size after short drives. Went under the car and noticed 2 areas of oil leaks. 1) from the general area of the timing belt cover towards the passenger side of engine dripping down to the bottom of the engine. Large leak. 2) collecting on the top of the trans/differential case and leaking from somewhere above just could not see where from below.

Took it to an independent shop that has a long history in the community of honest business practice and I know the owner personally. Diagnosed with 2 leaks........1) oil pump seal 2)power stering pump seeping also. I chose to have the oil pump seal replaced along with the timing belt, water pump, and 3 or 4 seals/gaskets total.....camshaft, crank case, oil pump, and another I think since gaskets original and 130,000 on the timing belt and water pump. I chose to hold off on replacing the power steering pump due to lack of available cash and not feeling it was anemergency and wanted to see over time how much its really leaking . Total for the work done was $792. The underside and engine was steam cleaned by the shop and I was asked to come back in a week or 2 to evaluate the work and check for leaks. At that time I felt the leak I had previously noted dripping on top of the trans/differential was not picked up by the technitian or possibly was oil that drifted from the leaks that were being fixed so I did not mention it further.

2 weeks...no leaks on the floor. I take it back to have them check for leaks and they said there is a leak from the cam plug. They did not say which side or any details, just the cam plug, never heard of one before. I looked online and saw a rubber one and a metal 1/2 circle one.

Called a few parts stores and they did not know what part I was talking about. Called the local Toyota dealer and they said its the metal 1/2 circle ones an do not buy any, just push the old ones out/clean them and reseal and seat them with ATV sealant.

I go out in the garage and look for myself and I see 2 plugs very close to each other soaked in oil and appears to follow down to the top of the trans/differential box where it now makes more sense to me.

I call the dealer back and he says he has never ordered the rubber ones but can for $15. The local independent shop wantrd $130 for the part and labor.

My dilema.......visualize please.....looking at the side of the engine from the drivers side wheel.....there is a plug(#1) that is 1/2 on the valve cover side and 1/2 on the cam side. The valve and the cam metal curves to accomodate the plug. Its rubber and about a 2 inch circle. It has oil all on it.........about 3 inches lower and 3 inches towards the front of the engine is another plug(plug #2, in the cam area still I think) about the same size, its rubber with a metal edge to it and it to is covered in oil too. My Haynes repair manual does not show anything about these plugs and nothing about removal/instalation so I cannot even get a name or visual let alone removal/instalation instructions.

What is the first plug called?

What is the second one called?

I am assuming the top/higher one due to gravity is the one leaking but wonder if I should replace them both, so I need to know what to call them so I can order them? And, without knowing the names...not sure which one the shop is going to replace and if its the correct one, although I assume that they know what they are doing?

Has anyone done these replacements before, is it a big hassle, should I just let it go etc.? For $130 is it just worth it to have the shop do it for my time and the fact that its cold in my garage here in NW Indiana.

Any help woud be appreciated. Thanks! Dave

 

The service manual calls it a semi-circular plug.

Have never replaced the plug or resealed them personally but leaking is not uncommon.

The plugs fill a hole that in earlier year engines was for the distributor Your engine has remote sensors that replace the distributor.

If you note the side of the head where the cam pulley is (see Haynes manual), you should see that the cam upper bearing splits right at the level where the valve cover gasket would mate with the had. The opposite side of the head has the same setup. The two plugs install in the hole left by the distributor being removed from the ign system.

FYI, the side of the head facing the passengers side should have a half round plug for the cam not driven by the pulley. This plugs an area made during the head machining process.

Unless you purchase some kind of complete gasket set the Toyota dealer is the best option for obtaining these plugs. The dealers parts computer software has diagrams that will show these plugs, you can check the diagram to confirm.

Tell then you are replacing the two semi-circular plugs in the head, drivers side where the distributor used to be installed in older model engines. I doubt if there is more then one type of this 2 piece plug for this engine model. The parts person should know what you are talking about. Not sure if the items comes with the rubber and assume aluminum plug.

Of chance the rubber one could have deteriorated over time, the metal one just needs resealing.

The dealer is correct in that most people remove, clean and reseal the plugs and mating surfaces with sealant. The OD of each plug has a couple of grooves that can be filled with sealant. Toyota has their own brand but auto stores should have it. It is called Form In Place Gasket material or FIPG.

If not using new plugs, clean out the FIPG from the grooves and any oil from matting surfaces. Fill the groves in the plugs with sealant, might coat the inside lip area and hole bore slightly with FIPG. The install in the same position as removed. The plugs have lip so they can only be pushed in so far.

Is it worth $130, depends, how good are you at auto repair?

I am not sure if the valve cover needs to be removed. If so, follow the procedures in the Haynes manual. Make sure to apply FIPG to all the corners where the upper cam bearings mate to the head. This is where the valve cover gasket takes its sharpest turn.

You should be able to the job in an hour, maybe two.

If it is too cold and you can live with the leak, wait until the temps rise. The leak typically does not get any worse but of course keep an eye on it. The oil is not under pressure as the oil pump seal is, this is just leakage out of the valve train area.

The worst leak is the oil pump, it can leak 1 quart in under 50 miles if bad.

You stated there was a lot of oil on top of the trans, typically this would be from a leaking distributor (if the engine had one) or these plugs. Was this leak fixed? Would assume unless it was obvious to the mechanic something else was leaking they would have checked these plugs during the repair.

 

Thanks for the reply!

When I went into the shop I started to explain that I beleived there were 2 leaks from 2 different areas from when I went under the car, one by the timing belt cover and one towards the middle of the car that was landing on top of the trans/differential box. The service manager interupted me and I do not think he wanted to type all my information on the ticket for the technition. He said that they will steam clean it and take a look and that they have been fixing leaks for 33 years. I found that frustrating as I know more about cars than the average customer and often work on my own, but did not want to argue about multiple leaks before they put it on the rack etc.

The shop noticed the oil pump seal as a big leak and also the power steering pump seeping some. They fixed the oil pump seal and I waited on the power steering pump.

I took it back in 2 weeks later and overheard the technitian telling the service manager after he put it up on the rack that the other leak was there and he was basically stating that it said there were 2 leaks on the original ticket and that the original tech missed it. (the cam plug leak). I was frustrated by the miss and them not listening to me and mostly by not just simply saying, "yeah, you said 2 leaks and where they were at and we missed it, sorry" But realistically I did not expect that.

Basically it was an error on their part in communication and not listening to the customer. Its a communication thing and they are human and they get people in there all day who do not know a darn thing about anything, so its understandable. Either way, the car leaks at the cam plug and thats that. I think when I brought it back in a fresh set of eyes saw it clearly after looking better at the original ticket saying 2 leaks and becasue it was still leaking. The big leak was fixed at least.

I have replaced the valve cover in the past and followed the Haynes manual and used the proper sealant in the correct areas, so resealing the plugs should not be a big issue.

They sure look look like a full rubber circle to me, but there is oil on them and they are old, and there is a bracket partialy obstruction the view too.

I think what threw me off towards rubber cirle ones, is when I googled 98 camry cam plug, 2 of the online stores showed both a rubber circular plug and a metal 1/2 circe plug. Go figure.

I will keep a watch on it. Now my oil level has not dropped in 2 weeks like it was doing prior to the oil pump seal fix, so I may just wait till spring when I was planning to change the spark plugs again along with some other stuff and just add the cam plugs to my to do list.

 

If you can replace the valve cover gasket, you can reseal the plugs.

The setup could be an upper rubber plug and lower aluminum plug. This will give you time to get the FIPG material, check autoparts stores or the dealer has it.

 

Thank you for the help! Much apreciated.