Slight Oil Leak, 1995 4cyl.

[Camry95]

Hey everyone,

Just signed up. My dad's hiace was written off a couple weeks ago and after looking at a number of cars we have purchased a 95 toyota camry, 4cyl auto with 160,*** on the clock.

We bargained the guy down and got $1200 off the price under condition we get our own roady. It's goin into the mechanic tommorow to get looked over.

Anyway, it's got a small oil leak. I'm a holden man myself and under the bonnet of this thing I'm just clueless. It's dripping to the ground just behind and to the inside of the drivers front wheel. I was wondering where it's most likely to be coming from? What areas to check first. Any help much appreciated.

Other then this little leak it's a very clean car, full service history and owned by a pensioner the last few years.

Thanks for any advice, John. :)

Edited May 24, 2009 by Camry95

[ASG14]

From the area you describe, ir;s either 1, or both of the following most likely.

1: Valve cover gasket (pretty cheap and easy)

2: Cam or Crank seals.

Do you know if it ever had a timing belt change?

[Camry95]

From the area you describe, ir;s either 1, or both of the following most likely.

1: Valve cover gasket (pretty cheap and easy)

2: Cam or Crank seals.

Do you know if it ever had a timing belt change?

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, on one of the service reciepts the camshaft timeing belt was replaced in March last year.

I got the car up on the ramps and had a look. Getting under the motor, to the back of the engine bay and looking up, there is oil mostly located around 4 pipes going into the motor (I think coming from the throttle body, the thing with '2200' stamped on it.) The oil is around on the motor in that area and under the 4 bolts under them pipes, as though the bolts are leaking. Hope this makes sense.

Edit: I have a couple photos too help. Gimme a couple mins though.

Edit2: Okay, here is the general area where the oil is, at the back of the bay looking up...

And a close up of them bolts...

Oh, and I should also point out this is an Australian model, so it's right hand drive.

Edited May 24, 2009 by Camry95

[ASG14]

Perfect, thats the easy and cheap oil leak. :) The valve cover gasket. I think you call it the Rocker Cover in Australia. It's a normal thing to happen, and I've replaced it on several different cars.

Then the gasket gets old and brittle, the oil leaks out, and sometimes quite a lot. If a mechanic does the repair, it should not be more then 2 hours labor. I can do it myself in under 1 hour. If your car savy, you can do it yuorself. :)

[Camry95]

Perfect, thats the easy and cheap oil leak. :) The valve cover gasket. I think you call it the Rocker Cover in Australia. It's a normal thing to happen, and I've replaced it on several different cars.

Then the gasket gets old and brittle, the oil leaks out, and sometimes quite a lot. If a mechanic does the repair, it should not be more then 2 hours labor. I can do it myself in under 1 hour. If your car savy, you can do it yuorself. :)

Thanks mate. Yer, call them rocker covers here, I've done them on my holden 304, but jap motors are confusing to me :P

Thanks again :)

[ASG14]

If you decide to do it I can give you a list of the parts to get (should be pretty cheap), and do a quick writeup for you. It;s really pretty easy. Just 4 bolts that hold the cover on.

[Camry95]

Well it's getting the roady done tomorrow anyway, and the mechanic is a mate of me dad's so he'll give him a good deal. Thanks for the offer though.

[ASG14]

Let us know how it all turns out. :)

[Camry95]

Got the roady done this morning. Mechanic tightened the rocker bolts, but suspects the leak is coming from somewhere higher up. Did a full service etc. Anyway, dad's gone to get the car registered and transferred to his name so we'll check if the leak has stopped once he gets back and parks it in the drive for an hour or so.

[Whip Cracker]

Hey mate... these things are always getting those leaks (well, you'll hear more about them these days as they get older) but yeah... if the bolts being tightened don't fix the problem, replace the gasket... pretty normal these days. I can't think of anywhere else that it could leak from where the oil's coming from.

[Camry95]

Thanks mate. Haven't checked it since actually. Probly should have. But it's registerd and roadworthy now. So a slight leak is no worry at the moment.

[Twin_Cam_Z]

Had the same problem with my old civic...i used Loctite Master Gasket Sealer, its a small tube and its like a silicon, it sealed up the rocker cover and i ran it for another 2 months without any problems before deciding to sell the car!!