How cooked am I with this leak

[jheymann]

2000 4Runner 3RZ-FE Automatic 2WD
~170,000mi

I haven't been underneath a car enough to know what looks normal for 170k miles, but I noticed a seemingly excessive amount of guck under my car ainkiller:

Are repairs gonna be more than the car's worth you think?

 

[brillo_76]

2000 4Runner 3RZ-FE Automatic 2WD
~170,000mi

I haven't been underneath a car enough to know what looks normal for 170k miles, but I noticed a seemingly excessive amount of guck under my car ainkiller:

Are repairs gonna be more than the car's worth you think?

Follow the leaks up.. How is the valve pan looking? Are you loosing oil? antifreeze or transmission fluid?

mostly the missing fluid will help narrow down what is leaking out. My one rig valve pan gaskets are leaking worse then that..

 

[Pyral]

It's a 2wd, so unless it's a rear main seal any leak there it could be is easy to fix. Find out which fluid it is.

 

[pluton]

Typically, on these cars, the engine leaks oil from the valve cover gaskets or the cam seals in the same area of the engine. Over many years and hundreds of thousands of miles, the [often]tiny leak gradually produces enough oil that it coats a lot of stuff under and around the engine.

 

[Team_Jake]

llll

 

[alumarine]

That could just be the accumulation of 170,000 miles of use.
I'd monitor the engine and transmission oil levels and probably carry on unless either dropped quickly.

Nothing will blow up.

 

[jheymann]

Thanks for replies so far. I'm gonna clean up everything down there to make where the leak is coming from more obvious, and go from there. I'll post an update in a few days

 

[BuffaloBass]

Another option is to hit the engine with foaming engine cleaner to cut some of the old gunk off. It may be impossible to detect where its coming from with years of gunk piled atop it all.

The valve cover gaskets are notoriously leak prone with age.

 

[phattyduck]

Another option is to hit the engine with foaming engine cleaner to cut some of the old gunk off. It may be impossible to detect where its coming from with years of gunk piled atop it all.

The valve cover gaskets are notoriously leak prone with age.

On all older Toyotas - and if the head has "half-moon" seals, make sure they are either replaced and/or re-sealed with the right RTV (Toyota FIPG or equivalent). (not sure if the RZ series motors have half moons)

-Charlie

 

[gamefreakgc]

Mine looked like that at 190K miles when I bought it, leaking valve cover gaskets. You can try the UV dye kits on Amazon or other places where you place the dye in your oil, drive it around as usual for a few hundred miles and then check out the engine with a blacklight. The leak will glow under the UV light and tell you exactly where the leak is. My money's on the valve cover gaskets.

Just think of it this way, the bottom of your engine now will never rust!

 

[phattyduck]

Thanks for replies so far. I'm gonna clean up everything down there to make where the leak is coming from more obvious, and go from there. I'll post an update in a few days

Just had another thought on this one... The 4-cylinder should have regular (say, every 100-200k mile) valve adjustments. If it is the valve cover gasket, you can get a 2-for-1 out of it - sealing up the valve cover gasket comes free with a service you should be doing anyway...

-Charlie