Please help! Massive oil leak with engine running!

D

DoddBoy1

New member
Here's what I have (working on it for a friend in need):
1998 Toyota 4Runner, 3.4L V6, Automatic, 2wd, 186,000 miles
It was pretty much pouring oil off the back of the motor when she brought it to me. I checked up high first, but nothing serious around the valve cover gaskets or back of camshafts. Pulled the dust cover on the bottom of the bellhousing, where a lot of oil had even been trapped, and it appeared to be coming out of the back of the oil pan. Pulled the oil pan, someone had recently tried to fix the leak with silicone on the pan, no gasket though! It was obviously leaking in a couple of spots near the back of it, so cleaned it all up, new gasket, installed the oil pan, and washed off all the old oil. Seemed to be fine at first, but after driving about 10 minutes began to smell oil burning, so stopped and looked and it's back to pouring out again right at the back of the motor!
My questions:
What are the most likely culprits? (Even if it's something I've checked, going to double check)
And she didn't change her oil regularly (going even a year or more and SEVERAL thousand miles between changes) so could that have caused a major failure of the rear main seal? (I've just never seen one leak this badly) Or possibly something else related to that...?
Thanks guys, this one really has me stumped and it just seems like it should be so obvious!
 
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yeah sounds like a rear main, sounds to me like that motor is due for an overhaul if she doesnt change he oil regularly ie letting it go for a year or more ect. who knows what else is damaged, or plugged. i wonder if an oil galley got some debris in it and plugged up causing the system to over pressurize and rupture a seal(s)...
 
Yeah, I was starting to think something like that, just wanted to make sure there wasn't a plug or something on back of the block, or a line or something that I didn't know about before assuming the main was this bad. It's impossible to see the source of the leak back there, too. Is there anyway to measure or gauge where the leak is coming from?
Thanks for the quick reply!
 
It sounds like the rear main seal to me too. If you know that the engine was neglected, I personally wouldn't spend the $$ to fix it because a rear main is about a $6-800 job and it'll probably have more expensive issues down the road. I would have to assume the engine is doomed since she didn't change the oil regularly. You might want to pull the valve covers off and see what it looks like under there. If there's a lot of sludge, I would just buy a crate motor or a used ~100K motor from a junkyard - just make sure you get a decent warranty. It'll be cheaper in the long run most likely than trying to "polish this tuurd".
 
Pity she didn't run Synthetic oil, she might still have an engine.

No telling what is gooped up letting petroleum oil run that long.








.
 
Pity she didn't run Synthetic oil, she might still have an engine.
Click to expand...

I think that the word MIGHT is key here. But yes it probably would have had a better chance.

So lesson for all you military folk and anyone who leaves their 4Runner with wife / daughters for 6-12 months a time ... (also applies if the car is going with the kids to college)

=> put very expensive SYNTH in the car before it leaves.
 
Yeah, the inside of the bottom end looks pretty rough. Lots of black crusty cooked all over the pick-up tube and splash guard :(
I guess it just comes down to 3 choices then...
1. Change the RMS and cross her fingers that nothing else goes bad anytime soon.
2. Spend a good bit of money and time on replacing or rebuilding the motor.
3. Sell or junk it and start over.
It is in pretty rough shape, and just 2wd, so if it was mine, I'd prob go with 3, but she's a single mom, pretty strapped for cash, so we'll see.
Thanks for the input guys! I appreciate you helping a newcomer to the forum! ;)
 
DoddBoy1 said:
Yeah, the inside of the bottom end looks pretty rough. Lots of black crusty cooked all over the pick-up tube and splash guard :(
I guess it just comes down to 3 choices then...
1. Change the RMS and cross her fingers that nothing else goes bad anytime soon.
2. Spend a good bit of money and time on replacing or rebuilding the motor.
3. Sell or junk it and start over.
It is in pretty rough shape, and just 2wd, so if it was mine, I'd prob go with 3, but she's a single mom, pretty strapped for cash, so we'll see.
Thanks for the input guys! I appreciate you helping a newcomer to the forum! ;)
Click to expand...

Well, does she NEED an SUV? If she could go with a car, or wagon if she has several kids, then that could be had for cheap and would save her money in gas in the long run.
 
These engines are pretty tough, I think it will be OK. I agree its probably the rear main... Oh that sounds like os much fuN!!!!!!!!!!

Hey and dyno oil was ran for many many years without problems. Look at all the 22re's that lasted 300k+ miles on it.. ;) Hell I only run dyno oil!

Has Toyota even gone to full synthetic in their new vehicles?
 
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Thanks guys, we're gonna look into a little further and then decide what would be best. Appreciate the input! Another great forum!
 
I'm not trying to steal your thread but my rear main is leaking now. When i bought her last year I had the local shop flush everything and everything looked good. I've been running synthetic. Should I repair the rear main seal or look for a new engine? I don't know the history of my t4r. I just know she has never given me any problems til now. I've put around 15k on her and she has around 190k.
 
^^^ other than your rear main leaking, how does the motor perform? had any issues or other repair costs? rear mains are not that bad of a jot and not that costly compared to the cost of a new motor... unless your motor is just giving you nothing but problems and leaking from every orifice then yeah look at a new motor but you shouldnt have to replace it just for that.
now for the OP, yeah id pull the valve covers and take a look at the rest of the motor and see whats what...
 
the kid said:
^^^ other than your rear main leaking, how does the motor perform? had any issues or other repair costs? rear mains are not that bad of a jot and not that costly compared to the cost of a new motor... unless your motor is just giving you nothing but problems and leaking from every orifice then yeah look at a new motor but you shouldnt have to replace it just for that.
now for the OP, yeah id pull the valve covers and take a look at the rest of the motor and see whats what...
Click to expand...

ENgine performs well. No problems that I know of. I'm getting 230-240 miles to a tank of gas. I run 89 octane instead of 87. Is that good, bad, normal? Once a week I pull a trailer with around 1000lbs on it around 30 miles. I drive city 99% of the time.
 
DoddBoy1 said:
Yeah, the inside of the bottom end looks pretty rough. Lots of black crusty cooked all over the pick-up tube and splash guard :(
I guess it just comes down to 3 choices then...
1. Change the RMS and cross her fingers that nothing else goes bad anytime soon.
2. Spend a good bit of money and time on replacing or rebuilding the motor.
3. Sell or junk it and start over.
It is in pretty rough shape, and just 2wd, so if it was mine, I'd prob go with 3, but she's a single mom, pretty strapped for cash, so we'll see.
Thanks for the input guys! I appreciate you helping a newcomer to the forum! ;)
Click to expand...

GOD *%<€{! I am in the almost EXACT crappy position as she is. Single broke mom part and all

Here's my next post....
I have a SEVERE oil leak on my 95 4Runner (v6 3VZE). I put a quart in every day or two. Yesterday I felt she needed extra love so I put in two quarts. Now she's billowing huge plumes of white gray smoke on startup and acceleration with no hint of quitting.

There's no way it could have been OVER filled as there was only about a quart +/- in it before I added to it. Should mention that a few days ago a buddy put ten gallons of "older" gas in my tank and she's been running like crap since, but no snow till now.

In an attempt to counteract the possibility of overfilment and burning oil rather than gas I immediately filled the rest of the tank (about half) with high grade chevron techron. Didn't make a difference.

The oil leak is so bad (rear main seal) that her undercarriage is completely blackened and caked with oil making it look like she's leaking from like 10 different places. However, I’m pretty sure it’s ONLY three .

Any Advice for this girl who ❤️s her runner but is clueless when it comes to the many maladies that plague her??? (Pretty positive Not a head gasket issue, which have already been replaced twice.)
 
Omg SHE is ME :-(

DoddBoy1 said:
Yeah, the inside of the bottom end looks pretty rough. Lots of black crusty cooked all over the pick-up tube and splash guard :(
I guess it just comes down to 3 choices then...
1. Change the RMS and cross her fingers that nothing else goes bad anytime soon.
2. Spend a good bit of money and time on replacing or rebuilding the motor.
3. Sell or junk it and start over.
It is in pretty rough shape, and just 2wd, so if it was mine, I'd prob go with 3, but she's a single mom, pretty strapped for cash, so we'll see.
Thanks for the input guys! I appreciate you helping a newcomer to the forum! ;)
Click to expand...

GOD *%<€{! I am in the almost EXACT crappy position as she is. Single broke mom part and all

Here's my next post....
I have a SEVERE oil leak on my 95 4Runner (v6 3VZE). I put a quart in every day or two. Yesterday I felt she needed extra love so I put in two quarts. Now she's billowing huge plumes of white gray smoke on startup and acceleration with no hint of quitting.

There's no way it could have been OVER filled as there was only about a quart +/- in it before I added to it. Should mention that a few days ago a buddy put ten gallons of "older" gas in my tank and she's been running like crap since, but no snow till now.

In an attempt to counteract the possibility of overfilment and burning oil rather than gas I immediately filled the rest of the tank (about half) with high grade chevron techron. Didn't make a difference.

The oil leak is so bad (rear main seal) that her undercarriage is completely blackened and caked with oil making it look like she's leaking from like 10 different places. However, I’m pretty sure it’s ONLY three .

Any Advice for this girl who ❤️s her runner but is clueless when it comes to the many maladies that plague her??? (Pretty positive Not a head gasket issue, which have already been replaced twice.)
 
take it behind the barn and shoot it...

you added bad gas.. added extra oil , knew you had a rear main seal leak..

what else do you want someone to tell you? not trying to be harsh here, but if

you abuse a vehicle and claim to love it and then expect it to run fine?


fix the oil leaks and don't give it bad gas.
 
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