Hmmmm... oil leak

[joe GT]

Hey guys! I seem to have a small oil leak, coming from what looks like the gearbox, under the car near the back of the engine. its black, what makes me think its not the transmission oil...

Is this a common problem or am i about to shell out lots of money??

Any advice would be appreciated!!

Thanks guys,

Joe.

[marky]

REAR CRANKSHAFT OIL SEAL maybe the cause

[joe GT]

is that a re-build job??

[joe GT]

And could this be a job i can do??

[marky]

Someone with Experience & better knowledge may add their comments as ive not had this problem.

[MattF]

Is it definitely leaking from there, or just covered in oil around there? Check around the rocker cover and make sure it's not leaking from there and just dripping down onto the gearbox.

[tom222]

if its crank rear main its either gearbox out or engine out, check the half moon at the back of the rocker cover if its not that try some engine oil stop leak this this stuff softens the oil seals worked for me a couple of times

[joe GT]

does that mean disconnecting all the drive train/prop shaft ect?

[MattF]

does that mean disconnecting all the drive train/prop shaft ect?

Have you replaced the rocker gasket yet?

[joe GT]

nope, i get it on saturday morning from toyota.

[Sancho]

It's most likely that. If you want to put your mind at rest just have a look down the back of the engine, towards the corners of the block and see if there's any oil there.

[joe GT]

I've taken some pics of the underside where i think the trouble is, but i cant upload them to this computer... my number is 07857882806- if you text me with your name, i can send you some pics via MMS (sorry to live in the stoneage) it looks weird, and cant quite put my finger on it, so this may help me out with my quest for the cause of the problem!

Joe.

[MattF]

Until you've got that replaced, (or unless you can specifically see oil peeing out of the rear seal), I honestly wouldn't give the rear seal a second thought. If you still have the leak afterwards, then it obviously wasn't the rocker cover seal.

[joe GT]

Good and fair point!
I was only worryting because i would rather spend the money on it now rather than it becoming more and more and more and ect.

Cheers for the advice!

I noticed today, that theres a black peice of plastic round the edge of the rocker cover-not attached to alot, but should it be? or is this the starter of my oil leak??? looks like its kinda hanging off...

[MattF]

It could well be beginning to disintegrate. After a few years, they begin to resemble something more akin to Bakelite than rubber.

Honestly though, with these engines, panicking or fearing the worst is an exercise in futility. You'll never completely stop the leaks, so just work through things one by one as and when needed, from the top end downwards.

Chances of the rear seal failing are fairly slim unless you've either seriously overfilled it with oil, put some type of oil flush through or are running full synthetic in it.