Oil leak an dother q's....

chicago · 08-30-09, 04:36 PM

Hey all,
Just picked up a 95 4 runner for our daughter. Seemingly good shape mechanically, rebuilt motor 2 years ago, 144K on the rig, looks OKAY, needs a paint job, but runs pretty nice and tracks straight...
Anyway, long story short, I noticed that there is a slight oil leak coming from the RMS area, but upon further inspection it appears to be coming from around the base of the cylinder head on the PS toward the rear? Aside from a really BAD scinerio can anyone tell me if there is anything to check that might be EASIER to deal with, or possibly a place that commonly leaks oil on these motors?
It also has a very faint "gallop" when idling. The idle is 650 RPMs per the tach which is pretty normal I believe?
Any thing that I should be doing propholactically to this rig in case of neglect since the rebuild?
Ive never owned/ or much less LOOKED at these rigs too hard, so needless to say I dont know TOO MUCH about em and how they are to work on. Since its a toyota, I pretty much assumed they would be relatively easy like the 60 series crusiers are...
BTW, Im a fairly skilled HOBBY mechanic.

Please share some wisdom with me!

Thanks,

Chicago

raydouble · 08-30-09, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicago

Hey all,
Just picked up a 95 4 runner for our daughter. Seemingly good shape mechanically, rebuilt motor 2 years ago, 144K on the rig, looks OKAY, needs a paint job, but runs pretty nice and tracks straight...
Anyway, long story short, I noticed that there is a slight oil leak coming from the RMS area, but upon further inspection it appears to be coming from around the base of the cylinder head on the PS toward the rear? Aside from a really BAD scinerio can anyone tell me if there is anything to check that might be EASIER to deal with, or possibly a place that commonly leaks oil on these motors?
It also has a very faint "gallop" when idling. The idle is 650 RPMs per the tach which is pretty normal I believe?
Any thing that I should be doing propholactically to this rig in case of neglect since the rebuild?
Ive never owned/ or much less LOOKED at these rigs too hard, so needless to say I dont know TOO MUCH about em and how they are to work on. Since its a toyota, I pretty much assumed they would be relatively easy like the 60 series crusiers are...
BTW, Im a fairly skilled HOBBY mechanic.

Please share some wisdom with me!

Thanks,

Chicago

Which engine?

daveIT · 08-30-09, 05:30 PM

propholactically...hahaha!

You mean proactively?

toy4xfun · 08-30-09, 06:27 PM

if it is a v6 i do not like them. but opinions are like *ssholes.

chicago · 08-30-09, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raydouble

Which engine?

Sorry...3.0 V6.

chicago · 08-30-09, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveIT

propholactically...hahaha!

You mean proactively?

HAHAHA...NOPE...Prohpylactic = to prevent disease.
I work in the medical field, so i use that word interchangably sometimes with preventaitive.

Habit I suppose.

Chicago

2ndGenToyotaFan · 08-30-09, 09:26 PM

Cross your fingers that it's a bad valve cover gasket. If the leak is not fatal I'd leave it, but if you're leaving puddles, then you better start pulling stuff out and find the cause. Hoping for the best!!!

KLF · 08-30-09, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicago

HAHAHA...NOPE...Prohpylactic = to prevent disease.
I work in the medical field, so i use that word interchangably sometimes with preventaitive.

Habit I suppose.

Chicago

"Prophylactically" is actually appropriate in this case, I like it.

But you might be surprised to know that "preventative" is not an actual word. It's "preventive". Seriously...

To your question, I don't recall anything on that corner of the engine that could be leaking oil, other than the VC gasket or (gasp!) the head gasket. I've done several HG jobs on these engines, and if memory serves me it was always that cylinder that failed, #6 I believe. BUT, it was always a breach of the coolant into the cylinder, nothing to the outside. Of course, that is a VERY tight spot down in there, hard to see what's going on. I would start by pulling the plenum off, then the VC, see if you can chase the leak down.

Good luck, report back what you find!

2ndGenToyotaFan · 08-30-09, 11:05 PM

Preventative is in my dictionary... Gullible isn't though...

#6 is the drivers side, and it is the problem thanks to the exhaust routing. I think he said passenger side, so hopefully that's not it!!!

chicago · 08-31-09, 06:28 AM

Alright then...so I can hopefully find that its the valve cover gasket.
It will be a bit till she comes back up with the truck so I can have some time with it.
I should clarify that the leak isnt TOO BAD. Over 2 days, there was maybe 5 drops or so. however, I do tend to be a bit OCD when it comes to leaks. SOOOOO, Ill just have to make it quit.
How about the idle lope? Anything with the emissions gear that probably NEEDED to be changed, that likely wasnt? Again, not too much of an issue, but... O2 sensors perhaps?
Vacuum leak?
How LIKELY is a RMS leak? I know that it happens, but it doesnt seem to be a very common occurrence.
Would I have to pull the motor to fix this, or could I drop the trans and t case and do it in the rig?

Thanks for the help gents!

Chicago

KLF · 08-31-09, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2ndGenToyotaFan

Preventative is in my dictionary... Gullible isn't though...

I think you need to get a new dictionary. A friend teaches linguistics here, the guy knows his way around words. He tells me it's not really a proper word, and I believe him. You DON'T want to play Scrabble against this guy!

Quote:

#6 is the drivers side, and it is the problem thanks to the exhaust routing. I think he said passenger side, so hopefully that's not it!!!

OK, then it was #5 that was the problem child in all cases.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicago

How about the idle lope? Anything with the emissions gear that probably NEEDED to be changed, that likely wasnt? Again, not too much of an issue, but... O2 sensors perhaps?
Vacuum leak?

Have you checked to see if there are any codes stored in the ECU?

Quote:

How LIKELY is a RMS leak? I know that it happens, but it doesnt seem to be a very common occurrence.
Would I have to pull the motor to fix this, or could I drop the trans and t case and do it in the rig?

Drop the tranny/transfer. Change the fuel filter while you have the tranny & crossmember out of the way!

chicago · 09-01-09, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KLF

I think you need to get a new dictionary. A friend teaches linguistics here, the guy knows his way around words. He tells me it's not really a proper word, and I believe him. You DON'T want to play Scrabble against this guy!

OK, then it was #5 that was the problem child in all cases.

Have you checked to see if there are any codes stored in the ECU?

Drop the tranny/transfer. Change the fuel filter while you have the tranny & crossmember out of the way!

Thanks,
Good thing Im not proper...

neg. on checking codes...havent had any time with the rig to look much of anything over. Only enough to note that there was a leak and its approx. location.

K