Very Bad oil leak popped up fast. Help needed (2 Viewers)

[AustinKordell]

Alright well I hate to be here but here I am.

Today i started noticing large amount of oil under my 97 lx450. The truck has always leaked a here and there but never this bad, seems to be spraying oil all over the axle and shocks and even after only being parked less then 20 minutes considering amounts has dropped underneath. Oil appears to be coming under the valve cover where the spark plug cover is but also seems to be all over the front of the engine and the entire underside is soaked. Am I looking at the typical oil leak places like valve cover gaskets, oil pump, distributor, front main seal. Or should I be looking for something more substantial. The truck is my primary vehicle so it’s definitely not an ideal thing to be happening but it’s bad enough I’m going to park the truck until I get this sorted. Could this be a result of an oil filter seal failing? Just seems to be so excessive so quickly I’m not quite sure what could cause this. Any help is super appreciated. Thanks

 

[AustinKordell]

Alright well I hate to be here but here I am.

Today i started noticing large amount of oil under my 97 lx450. The truck has always leaked a here and there but never this bad, seems to be spraying oil all over the axle and shocks and even after only being parked less then 20 minutes considering amounts has dropped underneath. Oil appears to be coming under the valve cover where the spark plug cover is but also seems to be all over the front of the engine and the entire underside is soaked. Am I looking at the typical oil leak places like valve cover gaskets, oil pump, distributor, front main seal. Or should I be looking for something more substantial. The truck is my primary vehicle so it’s definitely not an ideal thing to be happening but it’s bad enough I’m going to park the truck until I get this sorted. Could this be a result of an oil filter seal failing? Just seems to be so excessive so quickly I’m not quite sure what could cause this. Any help is super appreciated. Thanks View attachment 3518502View attachment 3518503View attachment 3518506

View attachment 3518501

View attachment 3518505

Truck has 167k on it.

 

[jfz80]

Have you checked tightness of oil filter ?

Start with the simple.

I would simple green that mess and spray/scrub down to clean as possible and watch it to ID origin of leak.

Could be dizzy. Power steering. Oil filter. Or others.

 

[AustinKordell]

Have you checked tightness of oil filter ?

Start with the simple.

I would simple green that mess and spray/scrub down to clean as possible and watch it to ID origin of leak.

Could be dizzy. Power steering. Oil filter. Or others.

I did check the filter, Plenty tight.

 

[jfz80]

Is it oil or power steering fluid?

Looks to be oil and with leak that high, above dizzy, I’d bet on oil cap not replaced or severe valve cover gasket failure. Fan blowing it around.

Super bad front main or timing cover? Less likely.

That USDS side leaking would entertain dizzy o ring, power steering pump, cut/abraded atf line.

Wetness is just so high in motor. Clean and monitor and it should tell you.

 

[LandCruiser65]

Being that high up, Id look into spark plug tube seals or valve cover gasket. Valve cover bolts sometimes loosen up over time. As stated above, that looks like a sudden valve cover gasket failure. How old is the valve cover gasket?

 

[bj70bc]

ive had a power steering leak right from that area before, looks more like engine oil though

 

[LongDuck]

More importantly - with a leak that substantial, you should be sure to keep enough in the crankcase to ensure proper lubrication!

Where is the oil level on your dipstick at the moment?

 

[AustinKordell]

Is it oil or power steering fluid?

Looks to be oil and with leak that high, above dizzy, I’d bet on oil cap not replaced or severe valve cover gasket failure. Fan blowing it around.

Super bad front main or timing cover? Less likely.

That USDS side leaking would entertain dizzy o ring, power steering pump, cut/abraded atf line.

Wetness is just so high in motor. Clean and monitor and it should tell you.

Most certainly oil. My plan tomorrow is to scrub everywhere with simple green and a pressure washer to begin to try to trace where it’s coming from. I’m thinking valve cover area aswell but I might just go ahead and do all the culprit areas while the truck is off the road. I do plan on living/traveling out of this truck full time within the next 4 months and I’d much rather address these issues in my family’s driveway with all my tools then out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[AustinKordell]

More importantly - with a leak that substantial, you should be sure to keep enough in the crankcase to ensure proper lubrication!

Where is the oil level on your dipstick at the moment?

Oil is right around 3/4 on the dipstick. I have no intentions of driving this truck while it’s leaking like this besides whats Necessary to diagnose.

 

[AustinKordell]

Being that high up, Id look into spark plug tube seals or valve cover gasket. Valve cover bolts sometimes loosen up over time. As stated above, that looks like a sudden valve cover gasket failure. How old is the valve cover gasket?

Truthfully I don’t know the age on it. I bought this truck from its original owner in June and have extensively baselined it but never got to the valve cover gasket. For all I know it could be original, I was planning on doing it plus some other stuff come springtime but I guess I will just do it now instead. Planning to just hit all the potential problem areas while the truck is down just to hopefully future proof it.

 

[Kylackey]

Yeah sounds like everyone's roughly got the same thought.. Clean it up and recheck.. Looks like spark plug tubes or valve cover. Kinda a pain in the ass doing the valve cover on this long ass engine. Make sure to do the half moons when you do your cover and use OEM Toyota FIPG Also, if you're gonna check how tight those VC bolts are careful because it's pretty easy to overnighten those small bolts. I can't remember the torque spec.

 

[sjpitts]

There is a @cruiserdan thread where he had a sudden oil leak from a freeze plug like thing. That thread is probably 20 years old, but it might be worth finding.

Edit: I find it odd that I can remember some random oil leak thread from 20 years ago but can't reliably remember my anniversary

Edit2: I can still search nasty oil leak

Edit 3: 20 years and 3 weeks ago.

 

[jpoole]

It's unlikely and I don't want to add excess worry but keep in mind that excess crankcase pressure can cause big oil leaks via the path of least resistance. Ideally your crankcase pressures are fine and you just have a loose valve cover, or similar. Sudden, excess crankcase pressures could be caused by a HG failure. More gradual excess pressures may be from ring/cyl. wear induced blowby.

 

[AustinKordell]

It's unlikely and I don't want to add excess worry but keep in mind that excess crankcase pressure can cause big oil leaks via the path of least resistance. Ideally your crankcase pressures are fine and you just have a loose valve cover, or similar. Sudden, excess crankcase pressures could be caused by a HG failure. More gradual excess pressures may be from ring/cyl. wear induced blowby.

Yikes. Well good news is I can definitely see and have seen where the valve cover has been leaking in the and I have had an existing oil leak. I’m going to hope for my own sake it just got worse suddenly and it’s not a sign of HG. But, would there be a good way to rule out excess crankcase pressure before I continue to dive deeper? I have considered preemptively doing the head gasket as I’m going to be doing some serious long term travel out of this rig and I’m not sure if it’s ever been replaced but everything I’ve read kinda suggests it’s not worth losing sleep over if there’s no current sign of failure and to my knowledge there isnt.

 

[AustinKordell]

There is a @cruiserdan thread where he had a sudden oil leak from a freeze plug like thing. That thread is probably 20 years old, but it might be worth finding.

Edit: I find it odd that I can remember some random oil leak thread from 20 years ago but can't reliably remember my anniversary

Edit2: I can still search nasty oil leak

Edit 3: 20 years and 3 weeks ago.

I was 1 year old when that post was made.

 

[AustinKordell]

It's unlikely and I don't want to add excess worry but keep in mind that excess crankcase pressure can cause big oil leaks via the path of least resistance. Ideally your crankcase pressures are fine and you just have a loose valve cover, or similar. Sudden, excess crankcase pressures could be caused by a HG failure. More gradual excess pressures may be from ring/cyl. wear induced blowby.

Here is one of the pictures I snapped earlier (admittedly a terrible photo took in the dark) but I can see what looks like oil leaking around the PCV grommet. Could a PCV failed in the closed position cause sudden crankcase pressure buildup amplifying existing leaks into what I’m experiencing now?

 

[jpoole]

The PCV system will be involved in managing crankcase pressures or at least in typical crankcase pressure so, yes, if the pcv valve is totally clogged it could cause pressures to be higher than normal and thus leaking to be more than it would otherwise be.