Cam Tower, Valley and Rear Main Seal leaks

[Montana Cruiser]

Hello all in the 200 forum!

We are currently in the market for a 200 Series, likely a 2009-2012 due to price and am looking for some advice. We found a 2011 with 170K at a Toyota dealer and the inspection done by them found a drivers side cam tower leak, the valley leak as well as the rear main seal. I am unsure how bad the leaks are, but certain I want to address those items immediately. I have done some searching and reading on Mud and it sounds like these are at least somewhat common, many fixing it themselves, but I don't have that option so I'll have to pay to have it fixed. My local independent mechanics who are very familiar with these engines are saying somewhere around $6k to fix all 3 things and be prepared to address some other items "while they are in there". The dealer would like to sell as-is at a pretty good discount.

My question to you all is this (if I am able to get the right sales price and do the repairs for around $6k) do you think I would have a reliable rig from there? Are these items things that should be good for the remaining life of the engine our can they rear their head again? From my reading it sounds like the Cam towers and Valley leak are bad sealant from the factory so I am assuming I'd be good there. It also sounds like I should be prepared for an expensive fuel pump and starter at some point if they have not been done already? We love the 200's, just not sure its worth it to buy and fix or just find one that has already been addressed? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[OregonLC]

Those prices seem plausible. The rear main and cam tower are probably more nuisance than urgent. If you're leaking coolant in the valley I'd put that as a higher priority as it could sneak up on you with a low coolant level and subsequent overheat. The cam tower is probably more of a weep than a leak. If the rear main is a drop every few days then you can also kick that can down the road, unless you object to the stain on the driveway. I'd also want to make sure it's cam tower and not valve cover that is leaking. The latter is an easy fix.

The higher concern I would have would be radiator and starter. Both are toward the end of their service life. Fuel pump is a lower concern for me. The fuel pump ECU, however, is something I intend to replace this year.

 

[doru]

These are not common on 200. Tundra and Sequoia have the same engine on paper, but they are not the same quality build, with 200 being made in Japan. I'm a bit concerned that the same engine got all 3 of those. Is this the original engine?

 

[TLC2013]

I have experienced all three of these all around 100k for my 2013 LC. None of them were so bad that they needed to be immediately addressed. The coolant valley leak was caught early in its infancy after I had to top off my coolant over flow a couple times over a month.

The rear main seal was discovered during an oil change when I saw a small amount of oil collecting at the bottom of the bell housing.

The cam tower on the driver side (or it could be the valve cover but unlikely) has some minor seepage but nothing that needs to be addressed. None of the oil makes it to the skid plates or ground. it basically just coats the AC compressor with a little bit of rust prevention.

I’ll address the cam tower when it becomes absolutely necessary.

The 5.7 is a fantastic and reliable motor it just likes to leak or seep oil, coolant..etc due to the factory’s application of the FIPG. I haven’t had these issues show again after fixing them the first time.

 

[TLC2013]

If you can negotiate the price down and use that $6k for the repairs you will be in a good position. And once you have knocked out all of these uncommon but still common trouble areas I’d feel confident driving the truck cross country. All that would be left to address would be the starter and radiator if it’s the old design.

Otherwise I would look else where and try and find a 2013 or newer. When I was shopping i much preferred the small updates that the 2013 and newer provided.

 

[Montana Cruiser]

If you can negotiate the price down and use that $6k for the repairs you will be in a good position. And once you have knocked out all of these uncommon but still common trouble areas I’d feel confident driving the truck cross country. All that would be left to address would be the starter and radiator if it’s the old design.

Otherwise I would look else where and try and find a 2013 or newer. When I was shopping i much preferred the small updates that the 2013 and newer provided.

Thanks for the insight, I really appreciate it! I am unsure about the radiator, but will be asking about that. I think we'd like a 13' + for sure, but I our budget can't stretch that far, as least from what I have seen so far.

It's encouraging to hear that depending on severity maybe the rear main seal and cam towers could wait. That said, are the cam towers right there if we are already into the valley leak? My independent mentioned possibly doing the timing chain tensioners since they are there, I forgot about that.

 

[TLC2013]

Thanks for the insight, I really appreciate it! I am unsure about the radiator, but will be asking about that. I think we'd like a 13' + for sure, but I our budget can't stretch that far, as least from what I have seen so far.

It's encouraging to hear that depending on severity maybe the rear main seal and cam towers could wait. That said, are the cam towers right there if we are already into the valley leak? My independent mentioned possibly doing the timing chain tensioners since they are there, I forgot about that.

Your are very welcome, happy to help. You are in the right place to research and ask questions, there is so much good stuff here on mud. I spent a lot of time here researching before picking up my 200.

Unfortunately there isn’t much cross over between those repairs. You may be able to haggle a discount by doing them all at once. That was what I experienced talking to the dealership about doing both the cam tower ( or it could be the timing cover, not sure exactly) and the coolant valley leak at the same time. I left the cam tower/timing cover seep alone as it’s not progressing any worse, definitely isn’t worth repairing as the job is pretty invasive.

The rear main seal I did as i couldn’t stand seeing the oil dripping off the bell housing and onto the skid plates.
If there are any “while you are in there” repairs that your mechanic can do with just replacing the parts like the tensioners you mentioned I would personally do it as that LC you are looking at is approaching 200k. Take the free labor while its’s available.

 

[grinchy]

I’d factor in an additional $2k for other repairs. Radiator, full fluid exchanges for the diffs and auto trans, misc little things you notice over the first few months.
Very few items will outright kill a 200, but like any used vehicle with 12 years and some mileage there will be items to remediate if you want to be fully up to date and really feel secure being way off the map.

 

[a200]

Mine had the rear main seal done just before I got it.

 

[tacoduck]

Those prices seem plausible. The rear main and cam tower are probably more nuisance than urgent. If you're leaking coolant in the valley I'd put that as a higher priority as it could sneak up on you with a low coolant level and subsequent overheat. The cam tower is probably more of a weep than a leak. If the rear main is a drop every few days then you can also kick that can down the road, unless you object to the stain on the driveway. I'd also want to make sure it's cam tower and not valve cover that is leaking. The latter is an easy fix.

The higher concern I would have would be radiator and starter. Both are toward the end of their service life. Fuel pump is a lower concern for me. The fuel pump ECU, however, is something I intend to replace this year.

^THIS
I’d do the radiator, starter, and the valley pan. Cam towers and rear main seal won’t kill a truck.

 

[04UZJ100]

Swap to 5w-30. I bet they slow down or stop completely.