Oil leak. Whats involved? (1 Viewer)

[crooozer]

Ok, so whats next. . ! Think I'm going to start my own mechanics workshop after this.

Whats happening here, and whats involved in fixing it?
Thank you.

 

[kidglove13]

Are you sure its leaking or is it just leftover from your previous leaks?
I thought my pan was leaking and I cleaned it up and all was good.
Does not look bad, let it go and keep an eye on it.

 

[crooozer]

It's possible that could be the case kid, thanks for that.
I'll degrease it and keep an eye out.

 

[jeffro109]

resealing the lower pan is not hard, just a bit time consuming to clean it off super good so it won't leak again.

As a bonus to doing this, after cleaning all the crap out of the inside of the lower pan (the drain hole is raised inside, you will see) my engine oil is staying cleaner much longer than before.

you might as well change the o-ring seal on the oil level sender if you drop the pan (it is on the side of the upper pan) and probably leaks too.

 

[tominboise]

Pressure wash the area and keep an eye on it. After I replaced my valve cover gasket, my oil pump cover plate gasket and the distributor o-ring, the bottom end of my engine dried up quite a bit....

 

[mcguilacuddy]

I say just take the pan off and clean it. Put some $6 silicone back on and seal it up. Never hurts. It would only take about 1-2 hours tops. That would be a good reason to change the oil also.
If you still have a leak after that, then you know it is coming from somewhere higher.
Easiest solution would be to just clean it as it sits and just watch it.

 

[crooozer]

So it's just a matter of unbolting the pan we see in pic, removing gasket, creating new one and bolting back on?

Anything else I should do while I'm in there?

 

[crooozer]

Thanks, is this oil level sender o-ring easy to spot when I drop the pan? I've never seen or heard of this part before, just want to do it right first time.

Thanks again.

resealing the lower pan is not hard, just a bit time consuming to clean it off super good so it won't leak again.

As a bonus to doing this, after cleaning all the **** out of the inside of the lower pan (the drain hole is raised inside, you will see) my engine oil is staying cleaner much longer than before.

you might as well change the o-ring seal on the oil level sender if you drop the pan (it is on the side of the upper pan) and probably leaks too.

 

[Kernal]

croooser: Are you sure your leak is from the lower pan? It is so gunked up under there seems like it could be coming from above, or even left over from your oil pump cover leak which could have gotten blown back that way?? Have you cleaned it up yet? The oil level sensor is on the main pan, left side about 2/3 towards the rear of the pan and uses a square cut o-ring. Be very careful when handling the sensor; IIRC the price in the US is something like ?? $300-400. I think the mechanic who worked on mine added some FIPG when he put it back together however.

 

[crooozer]

Thanks Kernal.

It seems miles away from the oil pump cover and on the wrong side so I don't 'think' it would be from there. Knowing this 80 no seals seem to have been replaced because I've been replacing them all.. So I'd be suprised if someone had done these when I get under.
Just ordered from Toyota.

I'll bet that I also have valve leak like many others.

 

[Kernal]

Here's a photo and a link to more:

Paintlab: Oil Level Gasket

 

[crooozer]

Thanks Kernal.

So the sensor is outside of the pan or inside when I take it off?
It looks to be side mounted on the engine pictured.

 

[crooozer]

For what it's worth, the engine on my 80 has what looks to be aftermarket silicone which is a little sloppy and orange/red in color that seats my engine top/manifold on-to the engine.

Is it possible it has had some work in the past judging by that?

 

[Kernal]

The engine oil level sensor bolts to the outside of the main cast aluminum pan but dips down into the pan a bit. Look at the photos in the link above, it shows how it sits in there. Don't know if the original intake has any sort of silicone or FIPG on it, I've never noticed any on mine.

 

[crooozer]

Thanks mate.

When I remove the lower pan, will my engine oil all leak out?
Not sure what to expect.

 

[Otamiway]

Thanks mate.

When I remove the lower pan, will my engine oil all leak out?
Not sure what to expect.

Drain oil first before trying to remove pan. Only minor drips from there on.

 

[Kernal]

Yes, you have to drain your oil. The lower pan being the lowest point is always about full; that's where the pickup tube sucks the oil from. The upper main pan runs the full length of the engine, the pick-up tube and oil strainer are attached to the main pan. The photos are of a used pan that hasn't been cleaned yet, it came out of a blown engine, that's why it looks so bad. In the second photo you can see how the pick-up tube and oil strainer dip down into the pan and can also see the oil level sensor still bolted to the main oil pan (of course everything is upside down in the photos).

 

[crooozer]

Thanx Kernal!

Well if it's always full (past the gasket) then it would easily leak quite a bit of oil depending on the severity of the gasket seal.
Thanks again.

 

[Kernal]

Maybe I misunderstood your question; I think others have changed the gasket for the oil level sensor without much oil leaking out but I've never have done it myself, I thought you meant if you removed the lower pan entirely.

 

[crooozer]

No you did well Kernal. I was just trying to get my bearings.

I just had another look under and it seems to be leaking from the second bolt which is under the larger bolt that you see in the pic. Hopefully that's it and will fix all my leaks, time will tell.