Oil seepage...is it a problem? (1 Viewer)

[IdahoDoug]

Yeah, I was wondering about that cold snowy thing, too. Personally, I'd rather be in the garage when I can leave the doors open and enjoy a fresh breeze while listening to the birds and such. In a couple weeks, I'll be out there with frozen fingers..

DougM

 

[BNC]

My '93 has the same "sweaty gasket" issue. They said it would be $1200 to fix, which is an awful lot for a gasket that is not leaking ;p

It was diagnosed about 16 months ago and my oil level hasn't changed a bit and neither has the friction coefficient of my parking space

 

[alia176]

ok, I got two questions:

1) can we use the Right Stuff for sealing the high arch seal thing or do we have to use some sort of a Toyota sealant?

2)instead of lifting the engine up, can't we droop the front suspension way down? Remove the lower shock bolts and lower everything while keeping an eye on the brake lines?

 

[alia176]

Ah, wouldn't that be now? Cold/snowy I mean?

Yup, it's THAT time. If I can get the parts from Dan soon enough, I'll tackle it while I'm off from work!

 

[Rookie2]

2)instead of lifting the engine up, can't we droop the front suspension way down? Remove the lower shock bolts and lower everything while keeping an eye on the brake lines?

It actually takes a combination of the two to get enough clearance to get the pan out. IIRC, I had to put a set of 3 ton jack stands near or at the highest setting, on the frame rails a couple of feet behind the front tires and then another set of 3 ton jack stands on their lowest setting and dropped the axle down on them. I didn't end up removing the fan and fan shroud though. I unbolted the fan shroud and the engine from the mounts and was able to get 1" or so of left on the motor before it started lifting the entire vehicle off the rear jack stands. Also you have to remove the DS stabilizer bar bracket, and that should get you enough clearance to get the pan out.

I don't know if externally trying to seal the gasket would work very well. I assume not, otherwise C'Dan et al.. probably wouldn't have spent the two days to do it the hard way.

Actually, I wasted about a half a day trying to figure out the right combination of vehicle lift, suspension drop, engine lift and that I needed to remove the stablizer bracket, in order to get the pan out. So, knowing what I've described above should save you some time.


Rookie2

 

[cruiserdan]

The engine needs to be lifted up because of the tubular panhard frame brace that is welded into the frame. No way to unbolt or drop that thing...

I don't think it is present on RHD vehicles.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

I would bet that the pan arch is the problem not the main. If the truck has been sunk in mud real bad, the I would say the rear main. It is not that hard to tell the difference if you use a mirror and a flash lite up through the hole in upper pan.
It has been my experence that most of the guys that have had their rear main replace soon need the oil pan sealant replaced as well. John you can buy a 4 dollar mirror and use a flash lite crawl under your truck. Pull the little black plastic plug out of the way. Use the mirror and look at the rear crank with it, if the seal is wet then it is the main, if the pan's grey goo is wet, the it is the arch. Another thing with the rear main, it will usually sling the oil around the inside of the bell housing.
It is real rare for a truck to need a rear main at the miles you have on this new crusier. Ask for help form some one that can turn a wrench on this. You may trust this mechanic, But we all make mistakes. Get a second look from some one.

Slick 621 you are talking about the lower pan, the black one. Yes it can be easyly removed and the sealant redone. But this is not where the pan arch resides. It is in the next big aluminum pan above the small one. It take about 6 hr in the shop to do both pans. If you look just in back of the small pan you will see a black plug in the alum pan. remove this and look with a mirror to see both the pan arch and the rear main and crank. later robbie

THANKS MUCH ROBBIE for the detailed info. I will have my mechanic read this link and check all this himself. Either way I know it'll be costly. That's OK. The rest of the truck is in great shape!

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

My '93 has the same "sweaty gasket" issue. They said it would be $1200 to fix, which is an awful lot for a gasket that is not leaking ;p

It was diagnosed about 16 months ago and my oil level hasn't changed a bit and neither has the friction coefficient of my parking space

My Toy dealer quoted me $675 for the main seal job.

 

[BNC]

My Toy dealer quoted me $675 for the main seal job.

I think that price included a 30k (150k ) service, my bad

 

[powderpig]

Rear main is about 8 hours with the install of the 35 dollars rear main seal. So It all depends on the labor rate. You may want to ask how many hours the job is and the labor rate. later robbie

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

UPDATE: Though this thread was written about my '97, I believe I have an issue with my '93?

My kids came home from Phoenix yesterday. They said the tranny was slipping some. The truck smelled like something was burning. The undersides were wet from the tranny area rearward. I THINK it smelled like tranny fluid. My mechanic will look at it later today. It was down a quart in fluid.

QUESTION:

Can either of these seals (rear main or pan arch) give away quickly and soak the undersides?

My son has been mudding this thing a lot, though he's not got stuck. Lots of puddles and river crossings. FYI (I read Robbie's comment in the thread about mud)