Oil Leak and Coolant Issue? 96 Camry

It doesn't look too bad Blake. It's difficult to diagnose with pictures and not actually looking at it, but here is a basic and cheap place to start. Replace the thermostat with a new one. Once overheated they are usually ruined. Fill radiator, coolant overflow tank, and engine oil to recommended levels. Wash engine and engine compartment using a high pressure car wash. Observe for any fresh leakage with engine at normal operating temperature, heater on full hot temperature, (you don't have to run the blower). Look closely, take your time, using a flashlight. You are loosing coolant either internally, (engine consumption), or externally,(visual leak). Check engine oil for white or light colored foam or deposits on dipstick which if observed indicates coolant and or water, check interior floor pan for wetness under carpeting next to firewall. If it's wet, you probably have a leaking heater core or connection to. Check each individual spark plug by removing and visually inspecting. They should have a light tan hue to them and not any green or orange hues on them which would indicate a coolant leak to the cylinder head in that particular combustion chamber. If that all fails to locate the leak, take the car to a reputable radiator shop that can pressurize the entire system and check for system failures. Good luck!

blake18 wrote:

====== I've got a '94 Camry with 155,000 miles, completely free of oil leaks. Here are several areas to check. You said you replaced the PCV valve, but you probably also want to replace the grommet in the valve cover. They harden and become brittle with age. You probably want to do this with the valve cover removed and inverted so broken bits and fragments don't fall inside. While I don't see it in the picture, there should be an oil pressure sending unit on the front of the engine just under the valve cover near the distributor. Recently replaced mine for oil leakage, though it wasn't a lot, there was liquid oil under the electrical connector so it was seeping though the switch and slightly onto the surrounding area. The FSM tells how to install. Use the recommended Locktite product on the first few threads. See:

check the torque on the valve cover fasteners. Correct is 17 ft.lbs. but I've found they tend to loosen - more likely they appearloose from compression of the valve cover gasket through heating andcooling cycles. Also there is an O ring for the distributor. Mine was hardened and embrittled when removed, so it's a good idea to replace that also. Then use a paper clip to connect the E1 and Te1 underhood DLC pins prior to checking ignition timing. Could also be seepage from the oil pan gasket. The FIPG gasket material to replace is inexpensive, but you would need to remove the exhaust pipe also. I you do, plan on replacing gaskets and fasteners. Another source of oil leaks is under the front timing belt cover, but that's not close to the distributor. Nonetheless, next time the belt is changed you should also do the oil seals. For the coolant, check the coolant recovery bottle, they can crack near the mounting point. After paying the dealer for an inferior replacement, I would up using FIPG material on the original tank and it has worked remarkably well. Would be inexpensive insurance to replace the thermostat and radiator cap with Toyota parts.

#1 they are proned to leaking oil from the distributer "o" ring you have to remove the distributer to replace that. the other thing is i think you have a head gskt problem.to determine this there is a block tester that goes on where your rad cap fits it has a solution in it that changes colour from the engine gases indicating a leak. you can also buy a special ultriviolet dye that goes in your engine oil for easy tracing of oil leaks,if you us this shampoo your engine first