'92 Camry Oil Pump leaking

Hi all, I have a '92 Camry LE with the 4 cyl. I have a very steady oil drip (about one drop per second) that I originally thought was from the oil pan. Turns out it was the oil pump which was dripping down onto the oil pan and running down the sides. Who knew.

Anyhow, we'd already replaced the pump gear gasket but that obviously didn't work, so now we're looking at the o-ring between the pump body and the pump housing. Does anybody have any experience doing this? Do I need to take the oil pan off to get at everything or can I do it all from the front (or side as it were) of the engine through the wheel well? Does anyone know of any tricks or caveats I should be aware of before attempthing this?

Thanks in advance!

-JCM900

Reply to
JCM900
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Anybody check to see if the oil pressure sending unit was -really- the problem?

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- Philip @ Maximum Torque RPM
Reply to
Philip®

We figured it was the pump since we saw the oil seeping from where the pump mates up to the housing. Can you tell me how to check if its the sending unit?

Thanks!

-JCM900

Reply to
JCM900

Thoroughly clean the sender exterior. Let the engine idle for a bit and then shut it down. At the rate of your leak, it won't take but a half minute to accumulate oil around a leaking sender unit.

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- Philip @ Maximum Torque RPM


JCM900 wrote:
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Reply to
Philip®

Thanks, I'll check that!

-JCM900

Reply to
JCM900

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On my '96 with the 2.2 the oil-pump drive-shaft seal was allowing a fair bit of oil to escape. They replaced the pump rotor whch was scored, and the seal.

Jason

Reply to
Jason James

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Reply to
Alex Marcuzzi

You speak of having changed the oil pump "gasket" - but that would be the "O ring." What you must have already changed is the seal for the shaft. This is the most common source of leakage, so also examine the shaft for any imperfections - nicks, scratches, etc. That could be the source of your problem. Also, it's not really the pump body and the pump housing, the oil pump cover bolts directly to the engine block. Seems odd to ask about the mechanics of changing the O ring if you've already done the seal. Much of the procedure is the same, only difference is you would be unbolting the oil pump cover to install the O ring. Removal of the oil pan is not required, but you need to pull the timing cover, drive belts and crankshaft pulley. Only special tricks I've heard is that some people pack the oil pump with petroleum jelly when reassembling to speed oil pressure buildup, but assembly lube may work as well. May be a good idea to replace the driven gear and oil pump shaft along with another new oil pump seal. Yours is leaking a lot. Sounds like more than would typically come from the O ring, though doesn't hurt to change it while you're there. By the way, this should be common knowledge, but you also need to spread a bit of red grease around the lip of the new oil seal prior to installation. The good news is that if the leak is truly originating at the oil pump and you change the seal (steel shaft is un marred) and O ring, those are the only two potential leak sources, so that should definitely stop it.

Reply to
Daniel M. Dreifus

Thanks a bunch! That really gives me hope :) I did verify that it is not the sending unit and the leak is indeed coming from the pump. I'm also glad to hear I don't have to remove the pan since I just replaced the gasket on that... I do have a Haynes manual so I'll be sure to check that out.

thanks again,

-JCM900

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Reply to
JCM900

Great, thanks for the additional info. It was indeed the shaft seal that we replaced. It was easy to do while we were doing the timing belt and water pump, but the Haynes manual talked about removing the pan to take the pump out so I wanted to verify with folks that had done it already.

thanks again,

-JCM900

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Reply to
JCM900

I just had my pump gasket replaced since it was leaking but not as bad as yours. You do not have to drop the oil pan.

Reply to
ROBMURR

Thanks, so much for Haynes huh? (They list the first step as remove oil pan).

-JCM900

Reply to
JCM900

I see the section you're looking at (page 2A-15, section 13). Step one is remove the oil pan. But look at step two - detach the oil pickup tube assembly. To do that, you would need to remove the oil pan. Now look at Figure 13.5b, the exploded view of oil pump components. What you want to do is change the O-Ring located between the oil pump body and the oil pump case. If you look at the bottom of the oil pump case in the diagram, you can see where the oil pan bolts to the bottom flange. All you want to do is unbolt what I'd call the oil pump cover (they call it oil pump body) to access the O-Ring. Look at diagram 13.4 on the same page. You only need to remove the four (4) bolts in the upper left hand corner not all the bolts shown. In other words, you're not going to disturb the crankshaft oil seal by removing the larger assembly they call the oil pump case, which does attach to the oil pan in front. Go back a few pages to 2A-9 and look at Photograph 7.31. The oil pump sprocket is the first one up and to the left of the crankshaft at the bottom. You can kinda see in the picture, that the oil pump cover is only held in place by four bolts and isn't really close to the oil pan. While we're on the topic, here's a tip. It's easier to remove the engine support bracket if you take off the crank pulley first - better access to the bolts which are otherwise sorta hidden.

Reply to
Daniel M. Dreifus

Thanks that helps!

-JCM900

Reply to
JCM900

Thanks to everyone for their good advice. I completed the job and it didn't even take as long as I thought it would!

-JCM900

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Reply to
JCM900

hi JCM900, I have the same problem (oil pump leaking), not as serious though. Since I don't know cars very well, I brought it to the dealer yesterday and they would charge me 13 hours of labor ($1200 including parts). Just wondering if it is reasonable? Thanks.

Reply to
RJL

Gross rip-off. To just do the oil-pump (they change the whole thing,..it costs about $200 for the pump) should be around 3-4 hrs labor @ $50 hour or whatever your rates are,..plus the $200 or so for pump + a new belt while they are in there.

Jason

Reply to
Jason James

Most likely oil pump seal - recently purchased one (genuine Toyota part) for $5.04 (USD) on the Internet. Usually done with the timing belt. If you wanted to go further and replace the oil pump cover O-ring - recently purchased one on the Internet for $9.35. Once heard an experienced technician can change a timing belt only in

30 minutes actual time, though may bill higher for standard rate. If you "don't know cars very well" how do you know the oil pump is leaking? Generally one has to remove the timing belt cover to observe - and once you've gone that far, it is fairly simple to change the timing belt or any seals that need replacement.
Reply to
Daniel M. Dreifus

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