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Oil Leak

Hi all, I have a 94 Toyota Camry 1MZ-FE engine (V6). Recently I have had oil drops underneath the car in my parking space. I noticed that the engine block seal is leaky. I can only check the front part as the other 3 pistons are at the back behind the manifold; I am sure they leak as well, though. How much would it cost me to change the seal on the valve cover? (Thats what it is called, isn't it?) (mechanic says around $350 or less)

Now, a mechanic here says that by changing the valve cover gasket, the pressure (oil) in the engine will build up and cause more leaks from places that had really small leaks. This seems to be logical, but is it practical? If so how many seals would I be changing to minimize the oil leak? I will be changing the oil pan seal myself to save some money :). Recently, I have noticed that when I am crusing at 70mph, and if I am climging up hill, there is a small drop in the speed, really small though (fraction of a mile). But this was not present before for sure. I can see the needle move back and forth. Could this be due to the oil leak in the engine?

Any pointers and suggestions are welcome.

TIA, Shashank

Reply to
bhides
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$350 US is a fair price for changing the valve cover gaskets on a V6. There is quite a bit of labour involved. At the same time, make sure that the technician is going to replace the spark plug tube seals, intake manifold gasket, and re-seal the "half moon" plugs. Also have him ensure that the PCV system is working correctly, for that can be the cause of leaking VC gaskets if it is not. As far as future oil leaks, when your technician is done with the VC gaskets, ask that he thoroughly clean the engine of all residual oil, so you can better track future leaks. Oh, and replacing VC gaskets will NOT have an effect on oil pressure.

Reply to
qslim

Thanks for the reply, BTW how much, do you think, would the rest cost me? changing spark plug tube seals. intake manifold gasket and re-sealing of half moon plugs?

Reply to
bhides

Changing the valve cover gaskets will not cause more oil leaks. It is common for the valve cover gaskets to start leaking on the V6 motors due to the heat in the engine compartment. Engines are designed to breath so fixing one leak will not cause another, unless the mechanic fixing the leak doesn't know what he is doing.

Reply to
mdouglas

The spark plug tube seals, intake manifold gasket, and re-sealing of the half-moons should all be part of a valve cover replacement on a front wheel drive V6 engine. The intake manifold has to be removed during the process, so replacing the intake manifold gasket at that point is a matter of laying a new one down. The half moons should always be resealed when the VC is removed, and it only takes a few minutes. The spark plug tube seals can be a pain, so if your tech wants a little extra time, that's acceptable. Toyota sells a valve cover gasket "kit" for your car (including all mentioned above), and I want to say that it is somewhere in the neighborhood of $120.00, and you can expect somewhere around 4 hours of labour to be charged. The

Reply to
qslim

The intake manifold does not have to be removed to do valve cover gaskets, only the intake plenum. After the plenum is removed it still takes 45 minutes to an hour to do the cover gaskets. Resealing the tubes at that point is another hour or so. Toyota as a whole does not sell such a kit. A dealer may offer a kit but it would be something it put together. If you want this done, you will need 2 valve cover gaskets, an air intake plenum gasket, 4 "half moon gaskets" and a sealant for the spark plug tubes. The spark plugs screw in so a special tool ios needed to remove them without damage.

Reply to
mdouglas

The spark plug tube seals are round rubber seals inside the valve cover. I'm not talking about removing the tubes themselves, just replacing the seals.

Reply to
qslim

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Reply to
bhides

Thanks for the detailed information you all. I appreciate it .

Reply to
bhides

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