I tightened the valve cover bolts hoping that would help but it didn’t.
For reference, it mostly seems to appear on the right side of the skid plate, beneath the steering rack. I ruled out the steering rack because it’s oil. Dyed oil.
I started with some ACDelco oil dye but the day after I added it we had rain for a week and by the time I got under the 4Runner the dyed oil was everywhere. I’ve spent hours wiping everything down with shop rags, cleaning things up to make it easier to spot the leak. Today I changed the oil and added a different dye – In the bottle it appeared to be a different color than the ACDelco dye under a black light but it turns out they’re both about the same after mixing with oil.
Oil seems to be collecting at certain places.
- To the left of the oil dipstick, maybe from behind the crank pulley.
- On the top of the front cross-member on the left/driver side, dripping down.
- Down the right side of the oil pan, culminating in a drop on the drain plug.
- In drips on the underside of the steering rack.
- Along the bottom ridge of the oil pan and the bottom of that rubber thing sticking out the bottom of what I think may be the starter (pic with rectangle and arrow). The drip accumulating here make me think it has to be coming from above but that doesn’t make sense to me.
- All along the white plastic wiring bracket that I believe leads to the starter. Seems to run along this, on both sides, to the corrugated plastic and drips down from there (see pic with parallelogram and green dyed oil on the corrugated plastic).
The first place I really notice it after wiping everything down and driving a couple miles is to the left of the dipstick. I replaced the dipstick o-ring not long ago. It really looks to me like it’s coming from behind the lower timing belt cover. But the fact that it’s appearing above there seems to indicate it’s coming from somewhere higher.
After using a mirror to inspect the cam plugs I thought for sure that was the source but after cleaning up those areas I’ve only seen one small drop on the bottom of the left cam plug. Passenger side remains clean. (before and after cleaning)
I thought I ruled out the cam shaft seals after peeking behind the timing belt cover. Then I learned the seals were behind that metal plate.
A Day Later…
I greased up all the zerk fittings today and spent another couple hours under the 4Runner wiping away oil and grease. Even cleaned up the cross-members, front/back/top/bottom. Coming at it head first from the back allowed me to see and clean areas I couldn’t coming from the front.
Afterward I went for a 2 mile drive and the leak was clearly visible but I still can’t put my novice finger on where it’s coming from. The first place I looked was by the dipstick and sure enough, oil. It appeared to be running along the oil pan and dripping onto the front cross-member.
It occurred to me that maybe I got the wrong o-ring when I replaced it but then, from below, I noticed fresh oil above there.
It doesn’t look like much but there was definitely fresh oil in this area after the test drive:
Another strange thing – I saw a small amount of fresh oil that appeared to be dripping down the left side of the starter (that is the starter, right?). I’d specifically cleaned oil off here prior to the test drive. It’s faint but it’s definitely new.
Update:
Drove to Portland, OR on 12/18/21. Nearly 600 miles. Added 1/4 of a quart to get it back to the max fill line. Same on the return trip on 12/30/21.
Hood Struts
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