Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket?

Blueridge9 · Post by **Blueridge9** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:30 am

I need your advice. I have a very SLIGHT oil leak from my 2004 Base Automatic Vibe. My mechanic checked the usual places and ruled them out. The leak is more toward the passenger side and he thinks it could be a gasket under the timing cover. Have any of you had this problem? What do you think? He suggests I just monitor it unless the leak worsens. He thinks the fix would be removing the front end to get under the timing cover which would be expensive to access.

Blueridge9 · Post by **Blueridge9** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:07 am

455SD · Post by **455SD** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:15 am

If the area that you are talking about, is where the Cyldinder Head, Timing Chain Cover, and Cylinder Block, all come together - known as the 3 point area, then this is a somewhat normal condition. I have it on both my Vibes, and my daughters, and mothers as well. Typically, this will show up as a "damp" spot, only where dust has attached itself to the slight weepage of oil. One of mine has 187,000 miles on it, and has had this condition, without it worsening, for over 3 years. Unless you have a sufficient leak that produces a drip, I would not be worried about it. My 2.5 cents

circuitsmith · Post by **circuitsmith** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:13 am

Sounds like seepage from the timing belt tensioner, a common problem.Do a little searching and you'll find DIY instructions.Not difficult.

Blueridge9 · Post by **Blueridge9** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:12 am

Thanks for the info. I will check on that.

dgekiere · Post by **dgekiere** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:30 pm

Quote, originally posted by circuitsmith Â»Sounds like seepage from the timing belt tensioner, a common problem.Do a little searching and you'll find DIY instructions.Not difficult.found a video of a guy fixing the oil leak... i have to do this on a side job on a 2003 vibe awd.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS423KsMbxk

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:27 pm

Are the bolts accessible without removing anything? I had a slight oil leak on our 97 caravan from the oil pan. A few bolts were loose. Tightened them up & leak was gone.

Blueridge9 · Post by **Blueridge9** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:25 am

Thanks for the video!

dgekiere · Post by **dgekiere** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:14 pm

Quote, originally posted by cptnsolo77 Â»Are the bolts accessible without removing anything? I had a slight oil leak on our 97 caravan from the oil pan. A few bolts were loose. Tightened them up & leak was gone.yup 2 nuts and it comes right out. i could see it clear as day when i was underneath it, jus no room the get arms in there from below. waiting on oring before i pull it out. my dad works at a pontiac dealer and he said this was a common problem.

plusforce · Post by **plusforce** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 6:12 pm

455SD !

Thank you for your post
I have a slight leakage around the area that you mentioned.(3 point area)
it is different than timing belt tensioner leakage.

I think it is somewhere close to the passenger side head cylinder and timing belt cover and Cylinder block.
many times I cleaned it with brake cleaner spray.
but after a few months it came back.

right now it is not so much but if it gets worse. which part should be changed ?

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Sat Jul 05, 2014 7:01 pm

There's an O-ring around the timing chain tensioner. You'll want to look at a guide on how to replace it. Takes about 15 minutes on a hot engine (where you have to avoid burning yourself).

plusforce · Post by **plusforce** » Sat Jul 05, 2014 8:24 pm

I am not sure I am right but Timing chain tensioner is in the rear side of the engine while the place that 455SD was talking about is in front of the engine

you mean little bit oil in the place that 455SD was mentioned (3 point area) is also related to Timing chain tensioner ?
can oil come from rear side all over to the front side ?

Update:
I checked the timing chain tensioner location.
there was oil leakage around it. not so much
but probably dripped oil spread out by belt and goes around that 3 point area
I guess !

lannvouivre · Post by **lannvouivre** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:54 pm

There's also an OCV and a filter on the front, passenger's, top part of the engine, it's on the head. http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/t ... strainers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

plusforce · Post by **plusforce** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 6:34 pm

Thank you for hint !
After I changed timing chain tensioner I also checked out ocv filter I just cleaned it with Brake Cleaner it was clean though.
Maybe I need to change its gasket.
That OCV filter is exactly above the place that I see some dirt (3 point area)

Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket?

Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket?

Re: Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket? (Blueridge9)

Re: Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket? (Blueridge9)

Re: (circuitsmith)

Re: (circuitsmith)

Re: (dgekiere)

Re: (cptnsolo77)

Re: Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket

Re: Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket

Re: Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket

Re: Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket

Re: Oil leak in Base 2004, possibly from Timing Cover gasket