CAM SHAFT TOWER SEAL LEAKING ** PLEASE READ***

2019 Tundra Sport, owned for 2 months, 1,6xx miles. Front differential has had oil dripping from it, possible cam tower leak?

FYI - Everything looks juicy from a fluid film undercoating

 

Jeeze, that looks like it's coming from higher up in that pic, as well as the cam tower seal.

 

No idea where it’s coming from but it’s pissing me off. The 9.5 year old Chevy with 115k I traded in wasn’t making a mess in my garage floor.

 

What a shame from an essentially brand new truck. Take it in for warranty work.

 

Yours might be valve cover and cam tower, what a shame Toyota continues on with this. I guess they no longer follow "Kaizen."

 

That Kaizen concept was thrown out the window long ago, I mean look at what they did with the Supra.

 

How many repair hours is it supposed to take to fix up both sides? My dealer said that they'd fix both sides, but they texted me about a day and a half later and said it was done.

Is it possible to fix both sides that quickly? I'm concerned they didn't actually do both sides.

 

1.5 days doesn't seem unreasonable if they're experienced with this repair (which I assume they are 13 years into the issue).

 

Mine took two days also.

 

Great, thanks for the input. Are those photographs looking in under the front wheel wells?

 

Anyone have this happen to a 2019?

 

Hahah mine took a week and a half and they only did 1 side

 

Pretty sure there have been at least a couple 2019s on here, and there was even a guy with a 2020 who posted a couple weeks back.

 

Is this covered under powertrain warranty?

 

It is. Powertrain warranty is good til 60K miles.

 

I purchased mine as a certified preowned
7 year 100k warranty

 

Wait.. You're telling me Toyota hasn't fixed this issue yet? How hard can it be?

I assumed the new ones had it resolved during manufacturing.

 

We all assumed that when we bought our trucks, only to be let down. Toyota doesn't care about this issue, the 5.7 is on its way out the door with the upcoming Tundra coming into the picture.

 

The problem is while Toyota sees the 5.7 as on its way out, MY 5.7 isn’t going anywhere. How hard can it be to use a different gasket setup at the factory?
Needless bullshit to put owners through.

 

Agreed 100%

 

I'm new on here and hoping for an answer. I've been told that 1 of 5 of these leaked and it depended on the color of the silicone used since there was no gasket but silicone only. Heard that if one or the other is used, no problem (grey or black). If anyone has sound info on this could you please share? Thanks.

 

The sealant is gray from the factory on all trucks. Black is used after the repair is completed. If you're looking at used trucks and it has the back sealant, it has undergone the repair. It most likely won't leak again once it's been re-sealed due to the fact that they tend to use more of it and make sure it's covering the whole surface.

 

I don’t know if anyone truly knows why some leak and some don’t. What I’ve gleaned from reading through this thread is that the bead of silicone used to form the gasket is applied by a robotic arm of some sort. In some cases an insufficient amount of silicone is applied, resulting in a poorly formed gasket and the resultant leak. As to whether any of that is true, or my understanding is correct, I don’t know.

 

In addition to the above post, it can happen on the 5.7's made here or the 5.7's made for the LC built in Japan.

 

I have heard the same, but what I think is crazy with that explanation is why not fix the robot? Just seems crazy to me though to continue this issue for so long. I myself think its a design issue, I think the cam tower should of been one piece to the head eliminating the need for a seal that cannot hold up in that location.

 

Fix the robot with some different programming?
IMPOSSIBLE!!

That must be some freaking line of code they’re creating to be taking this many years to complete!

 

It seems like a simple fix. It has to be more complicated than fixing the robot and writing new code, especially with years of documented leaks and the 5.7 on the way out. For some reason the cost to fix this issue at production outweighs the cost to repair our trucks if caught during the powertrain warranty. Seems crazy, but it's likely the Toyota people are smarter than us.

 

Undoubtedly a bean counter somewhere figured to just play the odds of the “We have to eat this repair” vs overall failure rate isn’t going to cost as much as the “fix it for good from the start”. It’s all they do.

Roll the dice and take your chances while someone (who should be kicked in the taint!) for NOT advocating fixing it counts more beans.

 

When i read that some 18's and possibly some 19's were still suffering from this, i was amazed. I'm going to do an experiment with my new 300 mile 19. No leaks, all I'm going to do is clean the area between the tower and head where it usually leaks, check the bolt torques, and add my favorite gasket sealer, Permatex Ultra between the Tower and the head to see if this solves this ridiculous problem...Photos to come if interested in my radical experiment.

 

Hard to believe because its an expensive repair. But your right on them taking the gamble that its cheaper in the long run to repair trucks rather then have them right from the factory.

I would watch doing this, if yours does leak then you might not be covered by warranty.