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

That is no big deal, I'd leave it and not lose any sleep over it.

 

Yeah? Should I expect it to get worse? Would hate to have oil dripping in the driveway, or smelly burnt oil coming from the engine.

 

It will not get much worse, waste of money to fix it. It's probably been like that for 50,000 miles.

 

Anyone's truck making almost like a ticking noise on startup then goes away, i had my passenger cam shaft tower seal done.

 

No loss of performance here. Major loss of fuel economy from a heavy foot. I have not had a chance to swap out oils yet - been working too much lately. But, I am also going to spray it really good with cleaner and try and find out where the leak is at (just for sake of knowing because there will be no open heart surgery on this - Too Much Money). It is leaking in more than one place, I do know that. It is also hard to see Royal Purple oil until it forms a "drip tip" and that drip location is usually not from the actual leak location.

 

Mine leaks on a 2013 CM w/ 64k. The leak is very slow, like really slow on both sides. I wipe it off at every oil change and forget about it until the next oil change. I probably could go 10k before I wipe it off. No heat shield drip, yet.

 

Hoping this is the same situation I am in.

 

I was on a trip and had the oil changed at a Toyota dealer. They indicated that I had a cam tower leak on the passenger side. I didn't have time to have them repair it. Returned home and took it to a local dealer. The local dealer felt the leak was a valve cover leak. They replaced the valve cover gasket and 15,000 miles later its still dry.

 

Update:
After talking with General Manager at dealership and going back and forth they realized that my truck was a certified Toyota when I bought it from them used with 47,000 on it back in 2019. Before they realized this they offered to pay for parts and I had to cover labor. I told them truck is certified, they should cover all of it. Something finally clicked and dealership is doing the right thing. I am now only out $50 for the deductible and Toyota is covering everything else. My only advice after all of this is to buy from a dealership and make sure it is a certified vehicle, saved my ass on this one.

 

That's awesome to hear! Yours being such a relatively new truck I'd want it taken care of since they're offering to do so under warranty. My 2018 had the leak at 8,000 miles and the dealer did something to screw up the engine while they had it opened. They ended up buying it back and I bought a used 2010 with 104k on the clock. My 2010 has the leak, too, but as others have pointed out, there is no noticeable loss of oil between changes. I'm just going to let this one go unless it gets much worse—no sense in paying a ton to have them open the engine up.

 

I thought my truck had stopped leaking on the driver's side, but I just checked and it's dripping on the heat shield. Dealership confirmed the leak at 5,500 miles, but I decided to hold off. Waiting seemed to work because I thought it mostly stopped.

16,000 miles now. The truck has been hauling the family up to the mountains every weekend. My guess is that's causing some of it. We have a pretty busy camping season this year and a trip to South Dakota. Let's see how bad it is (or not) after hauling the trailer around for the season. I'm still not inclined to fix it unless it gets really bad.

 

I took a closer look this morning. It's dripping on the heat shield pretty good and has covered about four inches of it. If I left it, it would start to drip on the driveway. I don't smell it in the cab.

Too bad. I thought I was in the clear. I have been driving like a jackass since my 10" DD. And I use my truck. Not sure what I'll do, but I know I'll clean it up at the next oil change and see how bad it's dripping. I'll report back.

Low mileage cam tower leak. At least I can stop reading the supercharger threads.

 

Why doesn't Toyota design a physical gasket to fix the cam tower issue?

 

Wouldn't it be too thick compared to the sealant? Then things wouldn't work proper...

 

Just realized I had a leak a few days ago...both sides. I have a 2010 DC 5.7 with 147K miles. I’m thinking it might be a good idea to take care of some other items while the work is being performed. Timing chain/tensioners? Anything else recommended?

 

Well this was a fun thread to find. Sure enough, my '12 is leaking on the driver's side, pretty wet, hard to get a picture. No drips on the ground. Just turned 50,000. Anyone in Northern Utah get this fixed? Who did the work?

 

That sucks. 50,000 on a 2012, you better hang on to that one. Good luck on your cam shaft tower seal journey regardless, these trucks are worth it IMHO.

 

Yeah I'm super pleased with the truck. I just bought it a few weeks ago from the original owner. I figure I better get this leak repaired while it is still supposedly under warranty. It has been serviced its entire life at the same dealer. Probably would be best to start there.

 

Was able to get a picture. There is a about a 2-3" segment that is wet with oil. The seal is grey but the lighting messes with that. This seems like it would be pretty minor. Anyone experience real oil loss or even dripping from this issue?

 

Most that I’ve known that leak never present a drop in the driveway. Most never know they have a leak(unless they are a member here).

 

true, I never knew I had it until I read here. got it taken care of over 3 years ago. been dry since then. no issues to report post surgery

 

I guess I'll see how much goodwill Toyota has for me! I won't pay to have it fixed, but if they will do it for parts or a small deductible, I'm in.

 

Looks like most seeped oil would burn off on the exhaust.

 

I just returned from my local Toyota dealer after having the free 6 month free maintenance done. The truck only had less than 2K miles on it. I haven't driven it as much as I would like due to this pandemic stuff going on.

I asked the service guy if he could take a quick look at the cam tower seals for any leaks since its a known issue with the 5.7's.....and he asked why, and asked me if I saw that on the internet. I told him that yes, I did see it on the internet. He claims he has been doing this for years and never heard of any issues with leaky cam tower seals. ...Now I see why others don't like going to dealers....

 

What rock has he been living under lol

 

I honestly wouldn't ask the service guy to look for it. My service guy also played dumb when I brought it to his attention, then when I asked for the master tech to come look at it (since I knew it was leaking) he knew exactly where to look. The tech claimed they get 1-2 per MONTH in for this fix, while the service guy claimed he'd never heard of it. Anyway, I've owned two Tundras in my life, and both have/had this leak. Either I have terrible luck or this issue is much more widespread than everyone claims. I bet half the people on this thread claiming theirs aren't leaking haven't even looked.

 

At 5500 miles, my service guy confirmed my driver's side was leaking, but also said they don't do many. He offered to do both sides. Confidence inspiring.

Sucks about both your trucks. I think it's widespread as well. I think people are blissfully ignorant because they don't read tundras.com.

 

I'm starting to wish I was blissfully ignorant. It really is minor in impact, but also annoying! I wouldn't even worry about it if I knew Toyota wouldn't do anything, but if there is a chance of getting it fixed for free....

Edit: So far, nobody has shared a story of leaking buckets or causing a fire. Do the leaks start early and weep forever? Or do they progressively get worse?

 

Any threads about potential issues are like going on web MD. They all get me a little ocd and have run out too the truck and check things out lol.

 

It is silly when you think about it, looking for problems. I actually went out to my garage because of this thread and put a flashlight in my wheel well. It sounds like many can go for 100s of thousands of miles with the leak and without any real problems.

I spent a fair penny on a clean, 50k Tundra and I don't want it leaking oil, especially while I'm making payments.