Cam tower leak

Honestly why don’t you see for yourself how bad the cam tower leak is. Take some brake cleaner and spray down that whole area to get it clean. Go a month and see how bad the leak actually is.

If you’re actually loosing that much oil out of there, you have the worst leak i have ever heard of from that area. Its way more likely you were loosing that much oil through a leaking oil pan.

 

I wouldn’t use thicker or thinner oil at all. Stick to what’s on the cap and or where you are in the states. If you are in the south where it gets super hot or up north where it gets freezing cold.

Best suggestion is to clean both sides, drive it a week or two and bring it to another dealer for a second opinion and quote.

Take that information with the other 4K estimate and make a determination on apples to apples.

Should you have the spark plugs replaced, maybe. Are the original ?

Should you replace coil packs? Are they they bad, probably not.

Only you can do down the rabbit hole. Do you need to replace cam phasers, chains , etc? Maybe, maybe not. But if they are that far into the motor and it’s a small amount, possibly.

Bottom line is people will help you spend your money faster that you can. Get as much information from a competent mechanic, shop, stealership, etc.

 

Maybe part of the oil is burned up? I had a Camry that lost a quart every oil change(5k) since new, but she was a 4cyl. Could it be possible? I am also having a small stain on right side of mother, therefore subscribing.

 

I wouldn’t rule out the pan leak being the majority of the oil loss. I personally would see if this was my issue before dropping any kind of major money for the tower leak especially in a higher mileage motor

 

Dealerships are the absolute worst!

 

Debatable. One in Easley revived my tranny(on second try). Highly regarded in my book.

 

Update: well you guys, I dropped my Tunny off to get the repair done (fingers crossed). They’re going to be replacing the water pump, all the drive/accessory belts, and timing chain and tensioners as well.

 

I decided to get it done despite the cost. Hopefully things will turn out good and that horrible burnt oil smell will go away. I really smell the burnt oil smell when I step on the gas.

 

I’m so worried about my truck getting this repair but the guy at the dealer is ensured that the truck is being well taken care of and they’re taking their time to fix.

 

How long did they estimate they will have your truck in their shop?

 

A couple of days. They said 3-4 days at the most.

 

The oil leaking from the cam tower isn't under pressure. It is oil that is pooling in an area directly over the seal.

That being said, the Tundra is meant to run on thin oil. Thicker oil actually causes more wear. Think of it like trying to push wet cement through a garden hose. That's an extreme example, but it makes the point.

The manual even says that 5w20 can be used if that's all you have available, but 0w20 MUST be used in the very next oil change.

That tells me the engine has some tight tolerances in places, and tight tolerances do not like thick oil.

 

Glad somebody else gets this too. The tight tolerances argument is so laughable as somebody who works in manufacturing. Like Toyota is going to have a separate part number for a block in a usa truck versus one sold in Mexico, gotta be shittin me.

I'm in socal and use 5w-30 and my engine sounds way happier.

 

So I just had this repair to my 2010 about 2wks ago, I’ll try to answer your concerns best I can.
price is correct, I had mine done at a dealer as well, I did smell it but thought it was the oil sprayed on my underbody….i oil it every year to prevent it from rusting…truck was in for a transmission service when the service advisor told me about the leak, I was experiencing any oil loss between oil changes, then again I change mine every 3k/3months….I know probably a waste of money especially when I use synthetic but I’m very picky on maintenance and oil quality so when you asked “will it run the same” I had to comment because I had the same concern….so when the service advisor brought it to my attention I said, no way I’m paying $4k for an oil leak, he agreed and said most people don’t repair them…they just keep driving them, use a thicker oil (not too thick) 5w30 is my recommendation I use Quaker state high mileage full synthetic, highly recommended. So I opted not to fix it, then I realized my truck was still under the bumper to bumper warranty….so I had it fixed still with concerns about how it would drive after….drives/runs exactly the same, but beware they will try to sell you other services while they are in there, they tried to tell me that I should replace the timing chain tensioners and I asked why, their response was that they usually go between 80-120k miles, after extensive research I found that to be false…obviously they can go anytime but I have spoken with people with 200/300 even 400k miles on their 5.7 with no issues, brand name fuel and on time oil changes is what keeps any engine going. So my recommendation is, if you like the truck and can see yourself keeping it, start using the oil I mention, if not that one use a good quality high mileage oil, doesn’t necessarily have to be synthetic if your is indeed losing that much oil from the towers I would definitely change it every 3k/3mos….high mileage oil has specific additives to help seals, won’t fix it right away but changing it sooner keeps everything fresh and clean and most likely will swell up those seals and help with the leak, it’s not a fix but like that other guy said, how much oil can you get with $4k.
Hope this helps

 

I will never understand why so many people online are so eager to attribute arguments to people that they never made.

I never claimed Toyota made different engines or parts for the US vs Mexico. So yeah, nobody is "shittin" you.

 

There are plenty of other reasons Toyota would recommend different oil viscosities for different countries. And judging by that spec sheet, the first that comes to mind is simple availability.

What possible reason would Toyota have to list 6 different viscosities when they could have just listed 1? Just tell people to run X viscosity which runs best in the engine, since fuel economy restrictions aren't as severe right? So why 6?

Likely because most of Mexico is essentially a third world country. For large portions of the country you can't just go into an Auto-zone or a Wal-Mart and pick up whatever viscosity you want. You are pretty much stuck with whatever is available. So Toyota gives a range to cast a wide net. And just because Toyota lists them as "safe" to use, like anything else, there is a spectrum of safety. It is possible that even if a thicker oil does cause premature wear, that extra wear still falls within a minimum safe range that Toyota found to be acceptable.

But acceptable is not the same as optimal.

And to be fair, it is also entirely possible that the thinner 0w20 oil recommended for the US is not optimal either. If Toyota prioritized minor fuel economy gains over maximum longevity, then maybe a slightly thicker oil is actually more optimal.

I don't think any of us know for 100% sure and we all just have our own personal opinions about it.

 

Of course they would. Toyota can't make a perfect machine. There are always trade-offs in any design decision. The trick is minimizing the negatives to within an acceptable range. If Toyota decided that the engine having between x and y amount of wear from oil was acceptable, they would have no problem recommending any oil that falls within that range.

At the end of the day, all Toyota really wants is for the engine to last just outside of the warranty period. Anything beyond that is technically costing them money. They would have no problem recommending an oil that will kill your engine at 250k miles knowing full well a slightly different viscosity might get you to 350k.

And sure, maybe you will get 300k+ miles using 20w50. But that doesn't mean you couldn't get more miles using 0w20.

But again, none of us really know.

 

The manual for trucks in Mexico say 15-40 is okay - so explain that.

 

Never mind - you decided you don’t know.

 

Already did.

 

Just got my truck back this morning. It drives the same and noticed fuel economy went up some. Truck is so quiet now all thanks to changing the timing chain and tensioners. Also have new serpentine belt and water pump. They did both sides and can see the new black seal.

 

I feel like my truck has plenty of life left after all. They said when they took the valve covers off, there was a lot of oil residue (obviously) and then they had to reseal my oil pan and change the oil again. It seemed like my oil pan kept leaking. They cleaned all the oil and everything, got it looking pretty new.

 

Yes! Dealer service FTW!! (Means "for the win")
Glad she's doing great now!

 

2018 Tundra 5.7 owner here. This thread had me searching my front wheel well’s this morning.
Found this on drivers side just behind I think are the brake lines. Same spot on passenger side is dry. Thoughts? Sorry for the bad pics. Phone has a trash camera

 

Quacker oil is the worst oil you can use,stay away from it.

 

Yet something else for me to keep an eye on. I’ll be getting a new timing belt in the spring as I have no idea when or if it has ever been changed. I now have 285K kms (178K miles).

 

You get one or the other. Either timing belts (4.7), or cam towers (5.7). But not both.

 

High mileage oil only works on seals it makes them swell up.It will not reseal cam towers because this is gasket compound.When toyota's robot applied it it wasn't enough put on the surface.Some have these leaks others don't.