Looking to purchase 2018 Tundra- concerning oil observed - Help!

Hi all,

I just joined the forum, thank you for any help you can provide. I have been a long-time Toyota fan, I am on my second Tacoma (almost 250K miles) and my wife had a Corolla now on a Rav4. Currently, I am looking to upgrade to a Tundra due to my towing needs even though my 2013 Tacoma is still going strong. I went and looked at a private party 2018 Tundra today that has 76K miles (its an SR model with TRD Sport package) and everything looked pretty good except I noticed some oil sitting on the engine that did not look normal and was concerning. I am pretty sure this is not related to a cam tower leak, the oil is up on top of the engine pooling in little pockets. My hope is that its just spilled oil from someone being sloppy when doing an oil change but I still wanted to post some pictures here and see what you experienced Tundra owners have to say. I tried to check for cam tower leak and not sure, it doesn't seem too bad but I'll post pictures of that as well. FYI I have a nice OBD reader and I plugged it in and was able to verify there has never been a check engine light code cleared on it and nothing flagged/concerning with the OBD scan even with the history. The truck drove great, shifted nicely, no concerns there. Sounded good too. Let me know what you all think, thanks! I couldn't figure out how to upload a video that I took showing the oil so I put it on a google drive link, you can view the by clicking here. Again, I appreciate any insight! I hope the oil I am seeing is just sloppy maintenance work and not anything to be concerned about!

 

Search for "cam tower leak".

 

I have looked into cam tower leak, usually the oil leaking is below the area I am picturing and is visible in the wheel well, not on the top of the engine. Or does the cam tower leak also have problems leaking oil there as well?

 

I am on TW as well! Great forum. I would but the issue is they don't drive it and its why they are selling it (guy who did drive it had to go overseas to take care of his sick father so they didn't want to let it just sit instead figured they would sell it and buy a truck in a year or so when the guy moves back). So even if I get them to wash it off, I don't have confidence that it'll be driven enough to see if it comes back.

 

I could understand the oil near the filler neck, but that back one, not so much. Maybe gravity just drawing it back. I’d probably pass, unless it was a really good deal.

 

Yeah I am torn, I feel like its a pretty good deal. Got them down to $25K (2018 with 76K miles)... I can't find much below $30K right now that isn't high mileage or earlier generation.

 

Take it in to a Toyota dealer and have them look the truck over. Mention you are thinking of purchasing it and need the truck checked over. Anything found can be deducted from the asking price. Yes it might cost you some money to have it inspected but you shouldn't buy anything without an inspection. If the seller doesn't want to have the truck inspected, pass on it.

 

Id pass personally

 

Check PCV valve maybe? Put a latex glove over filler neck tightly, see if it inflates. Positive pressure can drive oil out of weird places.

 

Do you have a shop you can trust and have them look it over.

 

Is it just me or is that engine a real clatter box.

 

It has seen some log roads, yes. Mine looks worse.

 

I'm more concerned about all the racket the engine makes. Seems a bit noisy to me.

 

It is a noisy engine, yes. Don't be fooled with the noise. 5w30 and it is greatly reduced.