*PLEASE VOTE HERE* Who DOES/DOES NOT have a leaking cam tower seal?

That's exactly how the Toyota dealer did my trucks repair. They did not remove the timing cover as I have seen in other videos, which also tells me why they were hesitant to complete the driver side even though it wasn't leaking. If the tech takes off the front cover then it makes a lot of sense to complete both sides.

Buck Wallace I'm with you on this, I was extremely disappointed by this issue and its pretty much determined I probably wont keep the truck after powertrain warranty is up. I will also say you need to change your oil a bunch after the repair, I did my first change after 500miles and had all kinds of gasket material and wire wheel pieces in the filter. It took me almost 18,000 miles before I finally got a filter without any debris when I changed it. I have put 19k miles on mine now since the repair, its not leaking but I swear the side they repaired has a kind of knocking noise to it when its hot outside and I always have the worry in my mind about all the crap that was flowing though my engine.

 

I could go with "meh" if I was just replacing a simple gasket on a truck with 100k miles after working it hard, but I drive like a grandpa and my truck is barely a year old with less than 9k miles and needs the top end broken open, so "meh" isn't gonna cut it with me.

 

This is everyone's attitude on here , its a leak just happens no big deal. Yes on terms of it not being a catastrophic failure its not a big deal, but buying a vehicle this expensive and as old a platform as it is to leak its a big deal IMO. My Tundra is the only vehicle I have ever had to develop an oil leak at less then 150k miles...that's pretty sad. Leaking engine oil at 21k just shouldn't be acceptable.

 

This is my biggest issue. The fact that Toyota has an "updated" FIPG sealant that it gives mechanics for this repair acknowledges they know it's a problem. Why they don't use the "updated" FIPG sealant from the beginning just blows my mind. If this is a permanent fix, why the hell don't they permanently fix it when it's initially assembled?

 

I kinda agree, but I’ve owned lots of vehicles, and used to own a construction company that had many vehicles. It is what it is. Life is way to short to worry about man made things doing what man made things do. It gets fixed, move on, or drive yourself bonkers. One makes sense, the other does not.

It’s not updated, just a different color. I’m dead serious. Has much more to do with the surfaces being cleaned properly than anything else. Just so you know it is not a permanent fix, there is myself, and another member on here that had failures after the fix. Again it boils down to the details, has to be completely perfectly clean. Don’t sweat it, will be fine.

 

My thoughts exactly, only thing I figure is they are rolling the dice on if it leaks or not and its cheaper for them to just repair those that will leak during the warranty period. Its not the right thing to do by the consumer but it happens with all manufacturers not just Toyota.

 

I have a ‘19 but too few miles to see a leak. Will keep checking weekly.

 

Update from post #161
2018 tundra crew max TRD. With 4112 miles. Both sides are leaking dropped off at dealership last week. They said. Maybe another week before it’s fixed Disappointed a $39,000 Truck would have an engine leak at 4112 miles

 

So what would fix all of this from the start, and whatever that fix is, maybe the 2019 builds have it?

 

A different gasket design would fix it. Using a form-in-place gasket material on two flat surfaces is just not a good design - too many possible failure modes.

 

Well.............. 2017 with 26350 miles. Drivers side leak. Can't really see one on the passenger side. Dealership visit planned for next week sometime.

 

Just purchased a '16 double cab flex fuel. Nearly 38,000 no leaks yet and doesn't have that issue listed on the carfax.

 

My 14 at 117K has no cam tower issues. My 07 that I had....had no cam tower issues at 99K.

 

2020 with 6000 miles, no leaks (yet).

 

Not yet.

But I only have about 4000 miles.

 

......winter is setting in up there anyways, time to get the sled dogs ready, sharpen the skates, and stock up on Cheezies!

 

Mine started leaking on the driver's side at 5500 miles. Toyota offered to fix both sides and I wanted to wait. I'm at 14,000 miles now and it's barely weeping. Not going to fix it absent something major happening, which I doubt.

I thought my leaking was connected to towing, but I towed our trailer throughout southwestern CO this July and it's still fine. It used to stress me out but it doesn't anymore.

 

The first thing I checked the day that I looked at my 14 on the lot was the cam towers. Dry as a bone at 104K. My biggest concern after that was it was blaaaaack! Ha!

 

2020 with right around 9920 miles; no leaks.

 

If I had not come to this site, I would never have heard of a cam tower leak. My buddy has had every generation of Tundra.

 

Current Tundra... 2018 49,000 miles... No leaks...

1st Tundra... 2014 sold at 45,000 miles... No leaks...

 

As of today, there are currently a total of 411 votes cast, with 75 having leaks. Works out to 18.2% of those responding having leaks. I would be willing to bet that the actual percentage of reported leaks to Toyota is far lower than this for two reasons.

1. There are some people who would never notice the leak in the first place. As far as I have been able to find it's rarely more than a minor leak, and could easily be missed between oil changes.
2. Many people only come to the forums/interwebs if they already have a problem, so I would think the likelihood of a higher percentage of sufferers being polled here is pretty good.

Let's say the real number was half the percentage reported here (9.1%) and Toyota sold 1,502,837 Tundras from 2007-2019 ( https://motorandwheels.com/11-toyota-tundra-statistics-facts/ ), then you'd be looking at 136,758 trucks spread across 13 years. 10,519 trucks average per year. This would be a worst case scenario number. One big thing that will drop this number pretty quickly: There were a total of 1.5M Tundras sold and not all of these had the 5.7 engine.

I don't have ready access to sales numbers breakdowns by engine type, so I am not going to speculate further on potentially affected truck numbers. Purely trying to show that with the percentage being as small as it likely is; it's not hard to see how or why this wasn't a high priority to be addressed. As far as I know there hasn't been any kind of catastrophic failure or severe damage due to the cam tower leak. It just wouldn't be a major concern unless it was affecting a much, much larger percentage of the trucks being produced.