Hey, what's leaking here? (Lower timing cover, valve cover)

Oh, it is, but it's penetrated enough at this point that it'll be good for another 10k-20k miles

 

I would say throw some ATP

$21 at205 ATP automotive AT-205 re-seal stops leaks, 8 ounce bottle

at205 in the oil after you clean it. Mine shows signs of VC leak way worse than yours, so that's what I did. Two tanks of gas and I already notice a difference. Waiting to torque the bolts down after another couple of tanks of gas. Mine were bad enough it sounded like an exhaust manifold leak, that's gone now.

 

It's funny you mention AT-205. I had a mechanic friend toss this out over beers a couple hours ago. Swears by the stuff, "But only in the crankcase, don't bother using it for hydraulic or trans leaks".

So I started to dig around to see if it's a gimmick, or what negative side effects I'd find for the engine. Instead, all I found is several glowing reviews, it's mentioned in a number of posts on Ih8mud, including this one from a Toyota guy which made me say, "aha!" ... the PCV valve on drivers side, and there's spontaneous leaking on driver side ... leaving me wondering if maybe I should toss on a new PCV valve, just in case this is pressure related. Not like it's that much $$ or hard to swap out.

Oh, and I finally remembered the other thing I forgot earlier, never popped off the driver's side timing cover and take some pic. I swear, I've got the worst damn brain fog these last couple months. Really sucks.

 

I should take a closer look at my VCs as I think at least my passenger side is leaking…too cold outside right now though

 

The garbage can is at my place.

 

IRL:

 

I feel bad for all these low mile Tundras. They are going to die from lack of use.

If you’re not going to drive it, let it go. Buy a Ford and get on with your low mile life.

Sometimes the things you love you need to let go.

Those NOK seals are begging for some love.

 

Well, on the upside, I'm pretty sure it's only the VC leaking. I drove around quite a bit today, and when I popped the hood I'm only seeing fresh oil along the entire lower edge. I ordered a few bits from the dealership, including a new PCV valve. I'm ordering

$21 AT-205 Re-Seal Stops Leaks, 8 Ounce Bottle

AT-205 this week, if swapping PCV does nothing, I'm giving AT-205 a shot, see if that works, and if not, I'll replace the VC gaskets when I do the plugs next go-round.

 

Quoting my original post with pics for easy before/after reference.

Gist is this. I added ATP's

$21 AT-205 Re-Seal Stops Leaks, 8 Ounce Bottle

AT-205 per this reply. At minimum, I knew the following going in:

• At some point in the first 72k miles this truck has, the driver side cam seal had a leak.
• The passenger side valve cover had a recurring drip at the edge closest to the firewall.
• Something was leaking for a while, noticeably, down the oil dipstick support and tube, either driver cam seal or valve cover.
• The driver side valve cover was leaking enough I was seeing drips on the garage floor, and puddling like you see in the pics I quoted above.

Before adding the ATP AT-205, I wiped down all the excess oil I could find on the block. ATP says the product will work within 5 hours operating time. I added it, idled 5 mins then decided to go on a 1hr drive.

Next day, I had to take multiple trips, about another hour. When I got home, I checked for oil spillage. None on the passenger side of block. There was a little on the dipstick support but maybe 20% of what popped up within 35 mins of driving previously. There were 3-4 drops worth of oil under the passenger side valve cover, at the last two cover bolts only. It was far less than before, I wiped down the few remaining wet spots.

Today, about 35-40 mins of driving. This is what things looked like after my drive today, before I knocked out a little work on the truck. Sorry y'all, it looks like this stuff works. Seems like this should be part of anyone's regular regimen. For minor leaks like mine, it took about 3 hours total drive time to get to this spot. I was clearly leaking before. I'll keep eyes on it over the next week or two and report back. I cleaned up the oil stain, I'm leaving the skid plate off to prep for alt/serpentine work, put fresh cardboard down to track drips.







Close-up on that last one.

 

Hey, that's great to hear! I ordered a bottle yesterday after reading your other post. I may not need it anymore though. My rear main seal has been leaking for years. Not enough to drip, but whenever I got under the truck to change the oil, I would notice that it was wet. I switched to Mobil1 High Mileage (with the stop leak additive built into it) about 2500 miles ago. I checked it last night, and it was dry.

 

Nice!

I've heard this

$21 AT-205 Re-Seal Stops Leaks, 8 Ounce Bottle

AT-205 stuff will mend RMS leaks. The obvious concern I have with this stuff or any other leak stuff - and this is why I never buy into the damn things - is what's in it, and what happens next? I'm a skeptical MF...

Like, it's cool the leak is fixed 'for now', but how long before it stops working, and what happens if it does something to the other fully-working gaskets in the truck? Rubber gaskets do have a lifespan, they are what they are. Will I be regretting this 5-10k miles or 1-2 years from now?

Some petroleum distillates have a nasty habit of destroying old gaskets, and that's what many stop-leak brands started using when fine-particle additives fell out of favor. This ATP stuff only seems to have one ingredient, Carbitol, and I'm not 100% positive what its long-term effects are on rubber.

Either way, I'm glad there's no cam seal leak to tend to now, assuming the PO didn't have it fixed already and they simply didn't clean up the oil. That's literally the last thing I wanted to mess with.

It'll be interesting to see the state of the VC gaskets when I do end up replacing they and my plugs when it's warmer outside.

 

When im interested in new chemicals i look up the msds. It doesnt tell you everything, but gives me a heads up on what its doing.


Says 100% glycol ethers, so its a solvent. Probably a fancy solvent.

 

Yup. Definitely a solvent. I looked up the MSDS before using, dug to find the main ingredient. Diethylene Glycol Monoethyl Ether (link), aka "CARBITOL" or "Transcutol".

"Diethylene glycol monoethyl ether appears as a colorless, slightly viscous liquid with a mild pleasant odor. Flash point near 190°F. Used to make soaps, dyes, and other chemicals. Diethylene glycol monoethyl ether is a primary alcohol that is ethanol substituted by a 2-ethoxyethoxy group at position 2. It has a role as a protic solvent. It is a diether, a primary alcohol, a hydroxypolyether and a glycol ether. It derives from a diethylene"

BTW, put on another 35ish miles today driving to HF to get my new 3ton long reach floor jack. Mostly interstate, 65-75mph. Got there, not a sign of oil. Drive back was a little nuttier due to a massive accident on I-85, so I had some hybrid driving the way back. Got home, had about 2 drops worth of oil under the 2nd VC bolt from the firewall. Was darker colored than previous times, so not sure where it came from. But ZERO oil anywhere else... This stuff is without a doubt working to stop my leaks.

 

Final follow-up on this topic now I've broke down and replaced my valve cover gaskets.

I'm still on the fence about the

$21 AT-205 Re-Seal Stops Leaks, 8 Ounce Bottle

AT-205 product. I can tell it definitely stopped a leak I had on the passenger side valve cover, and it seemed to slow up some leaking I had. I would try it again and even recommend it (even at its current price that seems a bit high to me).

Here's what I know about my situation after overhauling all my crank case gaskets at 72k miles:

• There were signs my truck had a driver's side cam seal leak at one point
• There were also signs someone had both valve covers off before - all valve cover bolts were missing their washer-gaskets, and two diff't colors of FIPG in the corners
• Both valve cover gaskets were firm, but had a little life left in them
• Both covers were leaking, passenger side was minor, driver's side was enough that once it started I was down about 3/4 quart in 6mos.
• Most of my leak was on the driver's side.

Here's what I can say about my leak and ATP's product:

• After using ATP, the passenger side leak appeared to go away, completely
• The driver's side leak definitely diminished within 200ish miles of driving
• After re-gasketing, I can say with confidence, the remaining driver's side leak, which was significant, was coming from the previous person's shitty FIPG job at the front lower corner near the cam, it was very clear oil was coming through at that point
• I cleaned up the clear signs of cam seal leakage down the front of the block before using the ATP product; I saw a little bit of wetness between the point I added AT-205 and the 200-mile period; I cleaned it after 200-mile driving period and haven't seen additional signs since

I'm convinced the product may've done something, I also don't see how it might've caused other issues (yet). I think if my leak was more serious and wasn't primarily caused by a bad FIPG joint, and the previous person working inside the covers had used correct hardware, it would've been way easier to know if this product helped my situation.

I'd recommend it if you just want to throw something at a rear main seal leak, power steering leak, or cam seal leak - you know, the kind of stuff where a $20 product could save you 100x that in parts & labor - but as for a routine maintenance product, or for something like valve covers on our trucks, where the damn head has that really unfortunate right-angle design at the cam requiring FIPG - I'm not sure I'd recommend it, you should probably just get in there and re-gasket the cover, coil tubes, and half-moon plugs.

 

@shifty` thanks for this post, I’m going to give the 205 a shot before replacing the PCV and if that doesn’t work I’ll just replace the cam seals at the same time as the valve cover gaskets