Timing chain Cover leak. Looking for advice

Pull a 180 on a different “stealership.” Right before you take your truck in, take an oil can and hose some motor oil on the area of the leak. Don’t go nuts. Just make it appear more than a weep. If the truck wasn’t under warranty and you didn’t know it was seeping, I guarantee the stealership would bring it to your attention and give you a quote to fix. Fight fire with fire.

 

my dumbass would forget to use old oil. Um sir it seems your engine is leaking extremely clean oil ….

 

You would want to use clean oil. Not black oil. You want the leak to appear as an active leak.

 

Not a bad idea…

 

if that doesn't work, as a subaru owner, you can just drive right through the front window of the dealer and demand your fix.


Going to have to peak at mine today. 21 with 34k miles, right around all the posts here.

 

If you don't have warranty I wouldn't do it. Its a very expensive job and I have seem them come back seeping oil again if the prep work is not perfect. Its not worth ripping apart a motor and introducing dirt and debris that will have an affect in the long run. Plus the seeping oil will help present rusting.

 

I can honestly say if the warranty was expired I’d wipe it off and pay no mind. Part of me doesn’t want it ripped apart in case someone screws it up the other part wants to fix it under warranty so I don’t have a $3k bill years down the road. My luck they’d put too much sealant on and it would get stuck in an oil journal or something lol

 

I would go for it under warranty, just request that only a master tech works on it. That would bring me more piece of mind.

 

This is exactly how I feel about it.

 

I’d get it done under warranty.. had mine done back in January this year. No more leaking/seeping.. dealer gave me no fuss either. Set appt for inspection, showed up.. an hour later, they said it tech verified timing cover leak. Will order parts needed and get it fix. Set appt to drop off and got a loaner. 2 days later it’s done. I paid nada thing..i like this dealer.

 

The problem is that my dealer said Toyota won't cover it under warranty because it is only a "normal seep". So I am going to try another dealer and see what they say.

 

I too have this issue on my 2021 with 57k. Brought it to my local dealer this morning. Was informed by the shop foreman that Toyota will not warranty oil seeps, just leaks only, and they have to provide photographic proof of the leak for warranty approval. I asked about what if it leaks when I'm out of warranty. He said that the leak has been documented under warranty and it does begin to leak outside of warranty, they will submit a warranty claim since it was reported under warranty. He said all they can do is monitor for now.

I have 61k left on my CPO warranty.

 

My dealer told me it would have to progress to a leak before the warranty is up to be covered. He even told me an option would be to pick up an extended warranty. So your dealer sounds better than mine. I am going to try another dealer and see what they say. Plus, I have an inquiry into Toyota with pictures so we’ll see.

 

Won’t this gasket be changed when the timing chain is replaced? Wait it out until then……

 

I like how the dealer thinks seepage is “normal.” Kind of like waste seeping around the base of a toilet. It’s not leaking it’s just seeping. That’s a complete joke in my book. So glad I never bought any warranty and all the bullshit from a dealer that comes with it.

 

this gives me hope thanks lol my corporate claim was assigned to a rep waiting to hear back.

 

That's true the dealerships have to submit photo proof to toyota. A leak must to have a drip.

 

Oil seeps turn to oil leaks eventually. Insist on a repair. As already mentioned, apply a little oil at the seep to make it look like a drip. Do this a couple of weeks before the inspection. Give the dealership a call and tell them it is now spotting your driveway and you need it fixed. I realize that you had an issue with an oil change at the dealership but the guy doing service work is not the same guy doing the timing cover. Service work is an entry level job at the dealership.

 

toyota corporate called today. Discussed the issue for 20 minutes or so and they’ll be reaching out to my dealer next. We. Shall. See.

 

Nice! Good luck!

I received a notification that a case manager was assigned to mine, so hopefully I’ll be getting a call soon as well.

 

yea I got a call the day after that notification.

 

I talked to Toyota. They talked to my dealer and got a story from them. Then they got the story from me. Then they told me the same thing as the dealer. It has to be dripping to result in a repair under warranty. They even said oil needs to be hitting the driveway to be considered a leak. It ended with Toyota saying that my issue is documented and to contact the dealer and Toyota if it gets bad enough to drip even if I’m outside of warranty, but they wouldn’t commit to covering it.

In summary, they told me to go pound sand.

 

Well if it’s not leaking, they aren’t going to do a thing for you. In a couple of months add some oil for a couple of weeks. Take pictures of the spots on the driveway and then bring it in.

 

should have sprayed that bitch with oil like I said. Again, you need to fight fire with fire. Fuck em. Go to another dealer and be prepared this time.

 

He really can’t do that for at least a couple of months. Toyota corp will now have a case open and will get very suspicious if it shows up at another dealership a week later. It’s really not a dealership issue. I’m sure they would love to get paid but if Toyota Corp says no they aren’t going to get paid.

 

Yea I’m expecting the same but at least it’s documented for whatever that’s worth. Hey it’s documented sooo we might warranty it but maybe not lol

 

Hopefully you have better luck than I did.

 

I have a couple of long trips planned this summer including with a travel trailer. So I’ll see how it looks after that. Appreciate the feedback from everyone on this.