8/15 Tundras on lot at dealership have cam tower leak

I have 70,000 miles on it so unless it’s gushing oil I’m probably just going to keep an eye on it for now. Thanks for the information.

 

Vizla my point is that you stated that 1 quart of oil leaked out onto your exhaust manifold in 800 miles of driving. Honestly, that's a little hard to believe. I'm guessing that as you were driving along someone would have motioned you to pull over. Your truck would have been leaving such a cloud of smoke behind it that they would have feared you were on fire. Been there done that.

 

Took mine to dealer today. They are fixing both sides. Passenger leaking onto heat shield and driver side weeping. They said doing both sides so they don’t have to pull the engine again. With the holidays it’s going to be about a week. They are giving me a loaner car. I will update when done. 35k on truck. I already have a platinum extended warranty. Hopefully it is reliable when done but will be selling before end of warranty

 

Sorry bud, don’t need you to believe me, Toyota sure did, and judging by your other posts in this thread you probably don’t believe anyone? Think about a quart of oil dripping over a 12 hour drive, mostly at night through the middle of nowhere, definitely not what you assume it is. Truck was not driven after arriving at dealership, leaked too bad. Hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas!

 

Sorry Dave if I hurt your feelings. I try not be gullible as I have too many years behind me to just believe everything I read. Repeating it would be worse.

 

Your good bud, my feelers are just fine. I’m rather well seasoned myself, but always mindful of not assuming and to remaining open minded.

 

Does anyone know why there’s no recall on these leaking cam tower seals? Seems like it’s been a problem for a long time?

 

Recalls are only for safety issues, now if someone's truck caught fire from the oil dripping on the manifold then they might issue that. The cost would be to great for Toyota to issue a recall so they just roll the dice on repairing a certain percentage of trucks after the fact.

I guess its to much of an investment for them to fix the issue at the factory as well, pretty lame on Toyotas part to continue to produce something with this issue. If I turned out a bad product consistently I wouldn't have a job...gotta love big corporations.

 

Pretty lame considering how much they get for Tundras...

 

That and the fact its an old platform, they have had plenty of time to fix the issue. So either they don't care or its a design flaw with now fix and this will be the end of the 5.7 and the solution will be a new motor for the next gen.

 

They probably raise the price on their trucks 3-400 every year so they are definitely not hurting with doing these repairs.

 

Does anyone know how many Tundra's actually have this leak?

You have a few people on a forum complain about it....okay, so its a very real issue for them (though I do recall seeing at least one post where someone posted a picture of a "leak" and I saw absolutely no indication of a leak). 8/15 Tundra's on a dealership lot had leaks.

Does that mean, that 50%-60% of all Tunra's have that leak?

I'm just surprised for as big a deal as some people here make it out to be, there is no widespread complaint from Tundra' owners about this issue, at least not yet. FYI, this sort of stuff can get reported to the NHTSA and logged as a consumer complaint....how many Tundra owners have actually done that?

 

I was wondering when you'd show up on this thread. I'd say the numerous threads on this site (that you're undoubtedly aware of) and other Tundra forums is fairly widespread. What is "widespread" to you? Do we need to organize a march on the nation's capitol? I'd also guess that a lot more Tundras have this issue that ARE NOT reporting it on sites like these, or they don't even know they have the issue.

Now if you'll please excuse me, I'm literally just about to head to the dealer to drop my truck off to have both cam towers re-sealed on my year-old truck with 8,700 miles since it's leaking oil.

 

Why do you care so much if I "show up?" It's a forum...people post stuff and they don't always agree.

NHTSA is a government website which tracks recalls, manufacturers communications (used to be called TSB's) and consumer complaints. How many consumer complaints have been logged with the NHTSA for Tundra engine oil leaks?

You and a few others here want to act like the sky is falling because a few people on here have posted oil leak issues. Just because you see a few complaints on a forum doesn't mean the issue is widespread. In fact, quite often its the opposite: a few complaints get aired on a forum, and those complaints get interpreted as the norm even though most owners aren't having the same issues.

If the oil leak turns out to be a widespread issue, I'll be among the voices demanding some action on Toyota's part. Currently there is very little evidence to suggest that the problem is widespread.

That's part of the problem: you're guessing and assuming in order to make reality conform to your narrative. You have no proof that there are lots of owners who aren't reporting oil leaks, but you feel perfectly comfortable making that "guess."

Just like we had other people who were chiming in on an earlier oil leak thread with negative comments even though, by their own admission, they didn't have a leak.

People let these 'online' problems go to their heads. If you have a bad oil leak, get it fixed under warranty. Otherwise, I'd wouldn't spend any time worrying about it.

 

Why do you care if people are posting about this issue? You've been the number 1 cam tower apologist and seem to have a problem with people talking about this. The master tech that will be re-sealing mine said it's a common issue on these engines and, like I said, I'll bet this issue is vastly underreported. No, the sky is not falling, but it's a frustrating COMMON issue that Toyota refuses to remedy at manufacturing.

 

i dont have any observable leaks. Im at 12k miles. 2017 trd pro. fingers crossed

 

You "bet" that its a common issue? Why? Because you got some "insider information" from a dealership technician?

How many threads have started off that way....'Hey, I'm just an average Toyota owner who doesn't know anything, but I talked to this guy who works for the dealership and this is what he told me...' It's comical that people still consider that a credible source of information.

I'm not apologizing for anything. If stuff breaks on a Toyota, I expect the company to honor the warranty. And for the most part, Toyota does exactly that. If their vehicles don't last for the longterm, I'll buy another brand of vehicle. But that hasn't been my experience with their vehicles.

NHTSA tracks common issues for all brands and makes. The oil leak is not currently listed as a common issue. There are a few complaints on an internet forum, but that's one single data point (one that should always be taken with a pound of salt) and it certainly isn't indicative of the overall truck ownership experience.

Get your engine fixed under warranty and enjoy your truck...

 

Hey UpSteer32 - give me evidence that the Tundras don't leak. Prove it to me. I want to see facts.

And BTW, I just did a search on your National Highway site - there are plenty of complaints about the cam tower leak. Probably won't ever result in anything as it isn't a "safety" issue - since nobody is going to die as a result of an oil leak.

 

^ that's the coolest gif sig on this site lol

I spilled a bit of oil down the side 2 changes ago. What's a good way to clean the area to give it a fresh palette for future observance?

 

Gunk engine foam cleaner works good on light oil and dirt cleaning. Make sure to rinse well it doea have a smell

 

After reading all of this im kind of nervous to look at my 2018 now. I wonder if increased oil pressure would cause this issue to worsen. Like heavier weight oil over 0w20

 

Any confirmed issues with the 2019s? Or still to new?

 

It'll be underreported because most won't ever look for the leak. I have a 14 with it, and I found out only because I read one of these threads on the issue which made me go look, and this was just a few days ago. Had I not been a member of these forums I'd have never known.

 

Exactly. Unless the leak is bad enough where it's getting on the heat shield and burning or dripping to the ground, most people won't ever notice. The tech doing oil changes, which will be the only reason most people ever go to the dealer, won't look for this, and most people doing their own oil changes won't ever look there either.

 

It is not on the pressure side of the oiling system, so doubtful.

I liked your post because secondary hoops. Not the leak part.

 

Is this a design flaw or manufacturing defect with the seals? I couldn't find an answer to what's causing this.

 

It's a combination of a poor design and the robots not applying enough sealant evenly during assembly.

 

So, while the design may be poor, if the robots were putting the proper amount of sealant evenly, would there be any issue? I am okay with a poor design if there is no performance issue like the leaking.

 

I think that's the idea. People who have had the fix, which involves a human applying a liberal amount of sealant, report that generally it fixes the issue for good. I have seen some people say it has leaked again, which is what leads me to believe it's just a poor design. I would think if it's just minimally seeping then there wouldn't be any performance issues.