CAM SHAFT TOWER SEAL LEAKING ** PLEASE READ***

Well sh!t. After reading this thread now I am worried about my Tundra. I have a 2014 CM that has 63,500 miles on it.

I ran out and took some pics to be evaluated by you experts. Two are from the driver's side and two are from the passenger side.

What do you guys think?

 

None that I'm able to see...

 

yeah looks ok

 

I didn't read this whole thread, but I've had the cam tower leak twice. once at 35k and another at 55k. On the second one my timing cover seal was leaking also.

I called toyota corporate and requested a warranty extension and they researched then denied. I asked to speak to the manager of the toyota rep and she called back and gave me a 6 year 100k warranty. Which doesn't help that much because my truck will be 6 years old next year, but at least its something.

I plan on calling toyota corporate every time it leaks for as long as I own the truck.

 

@trdlife , thanks for the previous posts explaining how you deal with engine repairs. I told the service manager about leaving the vehicle overnight to seal and cure properly, a thing one of the master techs in the office at the time laugh and said "good luck on that", which i replied with "well if it starts leaking at least we know who will be fixing it again then right service manager?

 

Yea well that's what I try and do, It really depends on when I finish sealing it up more than anything, and having the room and time to let it set. Some smaller shops or when its super busy in the shop, its alot harder to let trucks stay in your bay to set up, to techs including myself, its lost time/money. Per how the fipg is designed on a large scale reseal like that it only needs like 3 hours to cure, so i prolly overkill it lol but they stay leak free

 

Sounds like they just snuck the cam tower out the first time, which can be done, and nothing wrong doing it that way if you seal it properly.

 

Just an update from my case (timing chain cover leak): 3rd party insurance said they will cover the labor and the gasket nothing else... I told the dealership to replace every damn gasket they removed and a new water pump since they were signs of coolant leak on it. it looks I'll be paying close to 600 bucks in parts+deductible. So in other words, see you later spray in bed liner and leveling work deposit LMAO!

 

Did you have the side that was repaired leak a second time, or did the other side start leaking?

 

Honestly man, if I wasn't over a 1k miles, I will take the truck to the dealership you work.

 

lol I'm starting to get that alot on here and facebook lol.

 

both sides leaked both times:

first time both cam towers were resealed

second time both towers and timing cover were resealed

 

Dang, that really sucks.

 

How long has it been now since second fix?
How’s it looking now?

 

About 5k miles. I only drive it on camping trips. Its not leaking yet lol

 

Definitely don't like hearing that. I'll be keeping an eye on mine but I will be totally out of warranty before the end of this year. If it leaks again, I will be calling corporate and requesting a warranty extension.

 

Picked up my truck tonight. They confirmed the leak and approved doing both sides even though one is leaking. Gonna drop the truck back off on the 20th to get the work done.

 

Well got a chance to look under the hood of mine today and I have say the tech did a pretty good job. Besides a few greasy finger smudges here and there, and the new black sealant on the cam tower its pretty hard to tell it was apart. Only thing I noticed is a good bit of oil on my cross-member. @trdlife when you complete this repair does it leak down some oil? I will have to hit that with degreaser, other then that I'm not even sure they took the radiator out or even everything off the front of the engine.

Overall pretty happy with the repair, still not thrilled about not completing the driver side but its what it is at this point. Maybe this tech didn't even take off the timing cover, and that's why he was hesitant on the driver side. I think @trdlife said you can do it without removing the front cover, I didn't know it could be done that way. Service advisor told me the tech was great at what he does, 35year with Toyota and has an old school mentality. Didn't want to mess with something that wasn't leaking, said why remove more parts off the truck then you need to.

I understand his point and agree to an extent but another side of me has a bad feeling about the driver side leaking once I'm out of warranty.

@trdlife, is an oil change part of this repair? I don't think they did mine, if its not part of the repair I'm going to change it this weekend, only 3k away from when its due now anyways.

 

Looks like it can be done without removing the timing cover, I bet mine was done this way and why they were hesitant to do the driver side.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/MiO9ARX9Lts

Pretty cool to watch

 

I had oil on my cross member as well and yeah get an oil change after 200 miles to flush all debris.

 

Thanks for the info, figured part of the repair. I will be changing oil this Sunday, should be about 200miles by then. Back to regular interval after that?

 

What is the point of making the part of the head that carries the cams a separate piece that requires a gasket seal?

I'm sure there is a reason but I can't see what the advantage is over a classic design where the cam is cradled in the head by cam cover caps.

 

Maybe so its a serviceable part if you messed up a cam, but how often do you hear of that happening. Would of been better cast as one piece, I still say the design of this is the flaw and why it leaks.

If this is the case they traded cheaper for problems that are not cheap to fix. I think If you have to pay out of pocket for this its pretty expensive.

 

Well good to hear it went ok. So first question is yes some oil will come down, when we are going thru and cleaning it, and I go thru 1 or 2 cans of brake clean to try and clean up but there always seems to be some oil you just cant get to or when it gets inside the frame, its a pain and near impossible to get out, so a few drops here and there will be seen, even sometimes a small 3in puddle or something depending on how you park and the oil runs out.

And yea, after thinking about it, that would be why he may not wanted to do the drivers side as well, if he just took the cradle out the top, i would have to side with him on that one. If hes old school, yea i would just let him do his thing, I leave the old guys be.

As for oil change, yea i guess it could be, I don't change the filter, but i will drain the oil out after i reseal it to get any coolant or debris that fell down while cleaning. then fill it back, up. But if you just take the cradle out with out the cover then no I wouldn't see any need to change it during repair.

 

Thanks for the info! My service advisor is a younger guy and he said pretty much the same thing as you here.

. "If hes old school, yea I would just let him do his thing, I leave the old guys be."

And yeah with them just pulling the cradle I can understand the standpoint on not doing the driver side now, who knows maybe it will never leak (knock on wood). Truck is running great, Do my oil and filter change Sunday so I get any debris flushed out like @TheBeast suggested. ​

 

yep..mine felt the same after the " fix"

 

Got my truck today. The dealership dropped an oil change, filter and all other shenanigans for free. Only time will tell when the cam tower leak comes by.

 

So.. am I good? Took these photos today.

Driver's side..


Passenger's side..

 

Looks good to my eye.

 

Looking good to my eyes too