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

Little gunk? More like, "What gunk?" That block is cleaner than my briefs! Get outta here! LOL

 

WTF man why are Tundra's with that low of miles getting this awful leak? I thought for sure they had fixed that bullshit after 2014.

 

IN 2025 dollars what is the Cam Tower leak costing to repair?

 

So I just bought my 2016 with 75k miles and I knew about the cam tower leak as I read this entire thread so I looked for it when it was at the dealer but my dumbass didn’t see it was in the back of the engine on the driver side by cylidner 7 and 8 I just looked at the front directly in front of the wheel well

ironically I would have never noticed until my friend who I told him about the cam tower leak before he bought his tundra pointed it out on mine

Our other friend has a cam tower leak on his and two of my neighbors on my culdasac have it on theirs, all late model low mileage 2nd gen’s (well one guy is a 2011 with 100k miles and another is. 17 with 145k)

I honestly think everyone has it and they just are completely oblivious of it since they never heard of it and I feel like the guys who know simply don’t know where to look (mine was hard to spot until it was pointed out) I have no burning oil smell on mine but it’s wet and looks like it already dripped down onto the manifold

suprisingly car care nut doesn’t make a huge deal over this i feel like mechanics down play it because they don’t know what it is themselves or it’s such an increadibly tedious unpleasant job to do, car care nut joked he and all the techs would call out sick the week one was scheduled
I don’t trust any dealer to crack into mine so I’ll leave it alone until I have no other choice to address it

I would like to add my truck was a one owner all dealer maintained regular oil changed truck

 

Crud man I fear it happening to me after reading this thread tonight. I asked chatgpt how much it costs to fix in 2025 dollars, and apparently it is around $6,000 to repair! WTF!!!

Worst part is it can happen all over again especially if the mechanic repairing it does not do a good job.

 

Yup exactly I still cannot believe to the life of me that Toyota used such a shitty design but here’s the way I see it, obviously it sucks and pisses me off since I’m super ocd and supposed to be my forever truck

but like I said I think everyone has it since not only certain years were effected nor miles so the entire second gen run up to 2021 most likely all has it since they never fixed the robot or whatever bullshit excuse they came up with it’s just a shit garbage design and they never fixed it my theory is because most people didn’t ever notice or not until way past warranty so they saved a ton of money no fixing it thru warranty. If they redesigned it they probably would have spent millions but since most effected people were and still are blissfully unaware jokes on us

that being said even unaware if it caused our engines to seize like the 3rd gen tundra engine then they would have been forced to address it so if there’s any “silver lining” it’s not a wide spread death sentence for our engines to have this which I guess is good and bad

 

Good theory. Look at it this way too. The reason I bought a 2021 Tundra was because the turbos on my 2016 F-150 went out at 141,000'ish miles and in 2021 the cost was roughly $6,000. If you buy a Hemi Ram it is roughly $6,000 to fix the Hemi tick. If you have a GM truck it is roughly $6,000 to fix the terrible issues from the cylinder shut down shit.

So, if you got to gamble on a brand when all of them have repairs that are going to cost you roughly $6,000 I will roll my dice with Toyota.

 

According to Toyota this V8 has been the same since 2007 through 2021 and produced 150,000 annually. Yes there’s a smattering of posts on cam tower issues but to think “all” are or will leak seems very unlikely given how few experience the issue. Perhaps I’m being naive…

 

I hope you are right. I live in Central Texas where there are Tundra's literally everywhere since the factory is only a couple of hours away. I have probably a dozen friends that drive 2010+ Tundra's and none of us have ever had that problem. If we had I am confident they would have bitched about it and I would have found out I know I would have. Hopefully it stays rare.

 

ok 99.9 percent of tundra owners never heard of tundras.com and never heard of a cam tower leak, my two neighbors on my culdasac who have the leak (2021 pro and 2018 limited) are both older car guys but had no idea what it was and obviously never checked and were very surprised when I pointed it out to them) and again this cam tower leak happens randomly at any time so even if you heard about it but don’t have it simply means you don’t have it yet because it is beyond clear that it’s a design flaw they never fixed so hoping you don’t get it is pretty foolish since in essence the engines were all built virtually the same with the same sealant

Like for example car care nut says get a 2014 or newer tundra because they did actually upgrade and change the head gasket that year and there’s always certain year cars you want to avoid for certain models right? In the 5.7 they all have this issue even 2021 so that proves they never fixed or updated the problem so everyone is at risk

lastly the guys on here if you read every post said they only knew and found out about their leak because it started leaking bad enough it dropped on to their floor or manifold and started smoking
I think the best case we can hope for is that our leaks just remain seepages but I doubt it

 

Well, both of my Tundras had cam tower leaks, and my neighbor and my friend both had leaks. Lesurfer also personally saw four(?) with the leak, so if it truly is a "small percentage" of Tundras with the leak then we are extremely unlucky to have had and/or seen so many with leaks. Also, when I asked my buddy if he had it he said "no", but then admitted he didn't even know what it was. When I showed him he was surprised. As someone mentioned, I think most people are blissfully ignorant and truly don't even know if they have it or not.

That said, I know I've said this before, but I think if you have a leak and are out of warranty, just let it go and keep an eye on it. I get the frustration and anger (I've experienced it myself), but most of the time there is no noticeable oil loss with this leak (I never noticed any loss between changes and had the leak on both sides of my 2010). Just monitor it, and unless there's oil dripping onto the ground I think it's best to just let it be and enjoy the truck. If you're under warranty, sure, get it taken care of, but if you're out of warranty it's not worth the $5k or whatever it is these days to fix it.

All just my opinion, of course.

 

+1

Another member once said the same thing couple years ago (I forget who it was).

Anyhow, just curious...do you think using thicker oil viscosity may slow the leak? Anyone try?

 

Started the truck to warm it up this morning (remote start); went out to drive to work and noticed a distinct smell of burning oil from the driver side as I opened the door. I was in too much of a rush to inspect but I suspect I may have the cam tower leak.......2019 with 195k miles. Will inspect closer this afternoon / evening when I can get home.

 

Not sure on the viscosity. I always just used the 0W-20 and didn't lose any noticeable amount between changes.

 

Please take some pics and post up when you get the chance.

Is that your truck in your avatar?

Off-topic but every time, EVERY FREAKIN' TIME, I see the newer GMC Denali Sierra, Chevy Silverado, Dodge Rams (higher trims), [insert song] I just think to myself what a beautiful [\end song] truck!

To me, I think GMC/Chevy got it spot on aesthetically speaking. The new Tundra looks so gad dang ugly. The front looks like a manaray, front side panels are too long (front heavy), the taillights are butt ugly/boring. To Toyota's credit, the interior looks great but theme carries to the Tacoma, 4Runner, etc. So, what makes it so special? Before, almost every model had a distinct look inside out. Not now. And you know Toyota intentionally did this for cost savings (not for the consumer, that's for sure).

Remember when the 2nd Gen Tundra prototype was released? Everyone was excited! Then came the production model. Omgosh, every truck enthusiast/truck article was talking about the 2nd Gen Tundra.

Don't get me wrong, I love my 2nd Gen Toyota! Front grill is not too big, 381 HP is plenty enough (though 480 HP would be nice), tow capacity is crazy good given its year, seats are super soft and comfortable (guests who've never ridden in a 2nd Gen CrewMax ALWAYS can't believe how comfortable and spacious it is), and other than soft-brakes issues (solved-user error) the truck has never given me serious issues.

If I sold my truck now for the going rate (i.e. $15K), it would mean every year of ownership only cost me $375. Yes, $375...not $3750. Not financed, not write-off...straight up cash, brand spanking new off the dealership. Hence why I would never sell the truck.

But gad dang that GMC Denali/Silverado looks good!

 

I think this is the dreaded leak, no?

drivers side:






passenger side:

 

Yes. I went with an HD gasser this time for the increased payload, and I really wasn't interested in the TTV6 (especially with all the issues). I agree with you on the looks, as well.

 

What leak? I hope you're not referring to the white residue? Other than that, it looks clean to me.

 

Is this it?

 

It may be. And I say that VERY loosely. If it is, it's ssssoooooo minute, I would not bat an eye.

 

I am thinking of wiping it clean and seeing how long it takes to seep / weep again…..

 

Here's one way of clearly identifying if it's leaking: clean all the area thoroughly with brake contact cleaner, drive it for a week or so, then reassess. If you see fresh oil leaking then there you go...you have a leak.

That's what I did and what I thought was a major leak turned out to be a very minimal leak that had built up throughout 16 years of ownership. So, I moved on.

 

This is it after the clean up; definitely had a lot of oil residue and road grime. We will see if it returns

 

Man, I was really hoping my '21 wouldn't end up having this. At 50K now, and every time I check, it's still bone try. I thought I'd read somewhere that Toyota either increased the RTV amount, or install process to some degree.

That said, my '12 had it for 60k miles of my ownership. Didn't get worse, no biggie. If the '21 ends up with it, I'll let it ride.

 

Unfortunately they never changed it, if you read on here guys with 21s have them and since they were getting ready for the 3rd gen launch a few years before 2022 you can sure bet they just let the second gen process ride out and not invest any more money fixing anything so late into its production cycle

 

Put my 19 in the shop for the fix. Dealer suggested it. Still under Platinum warranty. Hoping for a successful outcome.
bc

 

Wow, dealer is still covering them under warranty huh? I'll be keeping a close eye on this and timing cover leaks just in case

 

I am curious how much you paid for that "platinum" warranty.

 

I forget. Got 7 years and 100k. Will be less than the price of this repair.
bc

 

A little tip for the future. Never buy those extended warranties when you buy the vehicle. Legally, (at least in Texas) you have 30 days to buy it after purchase. So, what I have done on previous vehicles is wait until the 29th or 30th day after the purchase, offer them $1,000 bucks and the last three times I have done that they sold it to me. So, on my 2017 Honda Accord Touring V6 instead of $2300 at sale it was $1,000. I also paid $1,000 for my wife's 2023 Acura MDX warranty 18 months ago. The Acura dealership wanted $3,100 for that. Both of those were 5 year 70,000 mile warranties. The sales guy does not care about anything other than getting even the smallest commission.