Chasing a leak....Valve covers or Oil pan

Trying to find a oil leak.
New to Tundra and asking MOST likely which one it is.
Can’t tell where it’s coming from. My guesses are
drivers side valve cover or possibly oil pan.
2005 with 88K total miles.

 

you might have a leaking cam seal. mine was leaking on the driver side and looked like a leak from the valve cover.


to replace the cam seals on 05+ you have to pull the timing belt off and the camshafts, then disassemble the camshafts

 

if you pull the driver side upper timing cover and look down you should see it leaking down the front of the engine if it is indeed leaking

 

Not much to show, because I cleaned the engine off.

 

Clean it off like you did and wait until the leak starts to show itself. Could be as simple as oil spilling when it was being refilled.

 

Valve covers are common. Aluminum heads make it hard to keep the bolts torqued to spec. They get a little loose and weep. Most common in the winter due to shrinkage (cue the Seinfeld jokes). I would start as you did by cleaning the engine and inspecting for where the new oil is leaking from. if it's the valve covers, start by re-torquing the bolts. If it still leaks then the gaskets need replacing. If its the oil pan, try the same. If it's the cam seal, God be with you. Hopefully you're due a timing belt replacement anyway and can do the seal while you're in there.

 

And if you do re torque them, remember it's in INCH-LBS, NOT FT-LBS.

 

Correct! Off the cuff I believe its 132 in/lb. Which works out to 11 ft/lb of torque. Most ft/lb torque wrenches start around 20, so you'll need an In/lb one. Don't quote me on that specific torque measurement, but I remember it being really low like that. Can rent a torque wrench from the parts store, but not sure how well taken care of / accurate they are. Torque wrenches are finicky, have to be stored unloaded properly or the springs get out of wack, like 1911 clips....

 

Most likely is your valve cover gaskets, when i got mine 2 years ago it had a leak. I simply tightened the botls to the torque and they are still fine. When i did it they were litteraly hand tight so thats a super easy fix if it is that

 

Holy low miles on your Tundra.

 

I’m still searching. I had a contributory leak from dip stick. Replaced the oring.
Believe it or not I’m convinced that my oil filter housing is leaking.
Not at the filter, not pipe or sender, and orifice. It seems to be leaking from the housing to
case seal. It’s a binocular looking oring. Anyone else have this oring fail?
I ordered 2 from the dealer. He doesn’t keep them in stock. Not promising lead on my part, but I have been sleuthing this leak carefully.

 

I think I have this leak as well. Shows up on the filter can sometimes. Not to worried about it because I’ll be in there doing cam seals in about a year and the leak is so light. Interested in what parts and what your strategy is though.

 

New to me engine. If I remove the oil filter housing, and I going to get a face full of oil?
Previously I
tried swapping an oil filter at halfway OCI, and it seemed to pour out.

 

Nope. It's 53 in/lbs definitely need an in/lb wrench.

 

Yes it will absolutely pour out. There is no oil filter housing, just oil filter