# 1990 Toyota Pick Up with Oil Leak **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** toyota, pickup, oil, leaks\ **Created:** [September 21, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1990-toyota-pick-up-with-oil-leak/36963 "2009-09-21T20:17:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bwindsor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bwindsor](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bwindsor)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1990-toyota-pick-up-with-oil-leak/36963/1 "2009-09-21T20:17:25Z")
T have a 1990 Toyota Pickup with the usual failed bumpers and lousy paint job. However, now, this one has an oil leak. It is pretty bad. How can I find the leak(s)? A repair place wants $800 for replacing the gasket for the timing chain cover, but says that this is no guarantee that it won’t leak elsewhere. Is it worth fixing? I don’t have much money at this point. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1990-toyota-pick-up-with-oil-leak/36963/2 "2009-09-21T20:27:31Z")
Not familiar with that engine…but this job could take a while. Many vehicles you have to drop the oil pan which can be a pain. For that money you might as well just continue and replace the chain and chain guides since the vehicle is 18+ years old. ---
**Author:** ![mshugna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@mshugna](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mshugna)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1990-toyota-pick-up-with-oil-leak/36963/3 "2009-09-21T20:53:27Z")
I would take a very simplistic approach … can you clean the outside of the engine and then look for fresh oil??? ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1990-toyota-pick-up-with-oil-leak/36963/4 "2009-09-21T21:15:41Z")
First determine exactly where the oil is coming from…The repair you describe reads “front main seal”. How much do you think the truck is worth? ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1990-toyota-pick-up-with-oil-leak/36963/5 "2009-09-21T23:22:06Z")
I had one of these trucks with the 22R 4-cyl engine. The front crank seal can be replaced easily without removing the timing cover. Just remove all the belts, remove the crank pulley bolt, and pull off the crank pulley. The seal is pressed into the cover from this side. I had one of these go bad, and with the oil pump just on the other side of the cover, it creates quite a mess. I had an oily mess all the way past the transmission due to this leak. If the timing cover gasket IS leaking, it is a job to remove. The timing cover on 22R engines is sandwiched in-between the cylinder head and oil pan. One or the other must be loosened to get the timing cover off. With the oil pump being mounted in the timing cover, an oil leak at the gasket is a serious deal. But, these leaks are rare. I would clean the area very well, and run the engine to determine the source of the leak. The front crank seal is the most logical one and easiest to replace.