My 1999 Camry 4-cyc started to leak oil about 3 weeks ago. Puddles of oil on garage floor. The valve cover gasket was replaced last week but I still see new oil on garage floor. The corners of the oil pan on the passenger side were wet with oil. Has any Camry owner experienced replacing the oil pan gasket to fix oil leak? I assume it will be at least $500 for a garage to drop the oil pan to replace the pan gasket. Is it a sealant used to form a gasket or is it a solid piece of gasket? Thanks.
I would first try snugging up the oil pan bolts to make sure none are loose.
Tester
It’s a gasket, not RTV sealant. Or at least the replacement is. Like Tester said, take a 10mm socket, snug up the bolts, clean the area and check again in a few days. If it is the oil pan gasket, it’s not a terrible expensive job. More like the $250 range, certainly not $500.
BUT, if the leak is from the passenger side of the engine, perhaps originating behind the crankshaft pulley, you could be looking at front oil seals and/or oil pump o-rings. This would turn into a timing belt/water pump/oil seal job, which could be well over $500.
But try the simple things first.
I’ve already ran into this. The 5S-FE engine oil pumps frequently develop a leaky oil pump seal. I’ve already resealed one on a 1996 Camry with the same engine as yours.
If the leak is very fast, believe me, it’s the oil pump, not the oil pan. It can be done in a day, or better yet, in a weekend.
If you’re going to tackle this, get the timing belt, cam seal, crank seal, the tensioner and the water pump. Everything under that cover will be soaked.
If the oil is dripping with the engine running, there’s no way it’s the oil pan gasket.
By the way, for you guys wondering, it’s the last seal in the pictures that is the REAL problem.
It gets hard as a rock, flat as a board, and often splits as well.
On the car I worked on, the other seals weren’t in much better shape.
http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=66996
Good luck!
As stated, if the leak is pretty rapid while the engine is running, it’s probably the oil pump cover seal leaking. Very common problem on these engines, and you will at least need to replace the timing belt (and probably the accessory belts, too) when you fix this issue. If you can’t remember the last time you replaced the timing belt, or know it’s been a few years, you might as well tackle the whole job: timing belt, water pump, tensioner, idler, cam and crank seals.
Thank you everybody for the information.