My 2006 Corolla XRS has developed a leak that seems to be coming from the timing chain cover gasket (apparently a common issue with these engines).
Since I’m going to be paying the labor to replace the gasket, should I also replace the timing chain, guides and tensioner? The car has 89,000 miles on it.
Anything else you would recommend replacing while my mechanic is in there?
Also, my mechanic usually has me get the parts when I want to use OEM, so does anyone have recommendations on where to order them? Is partsnext.com a legitimate parts supplier? They have very good prices.
If it were my car I would just reseal the cover. Timing chain components usually last 200K miles. Unless I saw excessive wear or the car has an unknown or severe service history, I wouldn’t replace the timing set.
If you decide to replace some parts, I wouldn’t suggest supplying the parts yourself. When the mechanic supplies the parts they are responsible if the replacement part doesn’t fit or doesn’t work. That’s what you want in that situation. You have the right to insist the mechanic use oem parts imo. Those can be obtained from a dealership or I think Toyota has a website where oem parts can be purchased. But let the mechanic do that, not you.
I concur w @asemaster above. At least if I had that problem and nothing was obviously wrong by looking the parts once the cover was removed, I’d just ask the shop to install a new gasket. How much oil is leaking? If not much, maybe you can just live with it, keep oil topped off, park over something that will contain the leak. Ask your shop to clean the area of leaking oil once in a while.
Are you 100% sure it’s the gasket and not the crankshaft seal? The seal usually goes first. Anyway if you replace the gasket, be sure to replace the seal as well.
If only the seal is leaking, it takes a lot less labor to replace it than the gasket.
When the seal goes bad, it leaks oil onto the harmonic balancer which in turn slings the oil in a circle around it. You will see a line of oil on the underside of the hood directly above the balancer and on the inner fenders outboard from the balancer. Under the balancer the oil is slung onto the road etc but it is so little you normally wont see that.