saleen90

So I had to replace the valve cover gaskets on the 03 2JZ. there was no doubt they were leaking as I would have a drop of oil appear every morning and it showed on the plug wires in the valley. Now a week later I have 3-4 drops of oil underneath in the morning! I valley is dry, everywhere I can see/feel around the valve cover is dry. It appears that its coming from the timing belt cover. What would cause this to leak this much all of the sudden? Could it be that it appears to be from the cover but is really coming from somewhere else? From underneath there is no doubt its coming from the front of the motor.

burny

Crank seal or cam seals

saleen90

Defiantly not the crank, could be the cam seal. If so would that just be a bad timing sort of thing? Meaning, I didnt mess with anything around the cam seals to cause them to start leaking.

Where is the easiest place to glance at to see if its the cam seal? I have looked around the timing belt and do not see any signs of oil.

Thanks!!

ttaylor993

If you pull the top timing belt cover off you may be able to see cam seal leaks.

Lukas99GS

Just curious how long it took you to change the VCGS as I'm planning on doing that and plugs for the first time on this car, did you make sure to use RTV and torque the covers back down to the correct tightness?

saleen90

Sitting at 125K, did the valve cover, plugs, wires, coils If you are in that far you might as well do it all. My bigest problem was all the brittle as shizz connectors!, several of the retaining/holding clips cracked.

Torqued and RTV yes. this oils seems to be coming from somewhere OTHER than the repair I did. Either is a coincidence or I bumped/moved something i should have.

VIP161

iTrader: (3)

I'm willing to place a million dollar bet that your VVTi cam gear is leaking and needs to either be rebuilt or replaced with a new unit. Check and see if there is large amounts of oil on the plug cover where the VVTi hump is. Mine leaked so bad at that mileage.

Lukas99GS

I've heard this seems to happen with everyone ( the breaking clips/plugs) did you get new ones? I figure they have them at lexus really cheap but idk what the part name or number would be, maybe I should just replace those as well..

burny

I think the man nailed it with that frail VVTI gear.

saleen90

Well I cant fin ANY trace of where this Fing oil is coming from, going to the shop to let them deal with it.

repugnante

You may have crimped the valve cover seal ever so slightly. You may also have a leak elsewhere, but make sure that gasket is sitting flushed and is not crimped

Shagnasty

Indeed, also check (I believe its called) valve cover caps. Mine was leaking ever so slightly around them.

kit cat

iTrader: (6)

^this. Main / cam / VVTi seal is probable, but chances of them failing that badly after a valve cover gasket replacement seems like a really bad coincidence and not likely...

Good luck!

aneidiaz

Bro of the valve cover gaskets have been replaced, inspected afterwards, and confirmed they are good, can only be the head gasket or the oil pan gasket... I doubt it's the head gasket bro.... check your oil pan.. if in doubt it's that, take your time when you do it. Clean the components up nicely, get new bolts if the old ones are really worn, and do a good job. Everything will be alright. I hope your issue is solved soon! Positivity!

repugnante

Do not be fooled by oil leaks on these cars. Just because it is at the bottom does NOT mean that the source isn't at the top. Oil trickles down and can fool you if you don't inspect carefully. My cam seal leak had majority of the oil by the oil pan. Wasn't until I pulled the cover when I noticed where it was actually coming from.