Another 5.7 Cam Tower leak

What’s up guys,

I’m new to to his forum and think I have the dreaded cam tower leak. I’ve got a 2008 5.7 with about 135k miles and am leaking lots of oil right from the crappy RTV layer. As you all know this isn’t a cheap fix and would like to postpone the repair for now. Does anyone have any suggestions to delay the repair? Or whats the best option for me to get it rebuilt ?

 

wait, cam tower leak??? isn't it also known as the valve cover?? I'm pretty sure this is an easy fix... Unless you blew a head gasket then we could be talking about a complete rebuild....

 

It's not a backyard job from what I seen. It's more like 30 hours or more from start to finish.

 

@blackdemon_tt the cam tower is not the same part as valve cover.

 

Had mine done (drivers side only) at about 30k miles. Think it took Toyota 1.5 days to complete if I recall correctly.

 

Is it the timing chain cover?? or the heads?? slightly confused... May have to look at this...

 

Here's a picture of mine after the repair. Poor picture, but you can see the black gasket maker used.

 

OOOH SHIT.... got it.. lol my bad.. I see it now...

 

You can see it on this video too... https://youtu.be/7fU925BNE5M

 

I had the cam tower, timing cover and the coolant valley resealed recently. It was no fun at all.

 

damn.... that thing splits... learned something new today.... I guess its easier to replace if it goes sideways... easier to pull the engine as I've seen.... Well, I may check mine, since I've been pulling engines as of late too....

 

The consensus here from a few Toyota techs that do this regularly is that its about a 8-10 Hr. job for both sides. There's a vid of it somewhere here on the forum.

 

Cam tower leak thread - https://www.tundras.com/threads/cam-shaft-tower-seal-leaking-please-read.20102/page-81#post-1947465

 

A lot of folks don't bother getting the repair done unless they smell oil burning on the exhaust (or see it dripping on the driveway, which I understand is rarer).

 

Yeah it took the master mechanic at the dealership a few days to do mine. He actually took the cab off because it was easier for him. I’m hoping my 2020 starts leaking soon so they can fix it. Just get it out of the way

 

More pictures...

 

mine was leaking oil pretty good when I started parking downhill and the smoke got pretty bad we’re it looked like it was going to catch fire for me.

 

@zeekevin

God damn bro that looks no fun. I can twist a wrench but that might be beyond my mechanic abilities. Where did you have it done? Dealership, yourself ?

 

Mines leaking all over exhaust and all over driveway. Already almost lost a whole quart of oil... Very noticeable when driving it’s all i can smell.

 

You pretty much have no choice at this point but to get it repaired.

 

I know, now just finding someone i trust to perform open heart surgery on my girl...

 

That’s a lot of oil? Are you sure it’s not something else? Oil filter ,drain plug ,valve cover gasket? Get under engine and check everything. Do you change your own oil and when or did Jiffy Lub do it?
Good luck. Keep us posted. Peace. D

 

Yes i change my own oil and do almost all maintenance my self. I spent all day cleaning and following the leak yesterday and it’s apparent its coming from the cam seal.

I don’t think i’ve noticed it for about 500-1000 miles so it’s over the span of that time.

 

Loosing a quart of oil sounds about right. I had my friends shop do the repair and it took them a few days as they wanted the sealant to cure fully before adding all the fluids back in.
The price I paid was very fair compared to how much it should of cost. I just had them replace everything else while they were in there. Like all the gaskets and seals were replaced with new Oem ones and cleaned everything from all the leaks before

 

What was the final price you paid? Did they use a more durable RTV layer?

 

I paid less than 3k but also had everything else in the cooling system replaced also and the fan clutch and upgrade alternator since everything was out. They used the updated black Toyota sealant.

 

Yea that is a fair price. The good news is that after that rebuild i’m sure the 5.7 is now bulletproof. After i have this done i’m expecting no less than 750k on my engine Haha.