Oil leak?

2011 Tundra small v8. 150k miles. Dealer says i have oil leak and need reseal of camshaft housing and timing cover. $5800 repair. It has had synthetic change every 5K miles. I remember another dealer had said I had slight valve cover leak at 130k miles. I see no leak on the driveway under the Tundra. Dealer also recommended rear dif fluid exchange. I have 2wd, and thought that was only for 4wd. Advice?

 

Seems like you might have the cam tower seepage. There is a huge thread on it here. Search for cam tower in the search field on the upper right side of this page and check the box “search titles only”.

In >99% of cases, it is harmless. It doesn’t usually leak enough to even create a puddle on the ground or change your oil dipstick reading. If it is the cam tower issue, I’m curious as to why the dealer would volunteer to fix it. It’s a huge job. Most people around here seem to just live with it rather than have their engine disassembled and reassembled to fix it.

Also, I believe that running 5w30 instead of 0w20 clears it up for some people as well.

Lastly, your rear differential fluid does need to be changed whether you are 2wd or 4wd. Being a 2wd just means your truck does not have a transfer case or a front differential. Under light use, I think the manual says to change that oil every 60k miles. It is an EXTREMELY easy job. This pic has the part numbers and oil quantity if you want to DIY that job.

 

OP do you notice that you are losing oil?

 

He said no leak on the driveway. But I guess it could be burning up before dripping? Wonder if he checks his dipstick regularly.

 

I think based on the location it could burn up on the exhaust manifold.

 

Or a small/slow leak like mine. I have 113K miles on my 2008 CrewMax 2WD. It's most likely from the valve cover. Such a PITA to do but should be done.