REPAIRS PAGE 82
OIL LEAKS
There are quite a few places that oil can leak from your engine. First off we
are assuming that this is engine oil not transmission oil, A/C oil, or hydraulic
fluid. Before you can fix you leak you need to know where it is coming from.
This means you need to do some leak hunting. You might want to clean your block
and oil pan before you start looking, but be careful not to get water all over
the top of your engine. I have found that a mechanics mirror can be very
helpful. You can probably get one at your local auto parts store. Here are
places that oil can leak from your car.
O-RING ON THE DISTRIBUTOR SHAFT
This is one of the most common leaks on a MKI. If you have oil around the
distributor but not inside the distributor than you might have this leak. It is
easy to fix though.
1. Remove the plug wires from the distributor cap and disconnect the
electrical connections. DISTRIBUTOR INNER OIL SEAL
If there are gobs of oil in your distributor you can either rebuild it or
just get a new one. I would not worry about it unless there is no more than just
a trace of oil.
VALVE COVER SEALS AND GROMMETS
Another very common leak on the 4age is the valve covers. Your Toyota dealer
should have the valve cover grommets and seals in stock. You need 8 grommets and
two seals to do this.
1. Remove the throttle cable tripod mount thing and the PCV hose (the hose
that goes from the intake manifold straight over the intake side valve cover).
OIL COOLER HOSES
These things are prone to crack and leak with age. I have heard of MKIs
catching fire because of a leaky hose so it is a good idea to replace them if
they start to leak. The ones from Toyota cost a ton so I just bought some 3/8"
ID transmission oil cooler hose and replaced them the cheap way.
1. Drain the engine oil. OIL PAN DRAIN PLUG
Mine leaked so looked and there was a bunch of grime where the washer was
supposed to make contact with the pan. I scrapped it off and replaced the washer
with a nylon one, which I change with every oil change. This fixed that leak.
OIL PAN
If your oil pan is leaking you can try to tighten it up a bit but chances are
you have going to have to drop the pan and reseal it to fix the leak.
CAMSHAFT SEALS
If there is oil inside the timing belt cover it is either these or the front
oil seal. Or a cracked head, blown head gasket or cracked block but these are
unlikely if you car runs, just leaks oil. There is a seal on the front of the
engine for each camshaft. You have to remove the timing belt, cam gears, and
inner cover to get to these guys. They are probably not leaking enough to
justify a repair unless you have some experience and time on your hands. If you
do get around to changing them here is an easy way to get them out. Buy a seal
puller from an auto parts store. Poke a small hole in the old seal and stick the
seal puller in it and yank it out. Just make sure you have a socket or
FRONT OIL SEAL
This seal is in the oil pump. You have to remove the t-belt and the t-belt
drive gear to get to this seal. It's a major problem to get the drive gear off
usually. Use the method described above to get the old seal out.
REAR OIL SEAL
You have to remove the, transmission, pressure plate clutch and flywheel or
flexplate (automatics), oil pan, and the rear oil seal retainer. This is really
not worth doing with the engine in the car unless you have to. You will also
have to replace the gasket that the retainer sits on.
THE THING THE OIL FILTER IS ON.
On MKI MR2s there is a special fitting on the block that the oil filter sits
up on top of. This thing is here so that the oil can go to the oil cooler. There
are two big o-rings in this but they hardly ever leak.
OIL PRESSURE SENDER
The oil pressure sender can leak. You can try to tighten it a little with
some channel lock type pliers.
HEAD GASKET
Yes, the head gasket is some very strange situations can leak oil out the
side. The only fix for this is to replace the head gasket.
Part Numbers
camshaft seals 90311-35022 That is pretty much the most common and uncommon oil leaks. I think the only
other place it could leak form not mentioned is from the oil pump but this is
unlikely.
Tyler 85 MR2
FEEDBACK: 26th AUGUST 2005
Hi,
2. Remove the distributor cap from the distributor.
3. Mark the location of the rotor to the distributor so you know which way
it goes in.
4. Loosen and remove the two distributor hold down bolts.
5.
Pull the distributor out of the head.
6. Remove the flat, cracked, and hard
o-ring around the shaft. It will probably break off.
7. Put the new o-ring
on.
8. Put the distributor back in making sure the rotor is aligned with
that mark you made earlier and bolt in and hook it up.
9. Set the timing.
(with engine warm and T and E1 on the service connector jumped timing should be
set at about 10 degrees BTDC) So you do need a timing light to set the timing,
but besides that you can fix this leak with a stubby phillips or flathead
screwdriver and a 12mm wrench. Just get the o-ring from your Toyota dealer; this
will save a possible headache and costs about $4.00.
2. Remove the shinny valve cover bolts.
3. Pry the stuck on grommets off
with a small flathead screwdriver.
4. Pull the valve covers off.
5. Pull
the old seals out of the covers.
6. Put a thin coat of oil on the new seals
and place them into the covers.
7. Put some silicone gasket sealer on the
corners and sharp bends of the seal.
8. Put the covers back on.
9. Push
the new grommets on to the studs. The white band (if you were good and got
Toyota ones) goes up.
10. The valve cover nuts get tourqued to about 11
ft/lbs. The rest is reverse of removal.
2. Safely raise and support the car.
3.
Remove the oil cooler hoses remembering which hose went where and which end was
connected to what.
4. Cut the new hose to the length of the old hose.
5.
Remove the oil heat shield and whatnot from the old hose and slide it onto the
new hose.
6. Put some nice stainless steel worm gear hose clamps onto the
ends of the hose because the factory clamps suck.
7. Put the new hoses on
and fill with oil (go ahead and change the oil filter too if you want).
This
sounds easy but it is a pain to do. The old hoses don't want to come off and the
new hoses don't want to go on. It is also hard to get to the hoses so you
probably should remove the ac compressor and let it hang by its hoses. There are
only 4 bolts that hold it on but you will need to take the belt off first.
something you can use to gently tap the new seal in with. Be sure to put
some grease on the new seal.
front oil seal 90311-32020
distributor
o-ring 96711-35030
rear oil seal 90311-70007
rear oil seal retainer
gasket 11383-15011
Just to let you know:
I just did a timing belt and clutch replacement service on my 85 MR2.
I used the suggestions from your repair section to hunt down oil leaks.
In the part about the o-rings for the oil filter adapter, you mention that you
were not terribly certain the a/c compressor needed to be removed.
I actually did the o-ring replacement on the oil filter adapter without removing the compressor.
It may or may not have made any difference, but I also had all the exhaust system removed aft of the oxygen sensor.
Great website.
Thanks for taking the time to provide so much information.
Regards,
Tom Quan, original owner of an 85 MR2, 181,000 miles. Mountain View, California, USA