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i have a 92 celica GT 2.2 5 speed manual with 102k miles. It has a small oil drip that leaves 1-2 drips in the driveway a day or every other day. oil levels hardly ever change on the dipstick between oil change intervals (every 3k miles). the oil looks to be running down the back of my oil pan by the drain bolt and on the cross brace behind it. upon inspection on the top if i run my hand just below the valve cover behind the engine i get a bunch of dirt caked moist oil and the entire back of the motor seems to follow that trend. That is enough to tell me that i THINK it isn’t the rear main seal (thank god) but i was wondering if i have more than one leak because it seems strange for a leaky valve cover gasket to cause that much of a mess under there but only 1-2 drips. what do you guys think? i’m gonna get into it when i get back from vacation this week. The 5SFE engine can be a real pain in the you know what sometimes when it comes to tracking an oil leak.
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On a 22 year old car that drips two drops and the oil level on the dip stick isn’t changing I’m thinking benign neglect. Chase it when you start having to add oil.
You most likely have transverse engine location in engine bay. If “back” of the engine is the engine side towards firewall, there is no main seals there. Main seals are front right behind the crankshaft pulley and rear between crankshaft and flywheel, where the output shaft is.
I can almost guarantee you it’s valve cover gasket leaking. Easy fix on 4 bangers..got into it yesterday afternoon, changed the valve cover gasket and spark plug seals. valve cover gasket was definitely shot as it was all dried out and cracked. re installed new one and torqued everything to the right specs. amount of oil leaking cut down ALOT but upon coming out to the car the following morning there was fresh drops on the bottom of the oil pan and transmission bell housing which means there’s a bigger problem in the making. oil still looks like its coming from above and not from the rear main seal. im gonna cut back in there tomorrow, ill keep yall posted.
it’s making a complete mess back there and the oil is actually starting to break down one of my power steering rack boots. The car is in way nicer condition than my last one i just ignored oil leaks on so i HAVE to tackle this thing.
These were known to have oil pump seal leaks and leaks up around the head area cam seals and holes that are not used (filled in with a half moon aluminum plug sealed with FIPG)… Good news is that it most likely not a bad head)….
Best to add some dye to your oil and confirm the location of the leak….
If you do decide to replace the oil pan gasket (and I am not advocating that yet), ensure you use only Toyota FIPG (Form In Place Gasket)… it is like normal RTV, only better… Don’t use a cork gasket…
Best of luck!
-Karl
i have a feeling it is either a cam seal or the half moon plugs. i got in there and changed the valve cover gasket and spark plug seals and the gasket i pulled out was all dried and cracked. torqued everything back down right and no more oil leaking from there, but i still have a considerable amount of oil escaping from almost the same area above. most of the drips come down on the bottom of the oil pan and occasionally one makes its way over to the bottom of the tranny housing. i have a guy looking at it now whose gonna call me in the morning when he finds the source. Whether or not i take the car back and do it myself depends on what it is because im limited on time/tools right now.
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