Oil Pan gasket and engine mounts

[CMB]

Next on my list for the 228,000mile tune up is to take care of slow leak at oil pan gasket and to install new motor mounts.

I am wondering if I should do both of these jobs at the same time and throw in the waterpump and timing belt job too. I have all parts on hand. Except any seals/gaskets for oil pump, crank, and camshaft. Not sure what all I should do while I am in there.
Basically, I am looking for pointers from anyone who has done both oil pan gasket sealer replacement and engine mounts.

Also I checked the tranny mount and I can move the transmission up and down by hand about a 1/4" at the rear extension housing. Is that an acceptable amount of play in the rear mount?

[xirdneh]

are you sure its the oil pan gasket thats leaking?
oil gets around
usually the valve cover gasket is the source (they may look good but if you bend it and see cracks its no good)
and over tightening the valve cover nuts will not help for long.
then the "o" ring on the distributor shaft
then the front main seal and/or cam seal
all of them will send oil to the bottom and look like oil pan leak
i have messed with 11 tercels and it has never been the oil pan gasket

[Petros]

make sure it is actually the oil pan that is leaking, often oil leaks down from front seal/distributor/fuel pump, etc and runs around the lip on the oil pan, making it look like it is the pan that leaks. It is pretty rare the oil pan just starts leaking, usually if it leaks at all, it would be from changing the oil pump, rear seal, dent or other damage, or someone messing with the oil pan bolts.

The engine mounts would be good thing to change since you have to loosen to lower the cross member anyway (to get the pan off). If you are replacing the oil pump, than absolutely replace it when the pan is off. Front seal and timing belt might as well get replaced too since these come out with the oil pump. Water pump can be done too, it saves a bit of extra work, but the water pump can be changed without removing the lower timing cover or any other parts except the upper timing cover, pulley and belts. So the water pump can be put off until it actually leaks (that is what I do, this way I get max mileage out of the water pump). If you want to replace the water pump any way I highly recommend getting new water pump, NOT REBUILT. I have found the new ones last about 100k miles, rebuilt might last 20k, not worth a few $ in savings, in the long run is not economical.

[CMB]

OK. I guess i had maybe been too quick to assume the leak which appeared to be from the oil pan gasket was indeed from the oil pan gasket. It is difficult to determine the leak for sure, as I had picked up the car from a dealership that had done there usual engine pressure wash to hide any leaks and make things bright and shiny. BTW, this is the first car I have ever purchased from a used car dealer, it was too clean and 1 owner, so I couldn't pass it up. Anyway, I have recently replaced the valve cover gasket and the distributor O-ring, so of it was from either of those sources they wont be leaking anymore. I guess the next step would be to clean the underside of the engine so that I can trace locate the leak if there is still a leak. Also, I should note there is no major leak, with no drops left on the driveway....though I suddenly recall that I did notice fresh drips on the middle of the sway bar after wiping it clean of old grime the week prior....hmmm.

[xirdneh]

oh yea, i forgot the oil sender
only had one start leaking

[dlb]

xirdneh, where is the oil sender located?

[xirdneh]

xirdneh, where is the oil sender located?

just to the left of the oil filter

[Petros]

The oil sender is at the left side of the engine towards the front just behind the oil pump, ahead of the oil filter. It is hiding behind the alternator, and A/C if you have it. And yes, they can leak too.

The front seal can leak down onto the oil pan gasket and run all the way around the pan. It can also drip down onto the front sway bar from there. And it usually only leaks when running, the oil pumps it way out past the seal as the crank rotates. So unless it is bad, you may not see much dripping when it is parked. The same goes for the cam seal right behind the cam sprocket, though that one is less common.

I would replace the front main and cam seal (and timing belt while you are at it, and any hoses that look questionable), put it back together and see if your leak stopped. There is no advantage to replacing the front seal and the pan gasket at the same time, there is no common access at all.

[hberdan]

Clean your engine really well and run it for a few days before you decide to replace the oil pan gasket, you will be better able to determine where the leaks come from when the engine is free of old gunk.

[CMB]

Looks like it is the front main seal. I will add this to the list when I do the timing belt/waterpump, along with the camshaft seal. I called Toyota dealership and both camshaft seal and front main seal are in stock. It seems there is also a seal kit for the front main available from online vendors (e.g. parts geek) that includes a smal gasket and a larger U shaped gasket in addition to the crankshaft seal.

Is there another gasket or seal that I need to get from toyota to have on hand to do the front main properly?

[Petros]

do not even think about putting that other gasket in, and you do not need it anyway. It goes behind the oil pump (between the oil pump and the front of the block). If you do that you will almost certainly damage the seal between the lower part of the oil pump and the oil pan, unless you lower the oil pan. I think the FSM tells you to remove the oil pump to change the front main oil seal. NOT necessary and NOT desirable. You only need the seal itself, and some kind of tool to pry out the old seal.

Use a hooked tool (like a bent nail, or even a smallish flat screw driver) to get behind the old seal with the oil pump in-place. The front of the crank is in the way, but you can pry out the old seal if you get cleaver. Than either you make an installation tool from a short length of PVC pipe, or you can carefully tap in the new seal with a plastic mallet. I put some gasket sealer in the seal seat to kind of "glue" the seal into place (not too much).