Major Oil leak '88 Camry 4 cyl

Help! I have a bad oil leak on my '88 Camry (3SFE engine). I replaced the oil pressure sensor and the valve cover gasket (both helped some), but I am still leaking a lot of oil. It drips off the underside on the passenger side of the car. Does anyone have any ideas on the most likely source, and how difficult it might be to repair?

Thanks!!

The most effective way to find a leak is to clean the engine and look for fresh oil.

oil pan gasket?

You probably have many oil leaks. I would suspect the cam, crank, oil pump and oil pump o-ring are the major causes of your leak. There is one problem with fixing oil leaks on these cars. If the engine is 'tired' as I call it, fixing a leak or two only causes more leaks somewhere else. Your engine may have high crankcase pressure from just being old.

You probably have many oil leaks. I would suspect the cam, crank, oil pump and oil pump o-ring are the major causes of your leak. There is one problem with fixing oil leaks on these cars. If the engine is 'tired' as I call it, fixing a leak or two only causes more leaks somewhere else. Your engine may have high crankcase pressure from just being old.

I agree with you, I suspect there is more than one leak, and the engine has 160,000 on it, so it is no doubt 'tired'. These total oil consumption appeared to get worse after I replaced the VC gasket, so you are probably right about the pressure problem too. When I noticed this occurring I vented the crankcase to the atmosphere but I suppose the damage was already done? Unfortunately I can't really afford to replace the car right now. Do you have a feel for which (if any) of the possible leaks you mentioned are repairable without having to pull the motor, or spend major $$ at a shop? I would prefer to do the work myself, because I suspect that a shop will want more than the car is worth. Thanks for your help!

I have the same problem, 92 with a leak from the oil pump area. No oil on the timing belt. Looks like replacing the oil pump o-ring = timing belt plus then pulling the oil pump. Car has 188000 miles. don't know if it is worth it?

It's worth it unless there are other problems

I agree with you, I suspect there is more than one leak, and the engine has 160,000 on it, so it is no doubt 'tired'. These total oil consumption appeared to get worse after I replaced the VC gasket, so you are probably right about the pressure problem too. When I noticed this occurring I vented the crankcase to the atmosphere but I suppose the damage was already done? Unfortunately I can't really afford to replace the car right now. Do you have a feel for which (if any) of the possible leaks you mentioned are repairable without having to pull the motor, or spend major $$ at a shop? I would prefer to do the work myself, because I suspect that a shop will want more than the car is worth. Thanks for your help!

jmalek,

Your engines NOT tired! My Camary 89' has over 200,000 miles on it and it's still cranking good. No oil leaks in addition. I'd take it to the dealership and have them handle it from their. You may pay out of the nose for the repair BUTat least they'll know where the problem is. My feeling is that the VC is bad and leaking oil form the back of the engine.

rimfire,22