2ZZ-GE oil leaking issue. Breather related perhaps?

[acme15]

Hi there,

 

I have an issue with my car, it is a 2005 EU (UK) spec Corolla T-Sport with the revised 2ZZ-GE. I'm having an issue whereby it seems to be leaking oil from various places when the car is driven hard, but not when the car is driven normally. The engine pulls hard and cleanly, with no noticeable loss in power, and it idles smoothly. (Well, smoothly as far as a 2ZZ goes...) 

 

I initially thought that the cause of the leak was just the cam cover gasket, as is common to these engines, however the issue persisted even after replacing this gasket, and all four spark plug tube seals. 

 

Myself and my Dad (who likes to think he is a bit handy with a spanner!) are wondering if this could be related to a blockage in the breather system? I previously discounted this as a possible cause because the car appears to have all the power it should have, however it seems like it could fit.

 

I have reason to believe that the car wasn't serviced correctly by the previous owner (Possible use of cheap semi-synthetic oil rather than fully synthetic, and not by the correct service interval) so there is a good chance of something being bunged up or clogged for example. When I removed the cam cover, there was think oily gunk lining it, which had turned to sludge in some places.

 

I did not remove the baffle plate, so I'm not sure if there is sludge in the breather channels above, which could be causing restrictions.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated as your experience is far greater than mine! If you think it may be something different, then please do let it be known!

 

I do not think the car has been leaking oil throughout my entire 1 year of ownership, it may have started over the past three months or so. 

 

Other points to note are:

 

- 93,000 miles on the clock, 10,000 of those are mine

 

- During my ownership I have been running Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 Fully Synthetic oil. The Toyota recommended specification is 5W30, and the Lotus specification is 5W40. I thought a thicker oil could help in the older higher mileage engine. This is combined with a K&N 'high flow' oil filter. (Placebo purchase I think!)

 

- The spark plug tube seals were letting oil past, one of them was split, and the cam cover gasket was rock hard. The spark plug tube seal was leaking prior to my ownership.

 

- The previous owner didn't drive the car hard (supposedly) - She claims to have never driven at over 3000RPM. I'm not sure if those claims are genuine. It has been driven much harder during my ownership, with frequent bursts of WOT. 

 

- The Cam chain was replaced at some point prior to my ownership, I am not certain of the circumstances surrounding this. 

 

- The clutch is slipping badly but it doesn't do it all the time. I wonder if this could be caused by oil being forced out of the rear main seal behind the flywheel, which has contaminated the friction surface of the clutch plate.

 

- I noticed the car using oil prior to this issue, however it was not enough to indicate a possible ovalled piston issue. If I recall correctly it was something like half a litre over 2000 miles

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! :)

 

The car will be going up in the air again over the coming few days, so that I can see more clearly where the oil is coming from. However I think it is coming from the new cam cover gasket, the sump gasket, and possibly even out of the bottom of the gearbox... 

[acme15]

Took the whole PCV system apart today, checked the tubes for blockages and they were all fine (all three breather tubes which connect to the cam cover)

 

The cam cover came off again and I ran some Jizer and some boiling water through it, which cleared out a reasonable amount of oily gunk. The PCV valve was also a little restricted with some gunk inside, that had a good clean and now the valve mechanism moves much more freely. 

 

Cleaned it all up again where the oil had leaked out, and put it all back together. Felt a little more spritely, but may be a placebo effect!

 

From a quick visual it looks like oil was seeping out of the bottom of the gearbox casing (or coming from above and running round), seeping out of the sump pan gasket, seeping out of the spark plug tubes (just a faint misting), and out of the new cam cover gasket. So I definitely think this is a pressure related issue.

 

Next step is to run flushing oil through the engine, if the leak persists. Fingers crossed and all that. :) 

[acme15]

These forums are totally dead, this is ridiculous... 

[acme15]

OK I'm convinced someone must be reading this (maybe?) so I'll post another update. :)

Looks like the source of the leak, having cleaned the breathers, is now only the cam chain cover gasket, towards the rear of the engine.

I was thinking about cleaning the joint and filling the indentation with liquid gasket sealant, my thoughts are that the worst that could happen is that it won't work. If it doesn't, I can easily scrape it off.

Does anyone have an idea as to what my chances are by doing this? 

[SanaYusuf]

I have a leak from the same place but it's minimal and have been advised to leave alone. I replaced the cam cover gasket and cam chain tensioner o ring only to find I still had a leak.

[JRCorolla2]

I Have recently serviced my t sport... looks like ive got a rather bad oil leak, probably between 5-10 drops of oil after every drive!

does look like the Sump though, the bottom of the gearbox is covered in oil however... getting it looked at tomorrow!