Oil Leaking??

[Hawaiian]

Originally Posted by sw20kosh

Had it checked. It was a leak from the oil drain plug. Fixed.

The dealer didn't change the crush washer on my plug for my free oil change. The same thing happened to me. I had to take it back in for a new washer and oil top off when I found the leak a few days later.

[Huehuecoyotl]

can some one post a picture of the three bolts you are all tightening?

[mact]

Originally Posted by Huehuecoyotl

can some one post a picture of the three bolts you are all tightening?

I did mine today:





Oil did come out but not a lot.


Old silicone material:


Interesting


New stuff applied:


It oozes out nicely once all torqued down:



The stuff I used:


I used this tissue wrapping you get when you buy new Nike shoes to clean the surface. It soaks up oil nicely and doesn't leave any tiny paper fibers like normal towels do.



I haven't driven it really hard yet, but so far the burning smell is gone so I hope it is indeed fixed.

[zoomzoomers]

So if I read everything correctly. Only the MT's have this issue, because that's where something for the AT connects to? Now I've only had the smell/smoke issue once, but I have an AT so how come I experienced this?

To you guys who've been down there to look. Do you guys have any pictures? (expanded view) Can I take a look without having the car on jack stands or in the air? I'm tempted to look, but without the ability to get the car up, I can't really get a good view of the area from below the car.

[WRM]

Originally Posted by Ltngbrz

Fixed at dealer. Took them 1 hour 45 minutes-ridiculous. They took off the plate, cleaned and resealed. Looks like a good fix. I took a little WD-40 and a rag and cleaned all the burnt up oil off the exhaust. Haven't driven to test smell yet. Keeping my hopes up. Now onto the rear deck popping issue!

I also took my car to the dealer to have this fixed, as well as do the 7,500 oil change and an ECM update.

Unlike your case, the “master mechanic” was so interested in this issue that he got Toyota corporate involved and of course they want to send their own mechanic to take a look. Hopefully they will learn about this flaw and roll out a proper fix for all the other owners. Even though it is a small leak, having any oil touch the exhaust system is definitely not good.

Unfortunately for me, Toyota’s people won’t come in until Monday, two days from now, and my car won’t be fixed until maybe Tuesday. They want to hold onto my car at the dealership until then.

The dealership did hook me up with a free car rental though. They gave me a Toyota Corolla … I sure do miss my FR-S.

[BRZnut]

So has anyone with an Auto had a documented oil leak from this same spot??

(I just checked mine and its dry)

[SloS13]

I have this leak (will fix myself soon) and the mechanic at the dealer had the nerve to tell me "there is no leak" and "if there was any leak, it was left-over machine oil from the factory"

I double checked and did not have "idiot" tattooed on my forehead.

[SVThis]

I just went out in the garage figuring there was no way in hell mine was leaking with around 700 miles on it. Wrong. There was a small amount of oil on the bottom of the cover. Car has been in storage all winter. Will wait till spring to fix.

[Marrk]

@mact: Nice step-by-step. Thanks.


Regarding that cover plate: Toyota didn't go to much trouble to design that, did they? It doesn't speak well for how this car was but together. Even at $25k a copy, they could have done better.

[FirestormFRS]

Judging from the pictures the issue isn't the sealant used but the machined surface of the head has no adhesion. Ideally the sealant would split and leave half on the head half on the plate. Probably didn't clean the head side before putting the plate on.

Stuff like this happens @ every manufacturer. Just happens a lot less to the Japanese guys, they're usually all over that sorta thing.

As for tightening the bolts. That's a double edged sword. You may stop the leak but you may also crack the sealant and make the leak worse.

[Relguy240]

Had mine "fixed" at the dealer. A week later the burning oil smell was back, but not nearly as bad as it was before the repair. I reached under the plate and it's still wet with oil. This time I think I'll wait for Subaru to come up with a fix that solves the problem.

[Coheed]

Go to your local parts store and replace the silicon with Right Stuff. It cures instantly and seals like crazy.



I normally use the ultra gray but you have to give it plenty of time to cure or it can develop the chance of leaking.

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by WRM

I also took my car to the dealer to have this fixed, as well as do the 7,500 oil change and an ECM update.

Unlike your case, the “master mechanic” was so interested in this issue that he got Toyota corporate involved and of course they want to send their own mechanic to take a look. Hopefully they will learn about this flaw and roll out a proper fix for all the other owners. Even though it is a small leak, having any oil touch the exhaust system is definitely not good.

Unfortunately for me, Toyota’s people won’t come in until Monday, two days from now, and my car won’t be fixed until maybe Tuesday. They want to hold onto my car at the dealership until then.

The dealership did hook me up with a free car rental though. They gave me a Toyota Corolla … I sure do miss my FR-S.

While it does suck that you are without your car, at least you can take credit as being one of the main causes of this issue hopefully being resolved at the assembly level, and as a future owner, I owe you a debt of gratitude and a drink for your troubles...:happy0180:

[mact]

Originally Posted by FirestormFRS

Judging from the pictures the issue isn't the sealant used but the machined surface of the head has no adhesion. Ideally the sealant would split and leave half on the head half on the plate. Probably didn't clean the head side before putting the plate on.

Stuff like this happens @ every manufacturer. Just happens a lot less to the Japanese guys, they're usually all over that sorta thing.

As for tightening the bolts. That's a double edged sword. You may stop the leak but you may also crack the sealant and make the leak worse.

I've sealed similar surfaces in the past with Permatex with good results. Hopefully it has better adhesion than the factory stuff. And yes the surface should be 100% clean of dirt and oil.