Wednesday’s featured service is oil pan gasket replacement on a 1999 Toyota 4Runner, brought to us by a client from Richmond, BC.
Oil pan gasket leakage is a fairly uncommon issue these days, especially on a 1999 Toyota 4Runner. Modern gaskets are made very well and last a long time. Toyota vehicles in general use very good gasket materials: we have seen several late 1990s Corollas with over 250,000 kilometers and not a seep of oil on the engine. That’s quite a feat! In the past, gaskets and engine construction were such that some gaskets would require almost annual replacement. Valve cover gaskets on American V8 engines built prior to the 1990s come to mind.
An oil leak diagnosis was our first step to find the cause of this oil leak. Most times oil pan gasket leaks are misdiagnosed as the leak is coming from somewhere higher in the engine. We use a combination of cleaning, UV dye and running and driving the vehicle until the leak becomes evident under our UV light. In this case we found the oil pan gasket leaking severely.
Replacing the gasket on this Toyota 4Runner was a very involved job. The front differential assembly had to be removed in order to access the oil pan. The gasket material on this pan is silicone sealer. We only use the highest quality gasket sealer for all of our silicone gaskets. The price difference is so minimal that I have a hard time imagining why someone would use the cheap stuff, especially when it takes hours to redo the job.
The Toyota 4Runner has always been a durable and sought-after SUV. We have serviced many with over 300,000 kilometers that are still going strong. This truck was rather rare as it featured a 2.7 Liter 4 cylinder engine.
For more information about the Toyota 4Runner click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_4runner
For more information on our favorite gasket sealer click here http://www.permatex.com/products/our-brands/the-right-stuff
