07 Es 350 Timing Chain Cover Oil Leak
 

It's dripping slowly and I would like to fix it before handing down. There is a Lexus recall for it but by the time it manifested on my car it was no longer eligible, slightly over 60k miles. Quoted price to fix it was $3-5k, because special tools needed, what is fair price for it? Any suggestions to negotiate a better price?

What are chances Lexus would give me a deal since I am planning to buy another ES? According to this thread I have a shot https://us.lexusownersclub.com/forum...over-oil-leak/

Someone suggested to use a stop leak type additive to oil, worth trying?

did you try high milage oil? If its a slow leak and you not lousing a lot of oil, you might be able to drag it out…

You can try this:

First off if you're taking it to a shop that needs to buy special tools then find another shop that already has them.

5k was from Lexus, 3k from local big shop, they both had the tools but cost was more than I was willing to spend on this. My mechanic does not have the tools.

How much oil is leaking, how much oil do you need to add and how often? If its a little leak, you can just let it be, it can give you years before you have to do anything. if leak is not too big, first try couple of things like high milage oil and maybe some seal conditioners additives.

leak is slow, I don’t need to top it off but overnight there is a 3-4 inches stain on the cardboard that I put underneath

Ya that blows. I'd start with the Scotty Kilmer hack. Go cheap and easy first and then decide to blow big dough.

Plus you're talking about spending $3k on a $4k vehicle. that's a no-brainer to me.

This leak is rarely worth the expense involved in paying someone to pull the engine to repair it by the book. It never leaks enough to cause enough oil loss to create a problem. Just check your oil regularly.

Some in the RX forum have done this hack repair with success.:

1. Clean off the leak area of the timing cover etc. Use brake cleaner or engine cleaner on a cool engine.
2. Torque down (just tighten them up, some have found loose bolts) the timing cover bolts.
3. Cover the timing cover edge with high temp RTV make a gasket. There are several such products, usually in tubes. I think one is even a spray.
I think one guy used the tube stuff on the edge/crack then topped it with the spray to cover the area.
Let it dry overnight at least before moving the car.

my mechanic did 1 and 3, not sure about 2. Did not help

I found the thread on the RX forum and below are some pastes regarding what someone else did and a link to an explanation of the leak from an independent Toyota specialist

​​​​​​I have a 2013 that was bought at the end of May 2019. After a routine alignment at the dealer, they told me the timing cover was leaking. 5K to pull the engine and fix. I said no thanks. I cleaned up the surface oil (not much) and applied some RTV to the problem area where the cover mates to the block and also applied a spray sealant over the entire general area. So far so good.

​​​​​​I used Permatex Ultra Grey RTV on the portion of the cover that appeared to be weeping and coated the entire cover area with 3 coats of Permatex spray sealant.

I haven’t seen any oil thus far. https://www.permatex.com/products/ad...t-leak-repair/

Explanation of the leak
​​​​​​http://carspecmn.com/toyota-and-lexu...nd-highlander/

To access the leak area: Jack up the front and the area is on the passenger side behind the wheel. It's easiest to take off the front right wheel and I think there was a guard in the splash well that can come off.

Here is a link to the RX thread. Look at posts around number 80 and higher 89 has photos of the fix https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...er-leak-6.html

Thank you, Clutchless.