Timing Chain Cover Oil Leak 2013 Prius Plugin

What car brand has higher reliability than Toyota?

 

Maybe they HAVE to be reliable: when you need to pull the engine to fix an oil leak.

 

My family has also had seven or eight Toyota vehicles, I don't recall ever hearing about an oil leak. That's why the comments of the service manager surprised me. I didn't believe him.

I'm not even sure that my Camry had an actual leak, because the engine had been torn apart before they told me about it. (I was at the dealer for recall work.) The pictures they showed me, after the fact, just appeared to be natural minor oil seepage that all cars accumulate after 10 or more years. The service people were jerks, and I think they just wanted to make some extra commission.

 

If it's a minor leak, and not getting worse, I think there'll be a lot of fixes under warranty, and out-of-warranty: not so much. Still, poor design: nobody likes leaks.

 

I don't mean to sound so negative, and it's just my tiny personal opinion, but I just feel that Toyota material quality, and Toyota assembly quality have declined (or "cheapened") in the last 7 to 10 years. Regardless if the vehicle was assembled in Japan, or the USA.

I am still very surprised, to read about all the problems listed on this priuschat website. I see all these prius taxicabs, so I figured they have to be a very good reliable car.

 

try reading another car website if you want to see problems mr. negative.

 

Toyota is the most reliable brand and Prius is the most reliable model. Every other car is worse. I have 100,000 miles with zero repairs so far. No flats, either. People don't go online to say stuff like that.

 

Thanks rebound, that's why I bought a Prius! And more people with zero complaints need to go online, and talk about their good experience. It seems like the complaint threads on this website, outnumber the good threads by about 5 to 1.

 

Well... yeah. Because nobody writes: "I got in my car and drove it today and it didn't break."

 

Or write about great gas mileage or lack of maintenance other than what is in the owners manual.

This would be a small forum otherwise .

 

I never had any major problems with my two Camrys. And only one minor problem when the sunroof wouldn't fully close a couple times. (No sunroof on my Prius, I'm happy to report. )

I do think Toyota has cheapened some of the material quality, but all auto manufacturers have done that over the years to save money. Heck, all that stuff is superficial. As long as the car keeps running… That's all that counts.

 

There's quite a few threads about great gas mileage. And with regards to maintenance, I am going strictly by the book… And only doing what is listed in the owner's maintenance manual.

However, I have to be honest and say the two or three recalls I've already gotten, and a technical service bulletin, has not exactly made me happy. 19 years of manufacturing is plenty of time to get all the bugs out.

 

Lineen, I don't think I would call this a "recurring" problem. It has been a problem noted by several people in the Prius forum. But I don't think its a huge issue given the number of these vehicles out there. This same basic engine is also used in the Corolla, so the number of vehicles on the road with this engine is pretty huge. My 2010 has had a very small leak in this same area since I purchased it at 60k miles and its now approaching 200K. Since this sealing area of the timer cover, and many other areas on this engine uses the Toyota FIPG (Form In Place Gasket) and not a real paper or material gasket, all it takes is a small void when the sealer was applied by a machine or the person on the assembly line. The synthetic oils are much better at finding their way out of engines than the older conventional oils were, so any tiny gap will let stuff leak out.
In my opinion if your leak is like mine then its not huge. I take the time to wipe the area when I change the oil, and I wash the engine down every couple of months to keep everything nice and clean. This amount of oil is not going to cause an engine fire like someone else mentioned. Trust me I worked for GM for 16 years, with vehicles that really leaked oil, and really caught on fire.
Again my opinion. Clean the area. Keep it clean. If there is not enough to drip and make a mess then I would save your money. If you still happened to be in warranty then having the dealer repair it then that's a no brainer. I love my prius and I would buy another one in a second.

 

High Mileage, good post! Do you wash your Prius engine? Can you explain please how you do that? A dirty engine always bugs me, and I washed my Camry on a regular basis and never had a problem. But I'm not sure how to do it with a Prius.

 

I prefer to just hit it with a leaf blower, use paint brush, dusting wand pushed into the nooks and crannies. I don't like the idea of running solvent into the storm drains.

If I had grease or oil spillage, would just wipe it with rags.

 

Agreed. I never used any kind of heavy solvent or degreaser. I used a "environmental friendly" cleaner, or just plain soap and water. My engine was always so clean, it didn't need much more than that. But eventually, I will want to clean the Prius engine a little more thoroughly, and I'm not so sure about putting water on it.

 

Coast cruiser, like you I dislike the mess. I typically use 409 or simple green to break up the oil. Since the area is fairly reachable I will spray with the degreaser then brush it up with a toothbrush or other, then wash down with water. Since that area is where it gets dirty I give it the most attention. I will blow off the entire engine with compressed air and blow the water off the top areas of the transaxle if I wash everything. I do not use a pressure washer, just the hose so there is not enough pressure to really force water anywhere it would not be getting just driving in the rain. I just recently replaced spark plugs, and removed the intake to clean EGR ports. That gave me the chance to clean areas around the intake a little more. Here is how mine looks, its time for some cleaning this weekend. I like the look of your 2016. Maybe once I reach 400K I will be ready to trade up!