Coil Bolt?

A few years ago, when I replaced the coils in my 2010, the head of the bolt holding the first coil down broke off.

I did not have a bolt extractor at that time and all the stores were closed, so I just ignored it because everything seemed to work right. The next day, I bought a bolt extracting bit, but since I could see no issue, I just continued to ignore it and did not do anything about it the next time I changed the coils too. (PSA: Cheap coils apparently only last a few years.)

Lately, I have noticed a little oil on top and figured it was where one of the kids had spilled some. (My 2010 uses about a quart between oil changes, which I have been chalking up to it being a 2010.)

Today, the car was up on a lift and you can see where oil has trailed down from the top and has blown on parts underneath. None of it is reaching the ground because it is not on my driveway or my wife's parking spot at work, so I interpret that to mean that maybe oil is leaking while the car is running and not while it is parked.

As I start spitballing what might be happening and before I've done any research of my own, I thought I might ask here for opinions about whether the coil not being fastened down could be the source of the oil?

Apologies for being lazy and just asking the experts, but it strikes me as something somebody might know.

Thanks.

 

Thanks.

@Leadfoot J. McCoalroller: That is kind of what I thought, especially since the bolt head has been broken for years.

It looks like it could come from the gasket. Though since it is in line with where oil would seep down if spilled when pouring, I thought the oil had been from it. Like I said, there's none on the driveway and until this afternoon, when a mechanic decided to yell at me and send me away without him doing any billable work, I didn't know that the leak was more than just that little visible smudge.

(Semi-long story. I guess he was having a bad day and is pretty much an a-hole.)

Again, thanks. I guess I'll do the wheel bearings myself (or take them to a McGarage) and I'll look into the valve cover gasket issue because now that I know the bit I'm seeing is probably not a spill, yours seems like the most logical explanation.

(I guess it's also good news in that maybe my 2010 isn't burning a quart of oil every 10k.)

 

@Tombukt2: Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into those.

Right now, considering that I didn't know there was an oil leak, my focus is on the wheel bearings because my wife is taking her Girl Scouts on a trip next weekend and had been wanting to use that car.

Though, now that I know there's a problem, I've added it to my list.

Thanks

 

@Mendel Leisk: I don't remember whose video I was following -- as you know, the Prius is very different than my old Fords, so the first time I followed a video -- but I went to Harbor Freight and bought the small torque wrench special for the job.

I don't know if it was the inexpensive torque wrench or the fact that I had never used one, so I was inexperienced, but as soon as that first bolt sheared-off, I remember dashing to this forum to verify the setting they gave in the video and to confirm that I really didn't need to torque it. As you say, they are really just holding the coils down and I've never had any ill effects from having one unbolted.

(Though this new, previously unrecognized oil leak made me wonder. So I did as I've always done when researching a repair, I went directly to PriusChat. Today, it wasn't five minutes after the garage clerk had fired me as a customer.)

BTW: Special thanks to you, @Tombukt2 and all the other experts who have helped me over the years. Whenever I see someone asking a difficult repair question in another forum, I send them here to PriusChat.

 

I know this is off-topic for the title and when I'm ready to do it, I will make a new post -- right now, I guess it may be leaking, but not enough to be a priority.. Apologies for asking a follow-up question.

I cleaned the area on top, right in front and saw what looked like could be a bulged-out gasket, which was actually broken or nearly broken outside of the valve cover. I assumed that could be the leak, but later when watching a video that was mostly how to remove the valve cover, when the YouTuber showed the final product, it looks like he might have the same bulge

My part is dirty, so I took a couple of clips of his. The first is an isolated shot of what looks like I see, slightly enlarged, followed by a an overall view. (Focus is the white "goo string"above the empty bolt hole.)





If anyone would like to confirm this is normal, it would prompt me to look for something else.

(I have wiped down the area, run the car for a bit and will keep an eye on it and everything else I can see.)

Thanks.

 

Thanks.

I had thought about getting some Gunk brand something -- I have some Speed Perks to burn-off over the next few days -- but the engine isn't really that dirty, so I started by wiping down the spot on my car that is shown in the screencap with a (singular) disinfectant wipe.

As I said in my initial post, I have been adding about a quart between oil changes every 8 to 10k or so and have been chalking that up to it being a 2010 with over 300k.

I'll certainly wipe everything down from the top and keep a check for where the oil might reappear, but it really isn't using a lot and there is none on my driveway. (Though the mechanic tried to call it a "massive" and got angry when I was surprised, what he showed me looked like someone had sprayed that bit of the underside with a coating of Pam. It was nothing anywhere near like the underside of my aways-leaking Ford trucks.)

(I should add that I pulled the bottom cover off years ago, so there's nothing to prevent the leaking oil from reaching the ground.)

Again, thanks to everyone for the help and I'll keep a check on this post.

When I know where it is leaking and are ready to do something about it, I'll definitely search the forum and maybe make a post of my own, but the stuff I wiped off has been there for at least a year and the amount of oil usage has only incrementally changed over the years. (And, right now, I have to concentrate on getting the bearings done, plus I've never even looked at my rear brakes and my wife just knocked-off her third passenger side mirror -- she doesn't like trash days.)

Again, thanks for the help.

 

@Mendel Leisk: Mine looks like yours, except mine had a light coating of dirty oil and I didn't get too deep into cleaning around the white goo, in case it was a gasket leak. Thanks for the pic.

 

Thanks. I'll definitely check it out.

(I assume they are in the not-hurting-anything-until-it-throws-a-code category?)