Advice on Timing Chain Cover leak

Can't say I read about this often on the gen3 cars, you hear it more often on the Gen2 cars as they get up in mileage. $1100 buys a lot of oil, if you were to simply add to the engine as needed. I personally would not fix it unless it's leaking a small puddle in your driveway every week. I think the mechanic just saw a little "oil residue" and now calling it a leak.

 

I've heard about this before, and I remember seeing a thread about it.

If I recall correctly, resealing the timing cover requires pulling the engine on this car, so the price he quoted you may be subsidized by goodwill assistance.

 

<<Thinking out loud here>>
If the chain itself is not at risk,
Then the only question becomes: how big a leak ?

Is oil being lost between oil changes by dipstick check ?

 

It might be worthwhile to try changing to a high-mileage engine oil (Valvoline Max-Life, for one example) that has a small amount of seal conditioners in it. People have switched oils and reported success.

 

I wouldn't worry at all about it.
Seems you are not the first to have this problem - see:
Oil leak via timing chain cover | PriusChat

 

Leak must be almost non-existent if there's no oil stains on the parking spot. I wouldn't pay 1100 usd for that.

 

Nice!
I wondered about that; apologies for not saying something

 

One of the posts at this link does hint that a bad PCV may contribute to that leak. If you haven't had a PCV put in lately, you might consider that as good preventive maintenance. It's a cheap part, but a little involved to replace. It can be DIY if you have the tools and the time. And while you're in there, you can clean the throttle body and MAF and replace the air filter. There are posts on this.

 

Get some MAF cleaner, too. Not the same stuff as throttle body cleaner.

 

It's not a good sign that the dealership didn't alert you to the powertrain warranty; they should know. Let 'em know about it.

 

I'm glad this post is only 26 minutes old.

You may want to reconsider taking your girl to the same dealership that tried to gig you for $1300 for an alleged leaky timing chain cover gasket.
I'm down with the whole living wage thing, and I don't have a problem with a competent mechanic charging fair shop rates for a (NECESSARY!!) repair job, but I would at least get a second opinion on this repair.
There is a labor and parts rate that the dealership is reimbursed by the OEM for warranty work. If they're not willing to share that value with you, that's OK but it can also be an indicator that some mechanic is trying to get you to make his or her boat payment.
It's usually a 'him' since women are usually smart enough not to buy boats.
Stereotypes exist for a reason.
Sometimes those reasons are fair.
So....
Sometimes, these warranty rates are a little unfair to the mechanic who is generally paid by the number of billable hours worth of work that they crank out, plus or minus a base rate.

Let's say this job pays 4 hours of labor and requires $50 worth of parts.
It's probably closer to 2/25, but even if the labor rate is $200 per hour ($125 is probably a closer average---with a 0.5 hour minimum) they're going to charge you five hours of labor and $300 worth of parts for a leak that's not severe enough for YOU to detect????

It's your call, but I'd take a pass on letting them profit even by the more humble warranty repair rates.

One more thing......if they have to take off 125 gizzywoppers, thingamajigs, and doo-hickeys to get to the chain cover, then there are 125 opportunities for them to over or under torque a fastener, stress a wire bundle, lose a part, or cause another leak, creak, crack, or squeak.

Have somebody show you the leak, and explain why it's important to get it fixed.
To paraphrase from the submariner's rule of leaks - if you find IT, it's not serious.

Good Luck!

 

Was thinking that too. Maybe they can note it in a file, just monitor it, and fix it (still gratis) if and when it gets worse?

 

Whats the chance the real problem is a very small seepage from the oil pressure switch?
A quick look puts the oil pressure switch in the proper location, on the firewall side of the engine & on the pass. side of vehicle.

 

If it is a small stain on the lower / mid rear edge of the front timing cover, I would bet that kc410 is correct. Mine is leaking at 113K and I will be changing out at the next service.