Can my oil leak w/o getting on the ground?

yes but than the leak wouldn't be very bad if it didn't leave anything on the ground over an entire night. I'm assuming you can't get under the car and therefor are not very mechanical to do your own work. The labor for this is like 5 minutes but most dealers would charge a minimum of 1/2 hour so I would wait until you need other work such as a transaxle drain/fill or a engine and inverter coolant flush, if those take 55 minutes and then the oil pan takes 5 minutes than you will only be charged for one hour . . . in theory it all depends on how honest the dealership is.

until then once a month or every other month check the oil at a gas station. you do this by turning the car off and allow the oil to return to the sump while you're adding gas. by the time you're done adding gas open the engine compartment, pull the oil dip stick out, wipe it clean with a paper towel, push it all the way back in and pull it back out and make sure the oil is b/t the ADD and FULL marks. most people agree that keeping enough oil so that it is 1/3 the way above ADD and 1/3 below the FULL mark is the right amount.

 

1) If you see no oil on the garage floor then the leak (if any actually exists) can't be very bad. Therefore it would not hurt to defer the repair although you should keep an eye on the oil dipstick level.

2) If you are determined to spend money on the repair now, I suggest that you first see for yourself where the leak is. That may require you to have the car raised up.

 

Every place I know will charge by the book. If x takes 40 minutes and takes 10 because the technician has awesome tools and does these a lot, they'll still charge you for 40 minutes. That adds up pretty quick.

If it were me, I'd have to look and see how much oil is leaking and where it is keeping itself. You have to trust people if you can't do things yourself. I don't feel comfortable placing blind trust in people I don't know.

 

Monitor your oil level and look for drip spots in your garage. If it is not bad, i.e. you do not need to add oil between changes, then let sleeping dogs lie.

 

I changed out my oil pan a few months ago because the drain plug threads on the pan were stripped due to over tightening. It was fairly simple, the oil pump wasn't in the way at all. Just removed about 10 nuts and bolts (i think they were 10mm) and it popped off. The hardest part was getting the old gasket sealant off the block. I ordered a new pan from dealer Direct parts for $51.00. It is a Toyota stamped and marked part no different than the dealer has for $115. The gasket can be purchased at your local parts store for $10 or less.

 

great info, thanks, advance auto has a dorman drain plug with washer for $3.09 (part #65263), its in stock at almost every store and with coupon and tax I'm paying less than $2, they had a nicer more expensive beck/arnley one for around $5-$6 but it has to be shipped but I can't find it on their website right now. The dorman plug with washer is cheaper and more convenience than just buying the washer alone from toyo dealership and is a quality product.

my synthetic oil change interval is 13,333 miles so I'll replace the drain plug every third oil change or every 40K miles, its cheap & a must since my tools are not snapon and my drain plug will slowly over time round over due to cheaper menards wrenches/sockets.

what is the torque spec on the drain plug? They also carry the dorman wheel studs (Part No. 98485.1), its $1.99 for one or $16.99 for 10 before tax and coupons, this is another part that get ruined due to overtightening of wheel lugs. PIA to R/R

 

26 ft.-lb