Massive Oil leak, broken oil filter housing base. Wear and tear or shop error?

Good photos @alftoy
Shows more clearly exactly what I was mentioning earlier.

@Ohnocar, in what state are you located?

 

Yes wear and tear. Could've had a slight crack before oil change. Unfortunately you don't have any choice but to replace the upper oil pan or the engine. Probably better to replace the engine. Attached some Brooklyn salvage yards search for engine, maybe search using your Brooklyn zip. You may ask the salvage yard if they could install the engine.

As noted regards check car-part.com for parts.

 

Can someone verify: on 2nd gen the oil filter screws directly onto the "upper oil pan" casting. I wonder if that was a problem. Here's pics of 3rd grn (4th gen sim), where the oil filter attaches to a separate casting that bolts onto the upper oil pan casting:

 

Do not confuse Gen 2 and 3. No separate casting.

Oil filter screws on to a union (Part # 90904-04004) that screws into the upper pan casting boss.

 

Maybe the change with 3rd gen had something to do with cracking? Who knows...

 

Castings do not flex. That's what is great about them, and what is bad. They hold their shape until enough force is applied they they have a catastrophic failure (like a crack). There is no way anyone could apply enough torque on an oil filter, tightening or loosening to snap that ear. If something like that did happen, there would be massive damage to the casting on all sides, not just the ear.
It looks like the fastener is installed from the top. Is it possible it was over torqued? Is it possible the oring was not properly seated in it's groove during assembly and created a leverage point for the fastener to make the ear crack and it just finally started leaking?

Have you ever installed a water pump on an older ICE engine? SOOOO many water pumps with cast housings that had ears. Same thing with thermostat housings. You NEVER torqued those fasteners unless you were 100% certain everything was properly aligned. Accidently leave some of the old gasket on the engine mating surface toward the pump side of the bolt? It prevents the surface of the new pump/gasket from mating flat to the machined surface of the block. That small "extra" gap when torquing the ear bolt can easily result in--->Snap as the fastener tries to pull the two pieces together. Because castings don't bend, they crack.

 

Looking at more photos of the upper pan. The bolts insert from below through upper pan into short block, all 13, notice the one bolt up through the filter casting.

 

Yup, I believe you're right. Should have thought that one through a bit. I have yet to see an oil pan that has a bolt go in from the top, lol. Studs yes, bolts no.

It kind of brings up another question. This bolt can only be accessed by removing the filter and the threaded coupling that the filter spins onto. I wonder if some previous work was done on the car, with this bolt not getting removed. Perhaps some prying on the pan and eventually "crack", and the sudden realization there was a hidden bolt? Fix it quick, seal it up best possible and sell it?

OP_ How long have you had the car? From where did you purchase it? Have you ever looked at the Toyota maintenance history to see if anything stands out? The Toyota history won't have any info from independent shops, but if someone brought it into the dealer for a problem evaluation, they would document it, whether work was performed to correct it or not.

 

There's a reason the tow guy is called the tow guy and not a mechanic

 

Need to be a mechanic to check the oil? Or to notice the leaking oil. Seems to me tow guys have some mechanical ability to hook up vehicles.

 

They don't. You don't know why they're tow guys. Trust me, the reasons are many. Nurses aren't doctors and they're not qualified to operate just by association with the OR

 

LOL. Wrong. Try it. Ask him to check the oil. Watch him closely to see what he does. Sorry man. He's not qualified to check oil or determine the source of leaks. On your car sure, not mine. Front desk staff at he Dr ofc doesn't diagnose my medical problem either.

 

I don't practice law but do you want my opinion on your legal matter? Up to you I guess but I personally go to the experts in every field. The wisdom you get is far beyond what you could imagine because you are naive. Bein gin this field we could share a few stories.

My sig other is many states away for work and has on eof my Pri. A wheel bearing is going bad. I told her to go to the Lexus dlr. She exclaimed "Isn't that gonna be expensive?" I told her no, it's cheaper than paying to do it wrong, breaking down somewhere, paying a tow bill, missing a day or two of work, then paying to have it done the right way after all!

Your car. Do what you must. For me to sound like this can you imagine all that I have seen?

 

Well given your situation…. What if you cleaned it all off with engine cleaner then cleaned the crack with brake cleaner to remove everything. Then mixed up JB Weld and used a plastic syringe to inject JD Weld into the crack to seal it. I don’t think it would make it worse. Not sure what the oil pressure is but I have heard of radiators being repaired this way. Oil temp even though hot I don’t think it would be as hot as coolant fluid. 260 degrees? If the block is not cracked and the engine isn’t seized it might be worth a try.
worse case it still leaks and you have to replace the upper oil pan anyway. I don’t think the oil change place damaged it.

 

Wow, sad story...I've never heard of the filter housing cracking like that. Without inspecting it it's only a guess why it happened.

I have two daughters and have tried to tech them as much as possible about taking an interest in their cars...not just relying on a shop or others to do it. The old saying is true...if you ignore or neglect a small engine issue it WILL turn into a major engine issue. So knowing what's normal and what's not is very important....from sounds when starting and driving to smoke coming out to sequels and squeaks from power or loss of power...so many things!

If the engine was ran with no oil, there's little hope of saving it....numerous parts are now ruined from the heat and need replacing if not the whole block. So sorry!