leaky ma70 7mgte

[ra40gt]

my supra has recently started to leak a few drops of oil .
its annoying because its otherwise been excellent .
i think its the front oil seal behind the crank pulley but it may be coming from above .
are oil leaks common on these engines ? if so what are the usual suspects ?
also how do you check the oil breather / crankcase ventilation or whatever you call it ? the more modern a car is the more i'm baffled when lifting up the bonnet .
i know that if those are blocked the oil vapours will look for another way out

[supramike]

Hi,
I had the same problem on my MA61 very similar engine in many ways, the first time the leak appeared it came from the sump gasket, the problem with the Supra is it's very difficult to seal around the part of the sump that goes over the crank shaft

What I did in the end was to remove the engine mounting bolts and lift the motor just enough so you can get the sump off it's a big job but once you have it off you can replace the gasket and use a sealer around the crack shaft area

If you look in your shop manual the other way is to remove set parts of the front suspension, you can see how thats done by looking at how to replace an oil pump this section shows you what you need to do looks like it's not a tobad way to do it better still if you know someone who has a pit or four post lift

secondly your right it may be coming from the shaft seal again a big job I found that the easies way to do that was to remove the motor, I've done that twice in 20 years on my MA61

Try re- nipping the sump bolts but be very careful not to over tighten them work to the info in your shop manual
Hope this helps and my best
Mike.

[Uncle Bob]

There are 4 possible oil seals that can leak down the front of the engine, two camshaft seals, crank seal and oil pump drive seal, the timing covers need to come off to start your inspection.
The breather on the 2.8 supra ( i'm sure all M series blocks are the same )is on the right hand side, halfway down the block at the front, its a big old hole so i can see it getting blocked up, the oil seals on Toyota are very good and even when they get old they still keep the oil in but go hard and are no longer as flexible as when new, you could try an oil seal expander additive but i can't see it being much use.
Sorry to say its time to roll up your sleeves and get the workshop manual out

[ra40gt]

the reply from suprabob about the sump has made me realise its only been doing this since parked on a slope facing downhill
i wonder if the oil sitting in the sump at an angle obviously higher at the front has anything to do with it ?
i suppose making sure its parked flat and observing it over a couple of weeks would be the only way to find out !