Toyota Repair: 1995 Toyota Corolla, valve cover gasket, radiator hoses


Question
I just paid for a timing belt replacement (plus auxiliary belts), valve cover gasket replacement, new water pump, seal replacement, new upper and lower radiator hoses and cooling system flush on my daughter's '95 Corolla. She drives it 150 miles back to college and calls the next day saying there appears to be oil (coffee-colored liquid) leaking from the engine and the engine is smoking. The temperature gauge is at normal. The car has 114,000 miles on it. Any thoughts?

Answer
There is an oil leak, the car should go back to the shop that did all the work so they can recheck what they screwed up, if that's not possible then she should take it to a toyota dealer and have them check what the oil leak is, they will charge for any needed repairs and if the previous repairs were not done correctly you can try to collect from them, they obviously missed something or put a seal or gasket in wrong, I don't know but it's possible. If she is going to drive it back make sure that she checks the oil before leaving and take some extra oil in the car and check it every 50 miles or so.