Questioni have an 89 Tercel with 125,000 miles it has a serious oil leak which I am not sure where it is coming from because I have gotten a few different opinions but one from a trusted mechanic was that it is the crankshaft seal which was replaced 8000miles ago but there is play in the groove this technician said thus that is why the seal isn't holding and he sais some cars they make a sleeve for it but not this one.Also he said to a smaller extent the leak could also be caused by other seals that have shrunk and aged.I am reluctant to spend any more money trying to repair this leak,first dissasembly of the crankshaft is an expensive job,but how do I know that even after this is repaired I won't have leakage still from other areas? The car uses a quart of oil a week,I drive about 250 mmiles a week that is a big amount!I have switched to using a heavier weight like 10W 40 instead of 10W 30 or 5-30 and putting some Bar S engine oil leak sealer hoping I could reduce the leak ,( honestly I don't believe in using that stuff but he suggested it couldn't hurt just possibly help and it cost about $2} I know Toyotas are good cars and will go a long way but with this type of motor problem I am very concerned regardless of the fact it is still cheaper to repair this than buy another car if this repair will like I said be successfull or are there possibly too many areas that contribute to oil leaks at this age? Also engine pings on moderate to heavy acceleration unless I use 93 Octane that reduces it but I know that is not normal,got different diagnosis on that one too,mainly timing off or blocked or malfunctioning EGR I have been using the 93 Octane which always cost more but with gas prices skyrocketing now that is getting expensive,Can some pinging harm the engine,? the car has been like this now for almost 3 years though I drove it very little because I worked so close to home but now I go about 40 miles a day but try not to accelerate too rapidly,Thanks for any help on both of these things.
AnswerHello Peter, welcome to my expert page.
I'll address the oil leak issue first, I don't think that the front crankshaft seal is the problem unless it was not installed correctly but if that was the case it would have leaked soon after installation, is the oil coming from the front of the engine? If so there could be other causes like a camshaft seal leaking or the oil pan or the valve cover gasket. Another cause may be that in conjunction with the leaks the engine is using excessive amounts of oil via blowby(worn rings).
Engine pinging is detrimental to the engine and can cause serious damage if not corrected, an EGR system failure could be the cause or the engine basic ignition timing too far advanced, possibly a problem with the distributor advance.
Now for the really bad news, the tercel of the late '80s early '90s was in my opinion, one of the worst cars and engines Toyota ever produced, this is why there are these problems with "only" 125k miles, I won't go into specifics as to why, that's just how it is. I would advice you to trade it in before spending any more money on it, if you just want good basic, reliable transportation get a Corolla or Camry form the mid 90s up they are extremely reliable with just normal maintenance.
