What's on the back of engine, above oil pan? (Wet!)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by MrPete, Jul 19, 2025 at 1:07 PM.

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  1. MrPete

    MrPete Active Member

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    @PriusCamper your wish came true, unfortunately. ;)

    I'm suddenly seeing a pool of wet on the garage floor after each of the last couple of drives. Not oily. No real smell.

    I need to find what this is and solve it. We leave on a 4000 mile driving trip in one week.

    My main questions:
    • what are the (wet) bolts/devices on the back-right side of the engine, above the oil pan, and below-right of exhaust???
    • Could the black bolt in photos be loose?! (I've not attempted to change anything.)

    Jacked up car. Looking at the back side of the engine I see some wet components, particularly a black bolt, and another wet one above it that's hard to see.

    In the photos, "down" is toward the front of the car. I am lying beneath the oil pan, whose attachment bolts are visible in the final photo.

    The black bolt "under" the metal plate (and clip for some wire) was quite wet. A lighter bolt above it was dirty/wet. Then in the first two photos you can see a black bolt or cap or ??? that's also glossy/wet.

    I'll search for appropriate engine diagrams...

    THANK YOU! What an amazing community :)

    20250719_104930.jpg 20250719_105011.jpg 20250719_105059.jpg 20250719_105111.jpg
     
  2. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    It’s probably your timing chain tensioner gasket that is leaking from the top, it’s a common leak on that gasket. Mine was leaking too and I changed it when I did the head gasket.
     
  3. MrPete

    MrPete Active Member

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    Hybrid Pitstop replaced my entire engine (with a Gold 2015 rebuilt from ground up) only 30k miles ago.

    Is that a likely gasket leak so quickly?
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I saw that black-painted block, and wondered about that.
     
  5. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    looking at the first picture, it looks wet underneath the timing chain tensioner.
     
  6. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    Is that black looking bolt suppose to be where the oil pressure sensor is at? I’ve never seen that type of black bolt before.