OK I guess I won't shut up...a few more things popped into my head after rereading the thread.

As far as the power steering pump is concerned it seems to be a rather common occurance and will involve either a rebuild or replacement of the pump. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be certain of where the leak is first though.

The valve cover gaskets- fortunately for me the driver's side is the only side that was leaking so I just did it and saved the other gasket for later on down the road. You may want to consider the same depending on your situation.


As far as the "flush" services are concerned- it's dealership BS. Do they need flushing? Yeah, probably. But you can do it yourself at home and save a couple hundred dollars.

BTW I used to work at a dealership so I know how they operate <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

There is one exception- the Intake/Fuel cleaning. If they use BG products this is a really good thing to have done. This service usually runs $100-130 but is well worth it since it's not something you can do on your own.

Basically they put a can of fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank...nothing amazing there, but it is BG which is IMO better than any other injector cleaner on the market.

But anyways, the important part is where the intake/combustion chamber cleaner is used. In a nutshell, they use a pressurized system to spray cleaner into your TB while revving the engine slightly to keep it from stalling. From there clouds of black smoke start billowing out of your exhaust. When I did mine I pretty much engulfed the whole car lot <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />
After the smoke dissipates it's cleaned the intake and combustion chamber of a lot of carbon buildup which can cause piston ring blow-by and thus oil consumption.

If by chance they do use BG products (both Yota dealerships near me do) get a can of MOA (motor oil additive) every other oil change or so. This in addition to Valvoline maxlife significantly reduced the amount of oil I lose between changes.

Wow I've written so much lynx posted between my posts and I've been writing constantly <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />

OK now I think I'm done <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />