Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
Originally Posted By: smc733
Originally Posted By: dlayman
That's a pretty steep repair for an engine of that age and mileage that is supposedly "bulletproof". Sounds like this is pretty common?
Agreed, I've had way too many odd repairs for this "bulletproof" Toyota, especially the heat shields that keep needing work every 6 months.
There is absolutely nothing at all bulletproof about the Toyota ZZ engine, or the cars that it was installed in.
The bulletproof Toyota product was the 1990-2000 Lexus LS400. Those are the cars with the million mile 1UZ engines. The ZZ engines are a disaster show. Toyota's been riding the coattails of this car
for 27 years and really let their quality slip to 1990s Ford/GM standards.
Interesting and good to know. Combined with the fact that although this was a practical purchase, the driving dynamics are not great, I will probably get a Hyundai, Honda or Ford next.
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Not sure where you go for $150 an hour, the VW dealer down the road is $120 an hour, this isn't a Lamborghini dealer it's a Toyota dealership. Probably $110-$120 an hour. 10 hours is $1,100 in labor plus $10 in RTV to reseal the cover. Not $2,000.
You need more than RTV to do the job. You need to remove the water pump (it's on the cover) and t-stat, so the coolant needs to be drained. The oil filter housing needs to come off, so you will need new O-rings and oil and filter. The valve cover gasket needs to be replaced as well since the cover comes off. There are 3 oil passage O-rings, the water pump gasket, crank seal and t-stat housing seal.
The cheapest dealer in this area is $140/hr - and this is a 10 bay Honda dealer that is still operating out of a 50 year old building. Every other dealer including Toyota is in the $150-$180/hr range.
The standard shop rate in Massachusetts is $110/hr. There is no shop here that is ever more than $115. We'll see if the dealer that quoted $1,100 will honor it next week...
Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: Trav
Call Toyota zone, even though its officially out of warranty it still has under 100K. Plead your case as long time Toyota owner and your disappointed that this engine needs such an expensive repair at less than 100K bla bla bla. Make sure to ask whoever it is for their help, don't demand.
They may do a partial good will repair or who knows just repair it at no cost. I have had good luck with zone reps helping people out for repairs that just shouldn't be happening e.g Honda VCM and GM N* head bolts years ago.
It cost nothing to make a call.
I would do exactly as Trav has suggested. I've had this work for me in the past with other manufacturers (never owned a Toyota). They may not cover 100%, but they may cover most of it. It's all on the approach IMO.
This is a definite concern with today's OHC timing chain equipped vehicles. There's many linear feet of area, holding oil back with a bead of RTV. Maintenance free until it costs you $2000 because of an oil leak.
Tried and failed on the phone, it was a pleasant conversation but they said it doesn't qualify for "out of warranty service". Maybe I will try emailing the CEO of Toyota USA. The most frustrating thing about this is I have this boring to drive car because its supposed to be reliable and trouble free (I have maintained it to the book under the "severe" schedule). If I was going to have a car with as many problems, I would have picked something more enjoyable.
Originally Posted By: HangFire
Originally Posted By: smc733
I'll be picking up my Corolla from the $tealership in an hour (my fault, I know), and they called and told me that
I am leaking a good amount of oil
Stop right there. Is any hitting the floor? How did you not know about this? Do you ever have to top off the oil at all?
If there's no belt slippage, puddles of oil, constant oil topping off... heck if you didn't even know about it... does this repair even need to happen?
There's been a seepage under the car, but I assumed it was from the AC condensation (its below the passenger's seat in the cabin, not under the hood). I will be checking it more carefully now and report back. The timing cover side of the engine does look "wet" as if something is leaking. I check the oil a few times throughout the OCI, and have never noticed it being low. Never had to add oil. I did have an issue with the serpentene belt slipping, but this was fixed when a bolt that wasn't replaced when the water pump was fixed.