TOYOTA-BLOWN HEAD GASKET

[mag176]

Hello,
2004 Toyota Camry I4 with 70,000 miles. The dealer,area rep. and the service adviser agreed to do the head gasket for 400.00. That was my portion,Toyota would pick up the rest. Now they call me and say the head bolts are pulling the threads out of the block and cant be repaired. They now want me to come up with 4000.00 dollars for a new block.
Is there any repair possible. Heli coil, drill and tap, steel inserts, ect. I also think they should have to stick to the original 400.00 deal set up by them. what do you think. Oh yea, the tech told me some of the other head bolts were loose,which is what caused the gasket to blow. the head bolts are pulling from the block.Any ideas,thoughts.
THANKS IN ADVANCE,MARK

 

[bdcardinal]

no saving it really. heli-coils are a repair not often used by dealers. ford techs use them on the spark plug threads that launch out, only with customer pay.

looking at it from their point of view, they dont know if it has been tampered with, ie someone loosened them. they should stick by the estimate given because things like that should be taken into consideration.

 

[mag176]

What I ment to say is that the head bolts are pulling out of the block. The tech cant torque the bolts because the threads are destroyed. Its only 10,000 miles out of warrenty. Free dealer oil changes every 5000 miles.
Ahh screw it. What a great car.

 

[55Test]

Still under warranty? No way I'd pay 4 large to replace an engine with only 70,000 miles on it.

 

[occupant]

I would sue the dealer and get yourself a free engine. Judge Judy would have a ball with this.

"Sir, you mean to tell me you quoted him $400 and now you want $4000 because YOU broke the car? You should be ashamed of yourself. I find for the plaintiff, $4000"

 

[Hootbro]

Quote:

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I would sue the dealer and get yourself a free engine. Judge Judy would have a ball with this.

"Sir, you mean to tell me you quoted him $400 and now you want $4000 because YOU broke the car? You should be ashamed of yourself. I find for the plaintiff, $4000"

---

Are we reading the same thread?

The guy is 10K out of warranty. As a "favor" Toyota was willing to do the work with only $400 out of pocket of the cutomer. "Estimates' are just that, only estimates. They can not predict an unknown failure once work is started. They did the right thing and stopped to tell the owner what was "more" wrong with the car. Had they done the $4k motor swap without telling the owner, then he would have a case. Reality is things happen and not every Toyota is gonna go 300K on the miles. Guys out of warranty, plain and simple.

Hootbro

 

[surfstar]

Throw in a used engine for $1500 and be done with it. (you'll probably have to go to an independent and maybe source the engine yourself for the best deal)

$4k is a rip-off.

The dealer quoted $400 for certain work. Additional work is now needed which was not foreseen in the original quote; they're not beholden to the original $400 repair price.

 

[mag176]

The head bolts striped themselves. Everyone knows that. Dealer picks up quick 4 grand. Oh no, not a toyota dealer.

 

[Lonnie]

Believe me they can not repair your engine. They can only change parts. If a mechanic is needed to repair the threads in the block they won't be able to find one. Mechanics don't work at dealerships. They have probably never met a mechanic, and have no idea what a mechanic does for a living. If the threads failed it's a material and workmanship issue and I'd go to small claims court. Tell the judge that you don't belive that the damage happend at the moment the tech took your engine apart, unless the tech caused the damage. If the tech says he did not do it, then it happend back when the warranty was in effect over a long period of time. They are then in agreement that the damage was there before the engine was taken apart. Either way you're the one with the advantage in small claims court.

 

[pajim17057]

I've never heard of head bolts stripping themselves. Sounds like the dealer is is ripping you off.

 

[Mokanic]

It would help if you gave more info. Why did the gasket blow? Did you run it low on coolant or get it hot? Have you done the maintenance on the car such as coolant services? Obviously, the dealer was willing to help you with the repair so everyone that loves to yell crooks need to remember that they don't even know all the facts surrounding this repair. Did the engine get hot or loose coolant? Did you buy the car new? These questions may shed a little light on whats taking place here. Go ahead and take the ignorant advice and sue them. That will absolutely garantee you to get no help from them or from many other shops that will pass on a customer that likes to threaten people becouse their car is broke.

 

[Sparkman]

Something is funny if the head gasket blew at 70k, then they find that the threads are stripped out. Either it got hot or the threads let loose and caused the head gasket leak IMHO.

Sounds more like a VW than a Toyota. (as an owner of a VW with a blown head gasket I feel perfectly entitled to that remark)

 

[cousincletus]

I would just get a salvage yard engine too. www.car-part.com. As popular as the Camry is, the junkyard should be littered with them. Make sure you pull the engine from a wrecked one, so you can assume that the engine was still running right before wrecked (dang, my head gasket just blew, so I'm gonna run my car into a wall...haha).

 

[Trav]

GM N* had this very same problem.GM has TSB on it and the fix is timeserts.They work perfectly for this type of repair and are much stronger than the original threads that are in the aluminum.It should only add an extra couple of hundred to the job.You do need a mechanic that knows what he's doing,there are no second chances with this repair.

 

[Papa Bear]

I'm with Hootbro...
mad176 doesn't have a problem, Toyota has a problem.
Toiyota

mag

 

[g20ooh]

1) I 'd make sure you took a good look ( get a copy now ) at the maintenance record as the dealer has it - even if you are the original owner .
2) IF the vehicle has been properly used and maintained try dealing with the factory as well .
3 ) FWIW , the factory has alot of room here - and maybe motivation . I MAY be able to pin it down better later , but a long block assembly for your engine is really about a 400/800 cost item ( + shipping + installation etc )
4) In strictly practical terms , I'd settle for a factory reman ( total cost ) for 500 out of pocket or ( unlikely ) a new engine for a grand . This engine is already showing up else where with HG AND HEAD issues although to be fair I'm not familiar with the whole story - haven't been paying attention . More later if you want it .

 

[JTK]

It's all too common for the aluminum threads to pull out of an aluminum block or head. I find it hard to believe a call to 1-800-toyota (or what ever it is) doesn't yield anything? I realize your mileage is 10K out, but on a 2004? Major engine issues should not happen. My local Toyota dealer just gave my neighbor ~$700 worth of new tires for his 2006 4-Runner because he was not happy with the OEM tire's winter performance!

Joel

 

[mag176]

Thanks for all the replies. The car was bought new. Dealer maintained for 42,000 miles. After that we moved and I took over the maintance. Motorcrakt oil and wix filters every 5,ooo miles. Never ran hot.G20ooh, if you could find more info on problems with that motor ,that would help.
Thanks again,Mark

 

[g20ooh]

mag176 - just want to clarify item 3 last post - I was rushing out the door when I posted . The 400/800 cost is what it actually costs the factory ( internal ) - from reman to new ( again , longblock only ) - not too many people know that and that is not a number that the dealer knows or is charged . The factory rep probably wouldn't either - most likely is " taught/told " at that level/position a higher number . Don't ask how I know , lets just call it a " very educated " guess with 95% + confidence those are the numbers for the current market for your engine and with no more error than 100 $ either way . If you flash that number by the rep ( at the beginning ) you will possibly do more harm than good . Keep for if/when you need it and to judge exactly who is doing exactly how much for who .

As I pointed out earlier , it does not include shipping and installation .
My purpose here was so you'd then understand the logic or more accurately part of the real math behind the practical numbers I suggested next . I'm not interested in anything other than a fair resolution to both parties involved of an unfortunate situation . Problem with that is the factory ( not the dealer ) has all the " real " numbers ........

 

[mag176]

Thanks g20ooh.