Alright so my 2006 tC is bone stock engine/exhaust/intake wise. I have just under 60,000 miles on my car and it has seen routine maintenance all of its life.

Today, on my way into work, the car was running just fine until I took a turn onto the road that my office is on. As I made the left turn, I noticed my temperature gauge start climbing to H. Immediately, I pulled over, put the car in park, and turned it off. I got out to inspect the engine and there was a bit of steam coming out from the rear of the engine and I noticed the coolant overflow reservoir was empty. I figured my water pump probably died or the water pump seal may have fallen apart or a hose may have sprung a leak.

So I get the car towed to a Toyota dealership 15 miles away (for $160 which is insane by the way!).

They tell me they will do a diagnostic on it and let me know asap. I get home and an hour later they call and say that it's bad and going to cost at least $4000!!!

Here's the rundown they gave me:

The head bolts pulled out of block, so they need to pull the engine, rethread the block, inspect the block, rebuild the engine, replace the thermostat, water pump, radiator, valve cover, head gasket, drive belt, and all seals.

Am I being ripped off or what?! This seems like a joke for what I thought was a routine overheat! I didn't drive but 50 feet after the temp gauge shot up! Not to mention my dad had the serpentine belt on his rav4 break and he drove it 30 miles to the nearest dealership with the engine burning up and the damage was still less!

I'm having the car towed to another dealership that I have worked with a lot in the past for a second opinion.

Thoughts?

EDIT: On top of that, NO check engine light!!! I hope one of the techs at the dealership didn't redline my car on purpose to blow the engine and make the repair money...

 

Well usually for this car if the thermostat goes all the way up it is already too late. just like the oil light. If the car under 60k it should still be under warranty.

 

Unfortunately, the car is 5 years, 5 months old. So it's out of warranty.

The car was doing just fine and temps were perfectly normal the whole drive in. It shot up in a matter of 15 seconds and I did nothing but coast the car to the shoulder and put it in park and turn it off. The whole head bolts being pulled from the block thing is insane.

Now I regret leaving the car with these fools before looking at it myself. I was in my work clothes though so I wasn't thinking about getting messy.

 

oh yea forgot about the 5 year part.

only takes a matter of seconds for something to break loose and mess a lot of stuff up. I would say you could take it to another dealer and hope they say something cheaper but I know you dont want to tow it again.

 

It would be cheaper to drop in another engine

 

Wow, so it turns out this a common problem among all 2002-2007 2AZ-FE's.

The aluminum block heats up and the threads in the block loosen, allowing the head bolts to pull the threads out!

BEWARE that if you have any coolant leaking from your car, this is more than likely the issue. And there is nothing that you can do about it because the bolts are already stripped and trying to tighten them further just pulls the threads out of the block even further.

Apparently Toyota issued a TSB on the issue, but they won't repair it under warranty. Bastards. I'm not happy with Toyota and I can't wait to get rid of this car. Even if I do get it fixed, they will only put in threaded inserts, which sounds like a ticking timebomb.

 

ask scion, it can't hurt any further.

 

head and blocks issues with the 05-06 are common.

 

Sounds like the Water Pump went out....

 

IMHO....save yourself some money....go to the junkyard...get yourself another 2AZ preferibly from a tC or XB2 $800-$1500 depending on where you go..just look around EVERYWHERE. Tow it home...let it sit for awhile till you get the bones for the engine and just swap it. You'll save yourself $2000...Pull the old engine out have it machined, rethreaded, resurfaced and either put it back together or sell it for parts on here you can make anywhere from $500-$1100 back.

Hope this helps

 

I had considered this a possibility, but who do you get to do the engine swap? I know I don't have the time, tools, or know-how to do a whole swap on my own. I was considering pulling the head and doing the time-sert kit myself, but even that is a stretch. I work full time and live in an apartment, so there's no such thing as garage space and I kind of need my car back sooner rather than later.

If I knew of a reputable shop that could do it for me in the area, I would.

 

It sucks to work stuff like that at an apartment complex. I would try to find a close friend and tow it there and decide later what to do. Given your situation, you might have to end up forking out some money. An extended warranty sounds like a good fit for you in future purchases.

 

burn it, roll it hide it for insurance. all joke aside, i've heard somebody ask the bank for the cash, being it was still financed. used engines are all over craigslist, at least in socal.

 

Well I currently have a case submitted with Scion and I'm hoping to get some assistance out of them. My family has owned nothing but toyota and lexus for as long as I have been alive. In the last 10 years, we have bought 5 new toyota's, so I'm hoping that helps encourage them to give me some help.

I know I could probably get a used engine off craigslist or in a junkyard, but then I'm just playing the waiting game for the same problem to pop up. Plus I don't think toyota would be willing to perform an engine swap for me if I just pull up with a new 2AZ in the truck. Maybe they will, I don't know.

 

that's why i watch my scangauge alot. keep intake air temp, a/f, timing, and water temp.

 

Well like I said, my tC is all stock, so the only indicator that this was about to happen was the sound of water sloshing behind the dash, but I didn't know that was a symptom of the problem, I thought it was just happening because it's cold out and the car makes weird noises when it's cold.

 

4k sounds about right for this particular repair. ive personally looked at the procedure to do it and it is very labor intensive, and very tedious work. check to see if ur toyota dealership deals with a company called jarco. they do reman engines and come with a great warranty. they cover parts and labor and they give u the option to extend their warranty for a few hundred $. weve used them quite a few times at my dealership and have had 0 issues. ull spend around 3500-4000 total after parts and labor, but ull get a pretty much new motor with all seals replaced, new water pump, plugs, etc...itll be like a brand new car. hope this helps some.

 

Thank you Pearlwhite, I will look into this!

I would love to have a brand new engine in the car, I just don't want to experience this hell again for as long as I own it.

 

not a problem man...anytime

 

Iv done this repair on one tc so far and was able to pull it off with under 1200 to work with. It is a commen problem on with early versions of the 2azfe engines mostly on camry's.

Parts needed are as follows
Head bolts ( not 100% needed if no damage to stock bolts are present)
Head gasket
Fluids

Machine shop can bore and drop thread inserts in, cost runs about 400 for that service.
Parts and machine run between 500-1000.
Labor runs about the same.
This is of course assuming head and block are true.