Worried.....

[mungosright]

Hi all. My 110k mile 2007 2.0 tdi has started to lose coolant. Now I always thought that a failing head gasket would show up with the famous 'mousse' or yogurt-looking muck on the bottom of the oil filler cap. Is that always the case? I've been comforting myself with the knowledge that the oil looks nice and black on the cap.

If it is the head gasket, what happens next, will it shudder to a halt very soon?

Thanks all!

[Fitter]

Hi all. My 110k mile 2007 2.0 tdi has started to lose coolant. Now I always thought that a failing head gasket would show up with the famous 'mousse' or yogurt-looking muck on the bottom of the oil filler cap. Is that always the case? I've been comforting myself with the knowledge that the oil looks nice and black on the cap.

If it is the head gasket, what happens next, will it shudder to a halt very soon?

Thanks all!

The symptons you describe can occur with a failed head gasket but not always. Check your oil level, if it is rising the coolant is leaking into the oil ways in the block. Check the exhaust for excess water. Also check for leakage at the water pump, any signs of water inside the car from heater matrix or obviously from the radiator or hoses.

Fitter

[Mistermena]

Hi all. My 110k mile 2007 2.0 tdi has started to lose coolant. Now I always thought that a failing head gasket would show up with the famous 'mousse' or yogurt-looking muck on the bottom of the oil filler cap. Is that always the case? I've been comforting myself with the knowledge that the oil looks nice and black on the cap.

If it is the head gasket, what happens next, will it shudder to a halt very soon?

Thanks all!

Hi,

If it is the head gasket going on it I think you may well be covered under the 112k or 6 year warranty. I'd be straight down to the dealer and let them do a pressure test on it. I've just posted a new topic on the Avensis forum for exactly the same gasket issues.

[mungosright]

Many thanks guys. No sign of leaks but I do sometimes get that 'gurgling water' sound from behind the dash when I start up from cold. I've definitely got air in the heater matrix or something although the heater works fine. Haven't time to do it today but will have to get covers off and have a poke around. Acceleration etc seems normal so hope it's not the head gasket. Cheers, M

[alan333]

If the head gasket fails then some of the three items that flow through the head can mix together. These are oil, coolant and combustion gases. Therefore you might have oil in the water, oil burning in the combustion chambers, coolant in the oil, coolant inside the combustion chamber, or combustion gas (and therefore pressure) in the coolant, or combustion gases in the oil.

The best way to be sure of a head gasket problem is to have it pressure tested as some of the above symptoms are difficult or impossible to detect.

Good luck :)

[Aamir2892]

Pretty silly if you ask me on how the head gasket can just go like that! I'm worried, cars done 86,300, touch wood been fine but why hasn't Toyota done anything about it? So every 2.2 engine at least in its lifetime will have the head gasket going for no apparent reason. Normally overheating causes head gasket issues if nobody keeps an eye on coolant etc.

[GPO]

Pretty silly if you ask me on how the head gasket can just go like that! I'm worried, cars done 86,300, touch wood been fine but why hasn't Toyota done anything about it? So every 2.2 engine at least in its lifetime will have the head gasket going for no apparent reason. Normally overheating causes head gasket issues if nobody keeps an eye on coolant etc.

I agree, we seem to be drifting backwards in terms of reliability, lots of power and clean emissions have come a cost of great complexity and very expensive breakdowns. A new engine before 100k is reminiscent of the 1970s, and shouldn't be the case in the 2010s, how many head gasketts have the car industry made (millions), and yet there are still issues.

[Roker]

Head gaskets and DM flywheels on diesel engines and oil burning on petrol engines, yes we have gone backwards. The new generation of engineers have not learned from the old engineers in the past. Mr T has lost his reputation.

[GPO]

Head gaskets and DM flywheels on diesel engines and oil burning on petrol engines, yes we have gone backwards. The new generation of engineers have not learned from the old engineers in the past. Mr T has lost his reputation.

The current turbo diesel, common rail technology doesn't seem to be fully mature. My previous car was a normally aspirated 2 litre petrol Volvo V40, never missed a beat until 204k and then everything went at once - needed about £1.5k spending on it.(In truth it was a bit slow for a 2.0) Was a bit expensive on fuel (32mpg)but never cost me anything, bar routine servicing, in 7 years. (I don't lead avery exciting life on the basis of this measure :o)

I expected similar reliability from the Avensis, and it may yet get there. I wonder how many of the 2.2 d4ds are actually affected by the problems raised on here.

However reading around a few forums I get the impression that the current crop of diesels (from lots of manufacturers) all seem to be affected by reliability issues, that negate the saving you make in fuel costs.

May well go petrol again next time, have never been quite comfortable with the noise diesels make, for a private car.

Another real annoyance is trying to change a headlamp bulb - eeeeks, why design it that way.

[Pekay]

Stop driving it NOW!! and get it booked in with Toyota and have the mileage logged, iv'e been told by several dealers today that 111K/7yrs is the cut off, (although this varies on who you speak to), Toyota may be a little flexible who knows, main point is, the more you drive it the worse it gets,Toyota official stance is now not to mess about but just to put a new short engine in(Top block and head inc pistons etc).

[GPO]

Stop driving it NOW!! and get it booked in with Toyota and have the mileage logged, iv'e been told by several dealers today that 111K/7yrs is the cut off, (although this varies on who you speak to), Toyota may be a little flexible who knows, main point is, the more you drive it the worse it gets,Toyota official stance is now not to mess about but just to put a new short engine in(Top block and head inc pistons etc).

Someone in the design office made an expensive mistake when they increased the bore from 2.0 to 2.2, still some reassurance in Mr T's stance on this.

[Heidfirst]

So every 2.2 engine at least in its lifetime will have the head gasket going for no apparent reason.

there is no evidence that the problem is anything like a 100% failure rate, it's probably not even a 5% rate & at least Toyota UK seem to have a pretty good attitude towards paying for repair.

However reading around a few forums I get the impression that the current crop of diesels (from lots of manufacturers) all seem to be affected by reliability issues, that negate the saving you make in fuel costs.

May well go petrol again next time,

the bad news is that the next generation of petrol engines (Ford Ecoboost etc.) look to be adopting many of the technologies that have made the latest diesels less reliable ...