2.2 D4D T3X Head Gasket Dilemma

[westsider]

Hi all, I'm a new member and have a problem with the head gasket on my 2007 Avensis D4DT3X which I only bought in April. I live in Ireland and the car was imported from England with 82K and a full service history, and I've put on about 5K on the clock since then as I'm a taxi driver.

I've read all the issues about the Head Gasket problems with the Avenis 2.2 diesel engine, very helpfull BTW. Even before I brought the car to a mechanic to confirm the head gasket problem I suspected as much, as the needle on the temperature gauge was going north and the heating would cut out until I filled the coolant reservoir which tended to evaporate quite quickly, and a new water pump didn't stop the problem.

The dilemma I have is about what is the best way to have it fixed, as I need the car back on the road as quickly as possible to make a living.

1) Toyota Ireland wouldn't cover the warranty as they only give three years over here, but I know that the car is still covered under warranty in the UK and they did suggest contacting a dealer in Northern Ireland. However driving it 100 miles from Dublin across the border might not be a good idea in its present condition, and the car has Irish registration plates and has been converted into a taxi which may not go down to well with a Northern Irish Toyoya dealer.

2) The dealer I bought the car from where not to helpful at first, but were in favour of bringing the car up North and putting back on the old UK registration plates which they still have, a little bit dodgy I think. By law they are entitled to provide me with a warranty for up to three months and if I created enough fuss or threatened them with legal action they probably would take the car back in, but I don't how long they would have it and I don't want a Mickey Mouse job done just to get me out of their hair.

3) My own mechanic is busy with work and can't fit me in for two weeks. He is honest but a bit pricy and I can't afford to wait three weeks to have my car back.

4) A Toyota dealer would probably charge me half the price of what I paid for the car.

5) My boss advised me to bring it to his mechanic and couldn't believe the prices I was being quoted. His mechanic will fix/replace the head gasket for about 700 euros and have me back on the road by the end of the week. But after reading Ormi's comments from February about how to properly do this job I think I might have the same problems again in the near future if they only replace the gasket.

6) A friend put me in touch with his mechanic. He looked at the car and tested the cooling system in 30 second to tell me it was definetly the head gasket. He quoted me a price of 1,500-1,700 euros, but said the same thing as Ormi about having to replaced the block and head as well as the gasket, or the same thing will happen again. He can fit me in on Monday morning and have me back on the road by no later than Thursday and seem to be highly regarded in the area and the industry I work in.

I don't want to have to spend to much money, but I also want the job done right and I'm inclined to go with option 6 at the moment.

Any comments would be appreciated.

[irishjay]

Sorry about the trouble youre having , I was one of the first people on this forum to say about the 2.2 and the dodgy head gasket and was shot down by hardened toyota lovers and then more and more people have came out of the woodwork , my head gasket went at 56,000 , by this stage there was no extended warranty so i was very very lucky , i also am a taximan , Toyota Belfast , took the gasket out and skimmed it , im now at 156,000 miles and the gasket is gone again , loads of oil in the coolant bottle and the needle heading North as you said , lucky enough i have a spare Audi a4 1997 with 250,000 miles !! that i am using , the Audis alternator went yesterday i bought a second hand one for 25 and a new mechanic i am using charged me £15 !!! my old mechanic had the toyota for 2 months !!!! and basically didnt want the job as the radiator and all pipes and hoses are full of oil and didnt know where to start . i have options for you , 1) put a new engine in ! a 2.0 litre one , you can get them for £1000 up here 2) fill to the neck with water , drive it into a car dealership and trade it in 3) get a small mechanic to do the job and he will fix it but the gasket will definetly go again , mark my words it will go again , the 2.2 dad is a crap engine , especialy when the mileage goes up ( please no d4d owners come back and say its a good engine ,, its not a good engine )4) i have known people that have beeen that frustrated they rather unluckily hit a flood !!!and water seemed to get in the engine and that left oil and gunge and they claimed of there insurance ! what approach have i decided to take ?? on tuesday im taking the car of my old mechanic who i fxxked of for wasting my time when he could have just said the job was to big for him , and taking it to my new mechanic who is going to clean it all out , ascess it , and either im going to trade it in or im probaly more than likely going to get a new engine for it , you could try the northern thing if you want , why not ??? just tow it up to near the dealership and drive it in and just park it up and tell them ,, the toyota dealerships in the North will be glad of the work, and if its going to save you thousands try it and see or do one of the above

[irishjay]

PS , Im never buying another toyota agin unless its an old one before the D4D ,, im sticking with cars under £1000 for taxiing , that audi cost me £500 4 months ago and had a full years PSV (public service vehicle test we have to do yearly) if the Northern car dealers dont want to know , then take it back to the place you bought it from and tell them you want it fixed or replaced as you have a warranty and tell them you will be billing them for loss of earnings ,, im sorry but ive learnt you just cant do the nicey nicey approach when it comes to car dealerships , if youre nice they do nothing for you

[westsider2]

Hi Jay, thanks for the input. Seems you have had a realy bad experience with your D4DT3X and I sympathise with you. I think maybe if the block and head is done as well as having the gasket taken out and skimmed it could avoid the problem of the gasket going again, and this may have been your problem in the first place.

The mechanic I spoke with on Friday was aware of the problem with the 2.2 diesel, and told me if the block, head and gasket were not all done at the same time then the gasket will just go again and again, and it seems to be a problem with the Lexus with same engine as well.

I think I might just go with option 6, its expensive but the guy seems to knows what he's talking about and I'll have my car back by the end of the week.

[irishjay]

Well i hope it works out to you to be honest mate i really do , im just going to spend the money youre spending on the mechanic and just get a new 2.0 engine in , will miss the 150bhp but sure it might avoid me getting points on my license and i have a new engine lol ,, take care friend

[Devon Aygo]

Correct me if I am wrong but Ireland is part of the EU ? if so then Toyota Ireland work under/report to Toyota Europe (TMME) in exactly the same way as Toyota UK incl Northen Ireland do. Toyota Europe have instigated a 7yr/111946 mile pan european warranty on all #AD diesel engines (2.0 & 2.2 ) for head gasket failure this being the case Toyota Ireland have to offer the same level of cover as Toyota UK are obliged to. Contact customer services armed with this info & point out you will contact a Mr Didier Leroy ( head of Toyota Europe ) should they be less than forth coming.

[ormi]

any toyota and i mean any regardless of in england scotland or japan will rebuild your engine for you any so i dont understand why your having so much greef...

im in the process of removing and rebuilding an engine in an irish reg verso......

also you cant skim the head or the block of the 2.2........also the 2.0 suffers the same problems....

[cmia]

Correct me if I am wrong but Ireland is part of the EU ? if so then Toyota Ireland work under/report to Toyota Europe (TMME) in exactly the same way as Toyota UK incl Northen Ireland do. Toyota Europe have instigated a 7yr/111946 mile pan european warranty on all #AD diesel engines (2.0 & 2.2 ) for head gasket failure this being the case Toyota Ireland have to offer the same level of cover as Toyota UK are obliged to. Contact customer services armed with this info & point out you will contact a Mr Didier Leroy ( head of Toyota Europe ) should they be less than forth coming.

exactly...

the issue here is if the dealers will try to use the reward and hire clause and not do it

[westsider2]

any toyota and i mean any regardless of in england scotland or japan will rebuild your engine for you any so i dont understand why your having so much greef...

im in the process of removing and rebuilding an engine in an irish reg verso......

also you cant skim the head or the block of the 2.2........also the 2.0 suffers the same problems....

Hi Ormi, basicaly their taking out everything; gasket, cylinder head, timing chain, having a look at what needs to fixed or replaced, then I believe they are replacing the gasket or skimming it, and then helicoiling the block to stop the threads from wearing. The mechanic seems to know his stuff and was in touch with another mechanic from Toyota while I was with him who advised him on the best way to proceed and was aware of the gasket problem with the 2.2 diesel engine. The 2.0 diesel may also have gasket problems, but from what I am hearing the 2.2 seems to be more prone to it.

As regards Toyota Ireland their customer service team called me on Friday, were very polite but stated that their warranty department could not help me as they only offer a three year warranty despite Toyoya UK offering a five year warranty. They said I could take the car to a Toyota dealer in Northern Ireland or Great Britain, but the effort wouldn't be worth the time or trouble.

[irishjay]

Effort wouldnt be worth the time or trouble ?? its only an hour up the motorway and you could save £1000,s and get proper Toyota mechanics , you will prob buy another Avensis again lmao a fool and his money .......

[westsider2]

Effort wouldnt be worth the time or trouble ?? its only an hour up the motorway and you could save £1000,s and get proper Toyota mechanics , you will prob buy another Avensis again lmao a fool and his money .......

Jay the problem is I need my car back on the road as soon as possible. I haven't got the time due to family commitments to either take off all the taxi paraphernalia or bring my car up North, and if a dealership does actually take it in it could take weeks before I get it back. Then have my taxi equipment reinstalled (150 euros) and have my car tested and passed out as a taxi once again (125 euros), not to mention missing work for most of June. I'm just prepared to pay my money for it to be fixed by a good mechanic who knows what he is doing which is the same as what a Toyota mechanic would do. Hopefully I'll be back on the road by this weekend and I can start earning my money back quickly.

[Mistermena]

Just to add my 2 pennies worth...

I had a head gasket go on my T-180 estate. Toyota have headed this problem straight on and given a 112k 7 year extened warranty to cover the issues on both the 2.0ltr and 2.2 oil burners. My car was at the dealer for 5 days and it cost £6500 (I have the invoivce sheet with all part numbers) which Mr T covered.

I understand that you might have other family matters that could make it difficult. But I'd let Toyota do the job and they cover the work for a whole 12 months.

Ormi knows his stuff as he's a reg tech for Mr T. And was very helpful to me when I asked his advise on the subject

You wont find another manufacturer that will offer such an "Out of original warranty" to there customers. A big up to Toyota I recon

[westsider2]

Just to add my 2 pennies worth...

I had a head gasket go on my T-180 estate. Toyota have headed this problem straight on and given a 112k 7 year extened warranty to cover the issues on both the 2.0ltr and 2.2 oil burners. My car was at the dealer for 5 days and it cost £6500 (I have the invoivce sheet with all part numbers) which Mr T covered.

I understand that you might have other family matters that could make it difficult. But I'd let Toyota do the job and they cover the work for a whole 12 months.

Ormi knows his stuff as he's a reg tech for Mr T. And was very helpful to me when I asked his advise on the subject

You wont find another manufacturer that will offer such an "Out of original warranty" to there customers. A big up to Toyota I recon

Hi Mistermena, outside of taking my car to a Toyota dealership over the border I think I'm doing pretty much what Ormi suggested.

" Posted 10 February 2011 - 12:44 AM

1)why are people paying for repairs??warranty up too 115k or 6 years...no arguments....im halfway through a rebuild of a rav 4 t180

2)when the gasket is gone you dont just replaced the gasket you replace the block and the head.what happens is you get gasket shuffel which wears grooves in the head and the block which inturn makes them scrap...so if the garage just replace the gasket it will happen again....."

This is what my mechanic is doing to my car, on the advice of a Toyota technician who works in a Toyota dealership. Unfortunately I will have to pay for it but Toyota Ireland are not as generous as Toyoya UK, and as I need my car for work as soon as possible I realy haven't got the luxury of paying for it to be re-converted back into a regular car, having it towed to the North and having Toyota UK keep it for a week or more, and then paying for it to be re-converted back into a taxi. Even if I had the time it would be a lot of trouble, and the amount of work I would miss would amount to more than I'm currently paying for may car to be fixed.

This morning I brought my car to the mechanic and I expect to have it back by no later than Thursday.

[Mistermena]

Hope you get it all sorted out and your car is back on the road asap.

[cmia]

they scamming you

get onto head customer services.

[westsider2]

Well it looks like I'll have to bring my car to a Toyota dealership in the UK after all, at least I'll get the dealership I bought the car off to do it. My mechanic contacted Toyota today who told him not to procede with working on my car as it is likely that the head cylinder and block will also have to be replaced along with the gasket, and any warranty I might have will be voided if he starts removing things. The cost of this will be between 5 and 6K. I sent an e-mail to Toyota UK last night to see where I stood, but this is starting to become a nightmare as I'm only driving the car six weeks.

[Mistermena]

Well it looks like I'll have to bring my car to a Toyota dealership in the UK after all, at least I'll get the dealership I bought the car off to do it. My mechanic contacted Toyota today who told him not to procede with working on my car as it is likely that the head cylinder and block will also have to be replaced along with the gasket, and any warranty I might have will be voided if he starts removing things. The cost of this will be between 5 and 6K. I sent an e-mail to Toyota UK last night to see where I stood, but this is starting to become a nightmare as I'm only driving the car six weeks.

Yep! I thought you'd have to do that an all. You just can't skim the head on these cars. Like Ormi said... It has to be a new block ect.

Hope all goes well

[westsider2]

Good news, Toyota UK will cover the warranty and do all the work and my dealer will tow it up North.

[cmia]

Well it looks like I'll have to bring my car to a Toyota dealership in the UK after all, at least I'll get the dealership I bought the car off to do it. My mechanic contacted Toyota today who told him not to procede with working on my car as it is likely that the head cylinder and block will also have to be replaced along with the gasket, and any warranty I might have will be voided if he starts removing things. The cost of this will be between 5 and 6K. I sent an e-mail to Toyota UK last night to see where I stood, but this is starting to become a nightmare as I'm only driving the car six weeks.

Yep! I thought you'd have to do that an all. You just can't skim the head on these cars. Like Ormi said... It has to be a new block ect.

Hope all goes well

you could skim the head / block

but then you may have to use an aftermarket thicker headgasket.

[Mistermena]

Good news, Toyota UK will cover the warranty and do all the work and my dealer will tow it up North.

Now thats what I call a result! Happy days

[Mistermena]

Well it looks like I'll have to bring my car to a Toyota dealership in the UK after all, at least I'll get the dealership I bought the car off to do it. My mechanic contacted Toyota today who told him not to procede with working on my car as it is likely that the head cylinder and block will also have to be replaced along with the gasket, and any warranty I might have will be voided if he starts removing things. The cost of this will be between 5 and 6K. I sent an e-mail to Toyota UK last night to see where I stood, but this is starting to become a nightmare as I'm only driving the car six weeks.

Yep! I thought you'd have to do that an all. You just can't skim the head on these cars. Like Ormi said... It has to be a new block ect.

Hope all goes well

But whats the point if its going to go again? When the head goes there is "Shuffle" so I can't see any point! Especially if Mr T is going to place a new "Short engine" in. This could cost Toyota around the £6500 mark to do, and now at no cost to the customer.

you could skim the head / block

but then you may have to use an aftermarket thicker headgasket.

[ormi]

Well it looks like I'll have to bring my car to a Toyota dealership in the UK after all, at least I'll get the dealership I bought the car off to do it. My mechanic contacted Toyota today who told him not to procede with working on my car as it is likely that the head cylinder and block will also have to be replaced along with the gasket, and any warranty I might have will be voided if he starts removing things. The cost of this will be between 5 and 6K. I sent an e-mail to Toyota UK last night to see where I stood, but this is starting to become a nightmare as I'm only driving the car six weeks.

Yep! I thought you'd have to do that an all. You just can't skim the head on these cars. Like Ormi said... It has to be a new block ect.

Hope all goes well

you could skim the head / block

but then you may have to use an aftermarket thicker headgasket.

good luck finding one of those....no other companys make them yet

you will get....................

a new block

new shells

new thrust washers

new pistons

new rings

new head

new water pump

all gaskets

egr if needed

and two years warranty on the engine...

glad to hear you dont need to pay mate

[Mistermena]

Well it looks like I'll have to bring my car to a Toyota dealership in the UK after all, at least I'll get the dealership I bought the car off to do it. My mechanic contacted Toyota today who told him not to procede with working on my car as it is likely that the head cylinder and block will also have to be replaced along with the gasket, and any warranty I might have will be voided if he starts removing things. The cost of this will be between 5 and 6K. I sent an e-mail to Toyota UK last night to see where I stood, but this is starting to become a nightmare as I'm only driving the car six weeks.

Yep! I thought you'd have to do that an all. You just can't skim the head on these cars. Like Ormi said... It has to be a new block ect.

Hope all goes well

you could skim the head / block

but then you may have to use an aftermarket thicker headgasket.

good luck finding one of those....no other companys make them yet

you will get....................

a new block

new shells

new thrust washers

new pistons

new rings

new head

new water pump

all gaskets

egr if needed

and two years warranty on the engine...

glad to hear you dont need to pay mate

Hi Ormi,

Is it a 2 year warranty on the engine or just 1 year? The reason why I ask is when I wrote to Mr T they told me it was a 1 year warranty for the rebuild.

[ormi]

from what ive been told by people who have had it done its two years mate...

[Mistermena]

from what ive been told by people who have had it done its two years mate...

Nice one mate