Rav4 Problems On Holiday

[jonddd]

At the beginning of our summer holidays in France, as we stopped at a campsite near Orleans I decided to check the oil level, but on opening the bonnet I was surprised to see pink coolant splattered all over the side of the engine compartment and the coolant level below minimum. The car is still under the extended warranty that I had taken out when it was 3 years old and which my wife said was a complete waste of money as Toyotas never break down. I called the Toyota assistance helpline and within an hour a Europ assistance truck appeared and the mechanic said it looked like the head gasket had gone. We went for a short but hard drive to heat up the motor. No more fluid escaped and the hoses didn’t get hard so, topping up the coolant level, the mechanic said that the problem didn’t look too serious and advised us to carry on. Driving gently we continued to the South of France, adding overall about a litre of coolant.

Once at our campsite I was able to take the car to the main Toyota agent in Toulon. This is a huge business with every model of new Toyota on display in the showroom. However, being short of staff they weren’t particularly helpful to start with, but eventually diagnosed a blown head gasket and said that the car shouldn’t be driven any further. They also told me that the extended warranty wouldn’t work and that I would have to pay for the repair and claim the cost back once we got home. We were completely stuck and obviously couldn’t drive home. If we were repatriated by Toyota assistance that was the end of the holiday before it even started. We eventually agreed to wait the 3 weeks they said they needed before they could get round to starting work. The whole business cast a shadow over the holiday and cost us as we had to stay at an expensive campsite much longer than expected. However the story does have a happy ending...

3 weeks later when we went to collect the car after the 4 days they needed it in the workshop we were in for a pleasant surprise. They announced that there would be no charge as Toyota had agreed to cover all the costs, but the even bigger surprise was that, as the vehicle is on a Toyota list of motors that have excessive oil consumption, they had replaced the complete engine block. Under the bonnet it looks like a brand new car and the oil was so clean I needed to lay the dipstick on a piece of kitchen towel to see where the level was. They did explain about running it in, but the workshop manager said that he had managed to get 200kph on the local motorway that morning so he was satisfied it was running OK! (I think he wanted to drive a RH drive car). We just got a sort of invoice from the dealer listing coolant, oil, a ‘joint kit’ which I assume is a cylinder head gasket and a ‘moteur’ all with the relevant Toyota part numbers. They assured us all the details were now on the Toyota worldwide computer so that our local dealer could see what had been done. I would also have to reschedule the servicing. In any case the car runs well and there is no further sign of coolant leaking.

This was not some backstreet French garage but the classy main Toyota agents for a large city, so I suppose everything is properly sorted.

I still can’t believe it though!

Jon

[Davrav]

At the beginning of our summer holidays in France, as we stopped at a campsite near Orleans I decided to check the oil level, but on opening the bonnet I was surprised to see pink coolant splattered all over the side of the engine compartment and the coolant level below minimum. The car is still under the extended warranty that I had taken out when it was 3 years old and which my wife said was a complete waste of money as Toyotas never break down. I called the Toyota assistance helpline and within an hour a Europ assistance truck appeared and the mechanic said it looked like the head gasket had gone. We went for a short but hard drive to heat up the motor. No more fluid escaped and the hoses didn’t get hard so, topping up the coolant level, the mechanic said that the problem didn’t look too serious and advised us to carry on. Driving gently we continued to the South of France, adding overall about a litre of coolant.

Once at our campsite I was able to take the car to the main Toyota agent in Toulon. This is a huge business with every model of new Toyota on display in the showroom. However, being short of staff they weren’t particularly helpful to start with, but eventually diagnosed a blown head gasket and said that the car shouldn’t be driven any further. They also told me that the extended warranty wouldn’t work and that I would have to pay for the repair and claim the cost back once we got home. We were completely stuck and obviously couldn’t drive home. If we were repatriated by Toyota assistance that was the end of the holiday before it even started. We eventually agreed to wait the 3 weeks they said they needed before they could get round to starting work. The whole business cast a shadow over the holiday and cost us as we had to stay at an expensive campsite much longer than expected. However the story does have a happy ending...

3 weeks later when we went to collect the car after the 4 days they needed it in the workshop we were in for a pleasant surprise. They announced that there would be no charge as Toyota had agreed to cover all the costs, but the even bigger surprise was that, as the vehicle is on a Toyota list of motors that have excessive oil consumption, they had replaced the complete engine block. Under the bonnet it looks like a brand new car and the oil was so clean I needed to lay the dipstick on a piece of kitchen towel to see where the level was. They did explain about running it in, but the workshop manager said that he had managed to get 200kph on the local motorway that morning so he was satisfied it was running OK! (I think he wanted to drive a RH drive car). We just got a sort of invoice from the dealer listing coolant, oil, a ‘joint kit’ which I assume is a cylinder head gasket and a ‘moteur’ all with the relevant Toyota part numbers. They assured us all the details were now on the Toyota worldwide computer so that our local dealer could see what had been done. I would also have to reschedule the servicing. In any case the car runs well and there is no further sign of coolant leaking.

This was not some backstreet French garage but the classy main Toyota agents for a large city, so I suppose everything is properly sorted.

I still can’t believe it though!

Jon

Another bouquet for Toyota

If my engine goes wotsits up can I get a holiday in the south of France too

[harleymlb]

Glad they managed to sort your car out. I had the same problem with mine when we were down south of Perpignan on the Med.

I have the Rav 4 T180 model and I could occasionally smell coolant when we had the A/C on when in traffic.

I popped the bonnet and could see the left side of engine bay(looking from front) covered in antifreeze.

I filled it up with water as it was 35 degrees outside so no worries of freezing up! I was towing a 1.5 ton caravan so we just carried on driving around and eventually returned back to the UK with no further problems.

I took it to my local dealer Steven Eagell (Aylesbury)and they also diagnosed the head gasket gone.

So after 6 weeks my new engine has arrived and it will be going into the dealer this Monday for a NEW ENGINE!

I will keep you posted to how it all goes.

[CharlieFarlie]

Jon. This is a Very well known issue here in the UK and one of the most debated topics here on the Forum !!

I had the Engine assembly,EGR valve,Injectors,Cat converter , Water pump, And a few other things replaced under warranty by Toyota.

Only thing I had to pay for was the clutch assembly . I only paid the parts for this to be done as it all had to come apart anyway..

Did They not offer You the chance to get this done ??

Wee Charlie.

[CharlieFarlie]

Glad they managed to sort your car out. I had the same problem with mine when we were down south of Perpignan on the Med.

I have the Rav 4 T180 model and I could occasionally smell coolant when we had the A/C on when in traffic.

I popped the bonnet and could see the left side of engine bay(looking from front) covered in antifreeze.

I filled it up with water as it was 35 degrees outside so no worries of freezing up! I was towing a 1.5 ton caravan so we just carried on driving around and eventually returned back to the UK with no further problems.

I took it to my local dealer Steven Eagell (Aylesbury)and they also diagnosed the head gasket gone.

So after 6 weeks my new engine has arrived and it will be going into the dealer this Monday for a NEW ENGINE!

I will keep you posted to how it all goes.

Mate as in the post above. Consider paying the bit extra for a new clutch assembly... My car now changes gear like never before and I have the benefit of knowing a new clutch will not be needed for a very long time ......

Its is an 11 hour labour charge if the clutch were to fail later on !!

Wee Charlie.

[Guest]

Just a thought, do you have to inform DVLA of an engine change and the new serial number?

Gus

[CharlieFarlie]

Just a thought, do you have to inform DVLA of an engine change and the new serial number?

Gus

Gus. Yes Mate You do.. The Toyota Dealer will give You a sheet of paper confirming that the engine has been changed. This will / should have the new engine number on it. It is all but impossible to find and see the engine number when under the bonnet as its well and truly hidden away !!

Wee Charlie.