Head Gasket!

[cooper12000]

ok here is my tale of woe. I bought an advensis in mid feb of this year on an 08 plate although its the older t25 style. i have never been happy with the cooling system (see other posts) and took it to a garage on tues last week to get the coolent changed as i couldnt find the bleed screw and detest bleeding coolent systems as i always struggled with my rover. they did it for me and i kept an eye on the coolent lvl.

thursday i went to newcastle via essex all ok smooth run up the a1 didnt miss a beat no signs of overheating. friday coming back i stopped off in darlington to pick somthing up got back on the a1 and around leeds i saw the temp gague climbing above normal. i slowed down to 60 and it started to fall as soon as i hit a hill it started to climb so i pulled off the a1 and caled the rac.

eventualy they came out and topped up the coolent and rebled the system (rac man said there was no bleed screw) the heaters were blowing hot and the coolent lvl didnt drop he was there for about 30 mins. i had asked to be recovered i was told "i cant put u on the back of a truck for nothing i have bleed it ur fine to drive home just keep an eye on the gauge and the coolent lvl in case its a leak".

i then continued to drive back to kent everytime i stoped i checked the coolent lvl and it didnt appear to be dropping. no sign of mayo at any stage.

sat i called the garage and asked them to do a pressure check took it in today they have told me that they had to top the coolent up and as they were doing it with the engine running it was blowing straight back out and that the cylinder head is scrap.

Obviously the cylinderhead was ok when they changed the coolent so who is responcable. is it the gagrage that changed the coolent,.... is it toyota under thier warrenty ......the rac for letting me drive home or is it the garage i bought it from as i have a 3 month warrenty with them.

any advice appreciated

coop

[Heidfirst]

what engine?

if it's a diesel see http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=10987

[Parts-King]

You cannot blame the garage who changed the coolant or the RAC, you have never been happy with the cooling system, so cannot put it down to faulty workmanship which is what you suggest

If you bought the car less than 3 months ago then your contract is with them and you should take it up with them in the first instance. They might be able to liase with your local dealer to see if it is covered within the terms of the extended warranty. The bulletin attached above has been changed very many times since 2011 and is not as simple as going in and having the work carried out

Kingo

[cooper12000]

the reason i had the coolent changed was because none of the other service items had been done. as my warrenty didnt cover service items i assumed it would be a waste of time to travel best part of 100 miles each way to be told it wasnt covered. i didnt go back after they had chaanged the coolent because i was happy the issue was corrected. ie windscreen stoped misting and heater worked appropriatly.

i wasnt pointing the finger at anyone i was asking what peoples opions were as i usualy find when more than one person is involved everyone blames one another

coop

[Parts-King]

I was just advising of your rights, you seemed to want to blame someone or anyone, the garage, the RAC, the selling garage!

It is always dangerous to assume anything, the selling garage MIGHT have been able to diagnose a head gasket starting to go, had they been given the opportunity. As it stands, your best course of action is to get the problem IN WRITING to the selling garage ASAP and ask what they propose to do about it. They might be able to liaise with the local Toyota dealer to see if it is covered on the extended warranty, which is subject to a number of tests, service history etc The person to blame IS the selling garage at this moment in time as you have legal rights with them, nobody else

Kingo

[jumbojake]

Not sure you can blame anyone, just a head gasket failure... not as common as it used to be, but it happens.... for some reason people have hang-ups when they fail on Toyota's... not sure why... I've had head-gasket failures on 3 previous cars (all Euro machines)... luck of the draw mostly.

Not sure anyone can say a head is 'scrap' ... you'd need to open it up before you can make that diagnosis. the only thing you can check 'in-situ' is for worn piston rings and/or valvle guides... waterleak could be gasket or cracked head... have to open it first ... sometimes have to do the 'petrol & talcum power' test to find cracks (I had to once for an old Astra ....)

I'd be more cautious about finding a garage to do the repairs.... claiming a scrap head too early makes me worry they are looking for more ££££ than just a gasket and few hours labour....

[Heidfirst]

Not sure you can blame anyone, just a head gasket failure... not as common as it used to be, but it happens.... for some reason people have hang-ups when they fail on Toyota's... not sure why...

because on these engines it's caused by "carbon stamping" & the fix isn't a simple replacement gasket - it's about £6k to fix!

It's an alloy head that Toyota says can't be skimmed, there can be damage due to gasket "shuffle" etc.

That's why Toyota have an extended warranty programme for the issue - they acknowledge the problem.

[cooper12000]

sorry i sould of said its a desil.............. i understood that the head couldnt be skimmed etc. the garage that diagnosed it has been very helpfull it was somone from toyota that said it needed a new engine. as the coolent was blowing back out the expanstion tank as they were trying to fill it i would say there is a serious issue.

coop