Celica Vvti 140

[MickD1970]

Hi to eveyrone.

I have a 2001 Celica 140

I had it serviced about 3 months ago(by a mechanic friend) so thought everything is ok.

I did think it used quite a bit of oil but put that down to me doing a lot of miles to airports e.t.c

Last week i was traveling to Liverpool airport and heard this light tapping noise, sounded like how the cam followers used to go on the old escort cvh engies.

Anyway i parked up and checked my oil, to my horror there wasn`t a mark on my dipstick.

When i came back to the airport i drove my car very slowly to the next petrol station and put in about 2,5 litres to fully top it up.

When i started the engine up it seemed to have quieted it down and as i drove the problem seemed to dissapear.

However after about 20 miles the tapping came back and eventually i lost power and had to go in the hard shoulder.

The Battery is fairly new, but seemed to die very quickly the hazzards only flashe for about 15 mins???

Got towed back home by green flag, and their was a small amount of oil on his truck bed.

I looked in the engine compartment and on the bottom of the plastic tray under the engine was some small metal fragments.

I was told the conrod must have broke through the casing, which seems feasable.

But just checked the dipstick and there is still a full level of oil????

I retrived 1 of the fragments and it looks like it has a machined side on one side?? what could it be.

I`m in the process of looking for another engine but want 2 make sure i do need one before i spend £1000+

I have a mechanic coming around to take a look but he`s taking his time.

Thing is no low oil light came on to warn me or nothing.

The car has only done 86000 miles.

Is it true I might still be covered by Toyotas Warranty???

Regards

Mick.

[T600]

Ouch. Sorry to hear this!

Can you post a photo of the fragment you've collected?

From what you've said, sounds like big end may have gone BIG TIME!

For it to come through the casing it the rod has to become completely detached at one end or the other which is serious and probably irreparable.

Do a search for warranty issues on this engine; there have been lots of oil related problems with them, so you might find you're covered.

However, the fact that you had the service done by a mate, rather than at Toyota might make it difficult for you. Unless he's got paperwork that they approve of, they'll probably claim that you've not got a full service history; irrespective of the fact that this failure is probably nothing to do with that.

Good luck though, let us know how you get on.

[MickD1970]

Thanks for the quick reply m8.

Just phoned our local Toyota dealer and he said he was aware of the oil issue, but he could do nothing because it had not been serviced by Toyota :(

Here is a piece of the part i found at the bottom of the engine.

Anyone know of a reasonable priced recon or a place to find one.

Also could i fit the 190bhp engine to my car????

[T600]

I thought that might be their response. Might be worth pursing further, depending on what qualifications your mate has. I don't believe the car has to be serviced by Toyota for the regular warranty to apply, but it does have to be serviced by someone who is certified in some way, and who can prove that they did the right things to the right standards. Your mate might know more about that possibly? Of course in this case it's an extension to their standard 3 year warranty, so maybe they can specify whatever conditions they like?

Fitting the 190 engine is an interesting option, but is your car a 5 speed? You really need the 6 speed to get the best out of the 190 engine, so you'll have to do the gearbox too. Also the 190s had better brakes and other changes, so if you go that route, you're going to have a lot of extra expense, and even if you do every single thing necessary the insurance companies will still regard it as a modified 140 which will be more expensive to insure than a regular 190.

I think I'd stick with a re-con or nearly new 140 engine. But there's quite a lot of demand for them, so won't be cheap.

I'd try Fensport in the first instance; probably not the cheapest, but highly regarded so at least you should know you're buying something decent for your money.

Failing that try eBay, breakers, yellow pages etc.

HTH

[T600]

PS: Just seen your location; Try Toyauto too. I think their main speciality is the 3S-GTE engine from the earlier Celicas, but they can probably do other Toyota stuff.

Either give them a call, or else PM Dawesy. They're at Hucknall which isn't too far from you in the scheme of things.

[nkundalia]

Hi,

I believe the Gen 7 2001 model is a six speed anyway, how much of a difference would that make?

[MickD1970]

Mine is a 6 speed.

Thanks for the reply.

[Black Knight]

Sounds pretty teminal.

You'll have knackered the bearings on the original trip up to the airport/2.5 miles to the garage. Once they start to pick up it's just a matter of time until they seize and start to wear away. That's when the knocking start. Chances are the pistons started smacking against the cylinder head, cracked and then failed. The rod then flails around smashing the block apart. Adding the oil afterwards will have helped things but only marginally.

As for the servicing/warranty question. Having not had the dealer network do the servicing is a hinderance but not necissarily an end of the story. The law was changed a few years ago. THe work has to be done by someone who's competent and can prove it and uses parts of the same quality.

Therefore if your mate gave you a receipt and can prove the parts were changed with parts of sufficient quality then you still might be able to claim. Just not as easy as if Toyota had done all the work

[GTForbes]

as above, Toyota dont need to do the service to keep the warrenty intact, so long as it was done by someone competant.

as for swapping to a 190, you'd need to change far to much for it to be cost effective, also try TCB for an engine, do a search for their number as they are very helpfull