Head Gasket

[Tow Mater]

Hi all

Just wondered if any other Avensis 2.2 D4D owners have over heating and coolant loss problems.

As I metioned in an earlier thread, 5 months ago mine blew a head gasket, I loyally took it back to the main dealer were they took 2 weeks to confirm it was the head gasket ( even though I'd already told them) 1 week to change it, 2 more weeks to change it again as i then leaked externally aswell, then a further 5 weeks to change it again as they now had made it leak oil.

Oh yes and they did charge me for all three sets of gaskets.

Now guess what?

Yes!

It's blown it again

Guess I've got a few more weeks in an Aygo

[cmia]

FIRST

I have heard of it...!

Please start to make full case history ...

sounds like block/head maybe now warapped

[igormus]

Hi all

Just wondered if any other Avensis 2.2 D4D owners have over heating and coolant loss problems.

As I metioned in an earlier thread, 5 months ago mine blew a head gasket, I loyally took it back to the main dealer were they took 2 weeks to confirm it was the head gasket ( even though I'd already told them) 1 week to change it, 2 more weeks to change it again as i then leaked externally aswell, then a further 5 weeks to change it again as they now had made it leak oil.

Oh yes and they did charge me for all three sets of gaskets.

Now guess what?

Yes!

It's blown it again

Guess I've got a few more weeks in an Aygo

hi mate

in case your cylinder head has been overheated resulting its joining surface is not paralleled to a cyl block ---- you can change gaskets plenty times without success. one had to check the cyl head first by means of simply mounting it withour gasket and tightening; to check with gaps by means of feeler gauge whether they are available or not (normally you can not insert a feeler gauge between head and block if the bottom edge is mounted well). it is really abnormal that you have been charged to cover all "trial" gaskets for your account. it is a rough fault of this garage specialists if they simply change gaskets. you could presume it and ask for refunding (!). these are normal rules to find a REAZON but not a consequence as gaskets changing.

cheers/igor

[Tow Mater]

Hi guys

Car was booked in, last monday, for the garage to do an "assesment", but of course they forgot to book a courtesy car and i use the for my job.

So it's now booked in again for 31st March.

I wonder what BS they are going to come up with this time.

Igor

Yes i think you are right it's either a warped head or maybe cracked, although they did tell me they had pressure tested the head. :(

Cheers

Mator

[igormus]

Hi guys

Car was booked in, last monday, for the garage to do an "assesment", but of course they forgot to book a courtesy car and i use the for my job.

So it's now booked in again for 31st March.

I wonder what BS they are going to come up with this time.

Igor

Yes i think you are right it's either a warped head or maybe cracked, although they did tell me they had pressure tested the head. :(

Cheers

Mator

hi Mator

they have only hydraulically tested the cyl cover cooling area, but the problem is another and they ignored to locate it-- in case you'll engage a surveyor then he will prove their rough mistake. they must to refund you + compensation for suffering and lack of steering wheel each day :D

good luck

[Tow Mater]

Hi guys

Car was booked in, last monday, for the garage to do an "assesment", but of course they forgot to book a courtesy car and i use the for my job.

So it's now booked in again for 31st March.

I wonder what BS they are going to come up with this time.

The stories carry on

The garage rang me Friday to tell me that one of thier machanics has left, and that they have to postpone my car's job until 10th of april.

Have you ever felt that you being given the run around?

Mator

[igormus]

Hi guys

Car was booked in, last monday, for the garage to do an "assesment", but of course they forgot to book a courtesy car and i use the for my job.

So it's now booked in again for 31st March.

I wonder what BS they are going to come up with this time.

The stories carry on

The garage rang me Friday to tell me that one of thier machanics has left, and that they have to postpone my car's job until 10th of april.

Have you ever felt that you being given the run around?

Mator

hello

this will forever unless they feel you can fight with them.

when 10 days will be gone -- th e will again arrange another version and you will again to wait.

normally i could engage a criminal surveyor via police to protect your right as client.

you should not be tolerant and wait another strory from their side.

good luck/igor

[Beagh1958]

Tow Mater.

In Toyota's defence changing head gasket on D4D is a pig of a job. Just removing exhaust emission coolant unit & then removing head with Turbo ( Turbo locks head to exhaust when all bolts removed ) loosened is a nasty nasty job.

Now against Toyota. They should have carried out various checks before removing head. For example cylinder leakage test & coolant pressure test amongst some. Sounds like they let the trainee mechanics loose on your car.

Your not paying Toyota to guess what problem is, that's why mechanics go on courses.

Just out of interest you get 6.1 hrs to change head gasket. All other above tests are at extra cost.

Good luck to you. I know what i would be saying to Toyota!!!!!!

[Tow Mater]

So the car went in as planned, the next day they rang me to say that I could collect my car as it was a split pipe by the turbo and they had replaced it. :D

I didn't even make it home 12miles before it boiled.

It went back, one week later on the thursday they rang and said it was a split thermostat housing and they replaced it. :D

They rang again Friday it boiled again.

How many times do I have to tell them its the head gasket again bevause i think the head is warped :(

[igormus]

So the car went in as planned, the next day they rang me to say that I could collect my car as it was a split pipe by the turbo and they had replaced it. :D

I didn't even make it home 12miles before it boiled.

It went back, one week later on the thursday they rang and said it was a split thermostat housing and they replaced it. :D

They rang again Friday it boiled again.

How many times do I have to tell them its the head gasket again bevause i think the head is warped :(

hi

i winna laugh.

cheers

[Aamir2892]

Yh i agree garages do ***** you off. LOL love the faces by each sentence.

[Tow Mater]

Hi Guys

When in to the garage today, and was told, " It's the radiator, definatly the radiator. We've checked it, and it's only 30% efficient."

Have you checked the head I said. "Oh no it's the radiator. You'll have it back by Friday

I've heard that before.

[Tow Mater]

Well it's working, :D

It took nearly two weeks to change the radiator, but it worked .

I really did think it was the head but I stand corrected.

Still inb the last 12 months, the car has been off the road for a mere 15 weeks noy bad huh!

[moonstone mart]

Hi all

Just wondered if any other Avensis 2.2 D4D owners have over heating and coolant loss problems.

As I metioned in an earlier thread, 5 months ago mine blew a head gasket, I loyally took it back to the main dealer were they took 2 weeks to confirm it was the head gasket ( even though I'd already told them) 1 week to change it, 2 more weeks to change it again as i then leaked externally aswell, then a further 5 weeks to change it again as they now had made it leak oil.

Oh yes and they did charge me for all three sets of gaskets.

Now guess what?

Yes!

It's blown it again

Guess I've got a few more weeks in an Aygo

How can they charge you for the gaskets? With it being a 2.2D isnt it still in warranty or have you done alot of miles?

Mart.

[moonstone mart]

Tow Mater.

In Toyota's defence changing head gasket on D4D is a pig of a job. Just removing exhaust emission coolant unit & then removing head with Turbo ( Turbo locks head to exhaust when all bolts removed ) loosened is a nasty nasty job.

Now against Toyota. They should have carried out various checks before removing head. For example cylinder leakage test & coolant pressure test amongst some. Sounds like they let the trainee mechanics loose on your car.

Your not paying Toyota to guess what problem is, that's why mechanics go on courses.

Just out of interest you get 6.1 hrs to change head gasket. All other above tests are at extra cost.

Good luck to you. I know what i would be saying to Toyota!!!!!!

if its the new 2.2D as i think it is -you get alot more than 6.1 for the headgasket

its an engine out job - doen plenty at work due to the oil consumption probs.

Mart.

[Goldwinger]

Just joined the forum as my 2.2 D4D has just blown it's head gasket and I was searching for some info.

The car is 2 1/2 years old and done 84,000 miles. Not had a single problem to date which was looking really good, then this happened. Needless to say not impressed. I'm told it will be around £1,200 + vat and tak 2 or 3 days (approx 13 hours of actual labour)

My main concern is why this would have blown in the first place. Is this a known fault with the D4D engine?

Just as a side issue the problem showed itself at first by the engine management limiting the revs, so I had loss of power. It was doing this due to overheating which wasn't noticed at first, as the drop in revs corrected it. What seemed strange is that when plugged in to the doiagnostic machine there was no record of a fault for overheating, and therefore it took a while to diagnose the problem, and all that time of course it could have been doing more damage.

[Goldwinger]

Ok, as an update to my post yesteday, the workshop now have the head off and found a crack in it :( The estimate just went from £1200 to £4000 !!! Two of the injectors can't be removed due to the overheat.

What really pisses me off is that as far as I can see the engine management system has made this situation worse. Rather than detect an overheat and go in to "limp" mode or throw up a warning light, it does none of that. It simply limits the revs, allows the engine to cool, and then over heat again, and again, and again....... It's a crap system. surely there should be something in the systems history log if it had to limit the revs ????

Ok, someone will no doubt say that I should have seen the temp guage, but when you have loss of power and dropping revs the thing you will be looking at is the rev counter. Also the temp guage then drops back quite quickly, so if you don't see it strainght away you miss it.

One thing is for sure, I won't be buying anther Toyots if this is how the engine management works.

[LesR]

Head gasket problems seem to be an increasing occurrence on the 2.2 D4D. I've a 55 plate 2.2 D4D T-Spirit on which the head gasket has failed four, YES FOUR, times!

Sept 07 Head gasket failed and was also jumping out of fifth gear; car in garage for about 4 weeks. Car was 2 years old and had covered about 48k miles.

Dec 07/ Jan 08 Head gasket failed again at about 58k miles; water pump also replaced despite there being no signs of water leakage. Car in garage about 4 weeks.

Mar 08 Head gasket failed at about 68k miles; attributed to faulty head gasket fitted last time. Car in garage for another four weeks.

Jun 08 Head gasket failed yet again at about 74k miles; now the difficulty starts!

Garage says the car is out of warranty; head gasket has failed because the liner has dropped slightly down the cylinder. They want £3,000 to fix it after a goodwill gesture from Toyota GB.

I'm arguing that the liner was probably the cause of the previous gasket failures and if the dealer had correctly diagnosed the fault, it would have been fixed under warranty.

This has now dragged on for more than four weeks with no progress and all Toyota can say is that the vehicle is out of warranty so it's not their problem.

They don't do what they say they will and don't reply to telephone calls (why is it that the person you need to speak to is never available?).

Anyone else with similar issues?

It all makes rather a mockery of the Toyota philosophy of "Customer first"!

[Goldwinger]

There is clearly something very wrong for a head gasket to fail 4 times on any car, regardless of mileage.

I was quoted by the main delaer £1,200 inc vat to do the head gasket, that went to £4,000 when it turned out to be a cracked head. They have since applied some "goodwill discount" and dropped it to £3,000 inc vat. However i think this is because I could kick up more about it give that the engine management systems seems to have an inherrent flaw in it letting the engine continuously overheat with no warning lights and no record logged on the system .

Your quote of £3,000 just for the gasket is very high, does it include other works or parts ? On mine it includes 2 new injectors as the old 2 can be removed due to the heat damage !

[Tow Mater]

Hi Goldwinger and LesR,

You wouldn't think it from this forum, but the more I talk to people about my car head faults, the more horror stories I hear.

The car blew yet another head gasket two months ago, had it fixed, two weeks later the cam chain broke and abliterated the top end of the engine.

Still once the top end, includining head was replaced, the water level stays constant and no overheating, and it only cost £5,000 to fix.

[irishjay]

car going in 2moro for a head gasket test after lots of coolant fills this has done wonders for my confidence lol only have the car since sept 10 and need new injectors and now head gasket check woohoo

[irishjay]

yes it is my cars head gasket , its gone ,,, gonna take a week to put in they said , i asked him was the new head gasket under warranty , the dealer said that my new head gasket is under warranty for a year unlimited mileage !!! so why did you guys have all the hassle??????????/

[taximark]

yes it is my cars head gasket , its gone ,,, gonna take a week to put in they said , i asked him was the new head gasket under warranty , the dealer said that my new head gasket is under warranty for a year unlimited mileage !!! so why did you guys have all the hassle??????????/

Thank god i didn't buy an Avensis, i really wanted to stick with Toyota but sadly they have become very unreliable cars from feedback in the taxi trade.

They will have to improve before customers like me return.

[irishjay]

fellow taximan here mate ,, never again and i still have 150k of motoring to do as my car only has 50k on it !! thats if i dont sell it after year or it out first ,, i wouldnt mind if they were niggly problems but problems that cost say 2 grand every time ,,ermm pass ,, if it wasnt for this forum advising me of the common faults in my model id be sunk

[taximark]

fellow taximan here mate ,, never again and i still have 150k of motoring to do as my car only has 50k on it !! thats if i dont sell it after year or it out first ,, i wouldnt mind if they were niggly problems but problems that cost say 2 grand every time ,,ermm pass ,, if it wasnt for this forum advising me of the common faults in my model id be sunk

I sympathise with you mate, most people in our trade look for Toyota's as the car to go for but the amount of problems people had with the mk 2 then the new shape mk 3 was scary.

It could of been over looked had it been a niggly thing like you say, however it has been things like the fly wheel shattering, head gaskets blowing (needing the engine out) oil leaks galore, all major problems.

Like i said if they repair all the problems people will return.