Hello - Have a Camry with ~110,000 miles on the V6 engine. The car has been very dependable. Just had the car in on Saturday afternoon at the dealer for a L-O-F, tire rotation, etc.

Noticed this evening when I got home an oil smell when I got out of the car. Went back out and there was a large puddle of oil under the car. Definitely oil. Checked the dipstick and there was still a little bit of oil showing on the dipstick.

Will call AAA tomorrow and have it towed to the dealer. Of course, the car is out of warranty.

 

Heard back from service department. The "oil feed tube" burst. The part number to replace the tube is 15707-31030 and the cover part number is 15707-31021. There are also two gaskets that need to be replaced. There is a 2005 TSB for the Avalon (EG064-05) that has very similar part numbers and part names.

Total cost including to degrease the engine is $348. I checked where I parked yesterday afternoon at work and there was no oil leak. One the way home today, I will check where I got gasoline and see if there is a leak. The Check Engine light never went on in the vehicle, but we'll see once they replace the tube how things run.

 

Got the car back. Service advisor said that this is the first 2007 V6 Camry they have seen with this problem. I asked how much oil I the car was down, but the tech who worked on the car was not working today. As noted prior, the Check Engine light did not come on, nor did the Oil Pressure light come on. The car test drive good - no smoking from the exhaust, nor is there any engine knock, ping or other noise. Am hoping I dodged a bullet on this one.

 

The engine may be OK. Some owners with this problem have had the engine start to make noises for lack of oil.

This leak appears to be becoming more of a problem as time goes by. Your repair costs are OK typically the dealer wants over $700.

 

Wow, I'm impressed with all the reply's and surprised how common the problem is; shocked that their was a TSB on the issue~Thanks everyone for the info! Sorry, I've not popped in sooner to check in.

Anyway, my issue is still on-going and if not for the excellent dealer service, it would be the worst case scenario yet!

Bad news:
Valve Tapping after VVT Oil-Line replaced
Few Valves Replaced
More Valve Tap
Total Valve Train Replaced
Sporadic check-Engine Light warnings/running very rough
Numerous test drives by dealer (hard to duplicate event)
Engine threw a rod while Toyota Tech was performing final test drive
Replaced engine
Transfer case problems
Currently in shop~on/off for 6 months

Good news:
My dealer has excellent customer service
No charge for any repairs
Loaner-car provided at every event
Toyota Motor Company seems concerned and is now involved

Great Forum and I'll check back soon.

Take care,

Prag

 

VVT Line Ruptured. Lost all Oil. Oil light never went on. Engine damaged, needs to br rebuilt. Dealer wnts between $5,000 and $6,000. Car has over 60,000 and Toyota says they will not pay for the damage. Anyone gone to mediation over this with Toyota. If I pay for it, can I go to mediation to try to recoup my money?

 

You're warranty is legitimately expired. How do you feel you should be recouped?

JJ

 

Toyota has admitted it has a defective part, so they have extended the warrenty to 60,000 which is arbitrary. It is not the same thing as a part which is expected to wear out in time. If the engine had frozen and resulted in an accident I would have had a legitimate legal case aganst Toyota, even after the warrenty period. (I would not if the accident was a result of something wearing out due to normal wear and tear). Even though no accident resulted, Toyta is still responsable for the defective part. Plus the oil light never went on, I had no warning that I was losing oil. I expect Toyota to pay in full to fix the car.

 

We have a 2007 XLS Camry 2.4L, 5 speed auto, and am either burning or loosing 2-3 quarts of oil for each 5000 miles. We have 78K miles on the vehicle. 90% are highway mileage.

We have the 100,000 mile warranty as well.

The dealer tells me this is normal, is in spec and is common, although we have never had this problem before with any of our previous five Toyota's.

We have also been informed that burning 1/2 a quart of oil per 1200 miles is normal, but the dealer will not show me the specifications on this.

If you do the quick math, that is 2-3 quarts between each 5000 mile check-up.

We have been through the local dealer's oil consumption test this afternoon.

Please send me links or documents to the oil consumption specifications for this vehicle, what is typical and what is out-of-spec.

Please advise-

Landing, NJ

 

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Did Toyota pay for the repairs ?
This issue is all over the Internet and affects Camrys, Avalons, Rav4, Siennas - all vehicles with the 3.5L V6 engine with build dates before April 2008 when they subtituted an all metal oil line for the one with the rubber hose.

Toyota is paying for new engines on a lot of cars under warranty. Mine was built Febrary 2009 and the dealer confirmed I have the rubber hose and it needs to be replaced ---------- but at a cost of $275 since there is no TSB or recall notice. They will replace it free however if I wait until the line fails - and they will buy me a new engine if it seizes under while under warranty!!!!!!!!!! How is that for logical thinking?

For peace of mind, I plan to pay the $275 if there is no TSB or recall within 6 months - my car only has 12,000 miles on it and the oil line usually ruptures anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 miles. They will refund my money if there is a recall.

I plan to email toyota to ask for an explanation of why no recall with links to the many many sites which I have bookmarked on the problem such as:

Forums like this one, Rav4owners, Toyotanation, etc.,
Websites such as carcompaints.com and ConsumerReports.com., and
Customer review sites like Edmunds.com

There are like thousands of individual posts all over the net. The Rav4 owners club alone has 400 posts. Many are concerned that damage has been done to their engines that will show up after the warranty period since they drove their cars with almost no oil left in the crankcase.

If toyota has not picked up your tab, do you plan a lawsuit? This is ripe for a class action - more so than the sludge issue on the 1997 to 2001 models because the sludge damage people could never seem to provide receipts for oil regular changes.