Hello everyone. Yesterday my wife and I learned that the head gasket blew on our 2004 Camry which resulted in the engine being destroyed.

Here's the story: My wife was driving the car and said the heat was not working. The vents would still blow air but only cold air. On her way home from work the engine temp gauge was in the red. She called our repair shop and they said she could bring it in right away, so we did.

Later last night they called and said the head gasket blew and instead of the fluids leaking externally they leaked internally mixing the oil and water which destroyed the engine. (I'm not quite sure on all the details yet, but that's basically what I do know.)

Is this a common problem?! Our car has only 70k miles on it. We've only had it for 2.5 years so it's very disappointing that we need to replace the engine already (or at all really).

We're calling the dealer to see if we have any kind of warranty for this (highly doubt).

Anybody have any insight to this problem or similar experience?

Thanks,

David

 

seems there are issues with the headbolts pulling out of the aluminum block and than the head gasket lets loose. there is a bit of info on the internet about it. cars do fail and 6yrs and 70k miles is not new but certainly not worn out. the fact that there is a rash of other cars with similar problems would point to an issue with that particular motor. whether the dealer/toyota is going to offer any help is another matter.

 

Our 2004 Camry has also been a frustrating disappointment! We had an engine failure also as the bolts were overtorqued and stripped and wouldn't allow it to hold oil. After 6 months we finally found a good engine price and shipped it up here to Alaska and now it is installed but wont work because of electrical issues. Apparently, because it was originally in California and had more rigid emissions, the electrical sensors are not compatible with the new engine! We are still waiting to get a the car running again.

 

There is a long string of posts at this website on head bolt issues and repairs for this engine.

You might be able to swap parts over from the old engine to new to work around the sensor issue.

 

Thanks, that's what the mechanic found out from Toyota. Sensors and exhaust manifold and everything have to be transferred to the newer engine.

Good news is that we will get a good mileage car again bad news is the labor cost just went up again.

 

I sure it will get back in no time since everything got fix and replaced.

 

Just got the bad news . . . $3,035.00 for the labor
(The engine was only $2,000.)

 

That's a lot of money!

 

My friend had timing bits break on his 98 ford contour. They put in a used motor. Took 3 weeks at dealer!! Gave car to niece and 2 yrs later the cam sprockets blew again and they fixed it, AGAIN!