My mom's Camry V6 has less than 110k on the clock. The head gaskets and heads have now been replaced TWICE! 1st occurrence was 3/2004 with 77k. Damage consisted of bad head gaskets, replace heads, valve job. $3000+ repairs made by local Toyota dealership. The repairs took 17 days. They failed to diagnose that the "new" radiator cap was defective which resulted in a return trip for a new radiator 3 days later (free of charge). *Note car never overheated or showed any signs that anything was wrong before head gasket failure.

Toyota dealership also failed to check a separate complaint of the "BRAKE" warning lamp staying on and adjusted the parking brake instead of performing a complete brake system check. The vehcile was towed back to Toyota dealership because of massive fluid leak in brake system resulting in loss of brakes. (she almost creamed a group of kids on their way to school one morning.) This happened less than a week after getting the car back from radiator problem. She complained to BBB and threatened Toyota dealership with local news "consumer reporters" coming to investigate if they didn't fix everything free of charge and performing a "Bumper to Bumper" inspection before releasing the vehicle back to her. 3 mechanics lost their jobs as a result of their neglegence.

2nd occurrence happened last Sunday. Mom drove the Camry around town and came back out several hours later to find big coolant puddle under the car. * Again, the car never overheated or showed any signs that anything was wrong. ** Also note that the car was repaired 2 weeks prior due to leaking water pump. 120k service was performed early. Water pump replaced, some internal bearings were replaced, timing belt replaced, spark plug, wires, and other parts required by this service interval. Car has been serviced by a well trusted and very honest mechanic since 2004 incident.

My mom states that the car has never overheated to a point where the TEMP guage went into the "H". She's very good at watching guages from all the American made cars she drove before the Camry.

Is this issue common with the 3.0 V6?

 

What model of V6? There might have been more then one for this year of car.

1MZ-FE or 3VZ-FE.

The 3VZ-FE might have had a head gasket issue from design of the gasket which the dealer appears to have fixed under warranty. The problem could cause the head gasket to blow even if the engine was not overheated. The repairs should have corrected the problem.

The coolant system might just have a leak. If the temp never got into the red the head gaskets may be OK.

Inspect the coolant system for leaks. Don't operate the engine without coolant or the head gaskets can blow.

Find another shop to work on the car.

The 3VZ-FE was a very good engine, perhaps in some ways better then the 1MZ-FE.

 

hos anyone checked the thermostat? and to be sure the temp sensor is working properly?