You may know that Toyota has a standing recall on Camry hybrids which consume excessive amount of oil (not sure if it applies to non-hybrid models). Last time I had an oil change, the dealership sealed the oil cap and dipstick, and asked me to return after 1200 miles to check the oil level. If they find that too much oil was lost – which they think it will, - the dealership will rebuild my engine for free.


They are offering additional services, which should cost much less than usual because the engine will be taken apart anyway. These services are: change spark plugs (certainly), change water pump (not needed, did it 6 months ago), and change valve seals. That last one is $550; dealership quotes the standalone price is $2300. They say not bother with valve seals if I keep the car for another year or less, but to get it done if I plan to have it for years to come. I googled valve seals, and it makes no sense – bad valve seals are what causes oil to leak, so shouldn’t “excessive oil consumption job” involve valve seals as a matter of course?


Can someone explain to me what I am not understanding here, and should I spend $550 on valve seals?

 

The same model engine is used in the non-hybrid and hybrid Camry model.

What year of car and how many miles on it?

When were the plugs list changed?

Are you going to keep the car and if so for how long?

The cause of the excess oil consumption is not valve stem seals but piston design. The pistons need to be replaced.

Leaking seals will cause some oil consumption but typically not much. The main issue with leaking seals is oil smoke at the tail pipe upon cold engine start up which gets worse over time. The oil burning can cause emissions exhaust converter failure over time.

The service bulletin outlining repairing the oil consumption issue lists what parts are to be inspected, changed, etc. Valve stem seals are not on the list. If a part is not on the list, the dealer does not get paid for that warranty repair and will not do it unless charging the owner.

The dealer appears to be trying to leverage additional repairs to recoup $$ while doing you a favor.

Since the engine is apart most of the proposed repairs are now much easier. However spark plug replacement is easy engine together or apart. While even at $500 the dealer should make some profit on doing the valve stem replacement.

Replacing valve stem seals can be expensive as the cylinder head typically is removed in the process. Thus the $2300 quote.

The dealer is correct in if you are going to sell the car to not bother with changing the seals. If you plan to keep the car then suggest getting the repair done.

 

The car is 2008, with 125 thousand miles, and yes, I plan to keep it for as long as possible. I am not sure when the plugs were last changed. There is no smoke out of tail pipe as far as I can tell.

 

If keeping the car then suggest replacing the valve stem seals. Do understand if your not happy about this.

If the car was serviced at the dealer, plugs are typically changed at 80 or 100K miles. The owners manual will have the schedule.