Is it worth saving? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

mpmiller37 · 12-28-2010, 09:28 AM

97 Camry LE 100k miles with a blown head gasket, cost $1000 to fix. I bought this car used 7 months ago ($4400), Carfax was clean and it runs great. It's been leaking some oil and I had it checked out today. They say the leak is oil and coolant and the head gasket is blown. Coolant level hasn't been affected but I noticed the oil color looked a bit strange last time I changed it. So, fix it or sell it to Carmax? Any advice?

iovaykind · 12-28-2010, 09:42 AM

Is the body great? If it still looks good, I'd really consider fixing it. 100k miles is not much on the tranny so I'd just fix it if I still like the condition of the car.

mpmiller37 · 12-28-2010, 09:49 AM

Yes, the body and the interior is in good condition which is why I purchased a car that old to begin with. My kids (teens) drive the car. The only other problem I have with it is a "wobble". I had the tires balanced and was told the tires are pretty old. A tire causing most of the wobble was moved to the rear and it helped some, but the balancing did nothing. Maybe a lurking suspension problem?

***LynchburgCSI*** · 12-28-2010, 09:57 AM

If the exterior and interior is in good shape, i'd have the engine repaired. Especially at that milage. I'm surprised that the HG blew at such a low milage too. Do you know why it happened? Lack of maintaince?

mpmiller37 · 12-28-2010, 10:04 AM

Bought it Used this past summer, Carfax was clean but maintenance is unknown. I did see a sticker stating the timing belt was done at 60k and the condition of the car was good, so it looked as if it was taken care of.

carsrus · 12-28-2010, 10:10 AM

Its definately worth it. For the 1000$ your gonna get a lot of wear items replaced.

Timing belt, idler pulleys, waterpump and all oil seals should be in that price. They all need to be removed to change the head gasket. This alone is almost a 400$ job that needs to be done anyway.

***LynchburgCSI*** · 12-28-2010, 10:12 AM

If it was my car (and yes, i'm more obsessive than some) i'd change all the fluids and have EVERYTHING inspected now that you're at 100,000. It will give you a nice baseline so that you know FOR SURE what the maintaince history is from here on out. Water pump, thermostat, radiator flush, tranny flush and fill, differential flush and fill, ALL the seals... etc. Shouldn't be too bad since the engine needs to be worked over anyways. If taken car of, it's not too uncommon for these engines to last past 300,000.

I wonder if the HG blew due to overheating. Do you know? That might have caused some issues with the piston rings, IIRC.

mpmiller37 · 12-28-2010, 10:12 AM

I'll have to make sure he changes out all those parts. Suppose I'll ask for all the old parts for verification.

mpmiller37 · 12-28-2010, 10:15 AM

I have had no over-heating problems since I bought the car, and I gave it a LONG test drive before buying.

Champagne96Carmy5sfe · 01-01-2011, 09:05 AM

What were your symptoms of a blown head gasket? You only mentioned leaks, and I believe you said no overheating issues. is there white smoke coming out your tail pipe? Or is your oil or radiator fluid milkshake colored or frothy? My 2 cents says at 100K I'd be weary to blame leaks on a head gasket. Second opinion maybe?

Also, if the timing belt and water pump were replaced at 60K you may want to tell him that and consider saving the money in parts. It may even save you an hour's worth of labor charge for the water pump but the rest has to come off anyway. should add up to about 200 savings IMHO.

Your wobble sounds like a broken belt in one of your tires for these reasons: your tire balancing didn't fix your issue, and because the problem got better when you had the tires rotated. This tells me the problem must be with a wheel or tire because the relocation of them changed the feel of the problem. have the tires now on the rear spun on a balancing machine and have them checked for "lateral run out" or a broken belt. A feelable problem should be apparent to even a novice tire tech, but unless they're looking for it that big hood hides what he would need to see.

Hope this saves you money and frustration, Happy new year!

mpmiller37 · 01-01-2011, 09:04 PM

Only symptom for head gasket problem was leaks, but after a second mechanic pressure tested it, he said no HG problems, just a cam plug leaking and leaks from under the timing belt cover (seals). No white smoke, no overheating, actually it runs very smooth. I'm going to wait a while and possibly try the timing belt service myself in the summer (the DIY threads looked great).

I replaced the 4 tires and the wobble is gone, so I guess it was the tires. They had terrible wear just on the sides before I got it aligned about 6 months ago. At this point I'm going to keep driving it.

Happy New Year also !!!

***JohnGD*** · 01-01-2011, 09:50 PM

Maybe the problem was with the first mechanic? Where exactly was the oil leak? Valve cover gasket for example?

You might want to do an oil change just to get rid of what's in the crankcase right now unless you know it's not tempered with. And at the next oil change send a sample in for an oil analysis.

Check out their $25 standard oil analysis:
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free-test-kits.php
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/standard-analysis.php

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpmiller37

Only symptom for head gasket problem was leaks, but after a second mechanic pressure tested it, he said no HG problems, just a cam plug leaking and leaks from under the timing belt cover (seals). No white smoke, no overheating, actually it runs very smooth. I'm going to wait a while and possibly try the timing belt service myself in the summer (the DIY threads looked great).

I replaced the 4 tires and the wobble is gone, so I guess it was the tires. They had terrible wear just on the sides before I got it aligned about 6 months ago. At this point I'm going to keep driving it.

Happy New Year also !!!