Cracked cylinder gasket - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

just_toyota · 11-18-2011, 11:09 AM

Bought my 1996 Camry DX new, and I will dearly miss it after all this years.

A few years ago I noticed rust on my number 1 spark plug but paid no attention to it. Then this year (odometer reading 140K miles), I changed the CV boots, got new tires, and decided to change the radiator hoses. I should have changed the hoses first before spending on CV boots and tires.

It all went down hill after I changed the hoses. I always thought that my coolant was red (changed it at 60K miles) so I never paid too much attention to it. Trying to be cheap, I mixed the coolant with the pre-mixed yellow crap ---- big mistake on my part. In a few days the coolant started to cake. It was a combination of putting the pre-mixed crap, old coolant, rust, and something else that I did not want to acknowledge. Decided to put another band aid solution and see if the problem would go away, thus I changed the radiator (and thermostat --- which I found it was installed backwards --- the guys who did my timing belt at 60K), flushed the system like 3 or 4 times, and rust would still appear in the system. Did some homework and flushed the system with a cleaner. Ran the cleaner for almost a week and my engine light came on, my engine had rough idle and the temperature gauge started to fluctuated.

Took my car to a buddy of mine, read the code and it stated misfiring on cylinder 1. Took the spark plug out and noticed the rust, took #2 out semi rusted, took #3 and #4 nothing out of the ordinary. Took one of his flash light and took a peek down cylinder #1 and my biggest denial came true --- cracked cylinder gasket, there were traces of water. The cleaner had cleaned the rust out and made the water more accessible to the cylinder.

So the moral of my story is that I should have taken that rusted spark plug more seriously back then. But I think this was a design flaw by Toyota, cause I talked to different people and had this issue with their cars.

Now, my biggest dilemma, should I buy a 2012 Camry or a 2012 Accord. I have a 1994 Accord which I bought new and it still going.

Just wanted to share my experience, just in case anyone out there goes through the same.

ghettosled · 11-18-2011, 11:55 AM

i never heard of this being a problem in the camry. i have 201k miles on my 1996 and my buddy who sold his 1992 to a friend has almost 350k miles. my brother sold his saab because the maintenance was too much so he bought a new 2002 accord. the car has 80k miles and he just had to rebuild the transmission. we both think that was a rare incident, but never-the-less my 15-year-old camry has been great. *knocks on wood* im already planning to buy a "new" camry when something major konks out. i personally have both the camry and accord as top picks in my book.

***Zembonez*** · 11-18-2011, 03:01 PM

The 94 Accord and the 96 Camry are both ancient by modern vehicle standards... Neither presents a clear reason to buy one or the other now.

Looking inside a cylinder will not tell your mechanic (or any mechanic) the condition of the head gasket. It is impossible.

The rust in your cooling system is most likely from the old coolant staying in the system well beyond its expected life. Coolant becomes more and more caustic as it ages.

This can affect head gaskets, but the only way to determine the state of the gasket or the extent of the damage is by removing the cylinder head.

just_toyota · 01-09-2012, 10:16 PM

My Accord got stolen two weeks ago from in front of my house. So, I told my buddy to open up the engine on my 1996 Camry. And the head gasket diagnostic that he did was 100% accurate.

He did a pressure test on the cylinders for 20 minutes and they were holding up.

Not too happy about my 94 Accord.

Pvt-Public · 01-10-2012, 06:30 AM

Quote:

But I think this was a design flaw by Toyota, cause I talked to different people and had this issue with their cars.

Why would you think this is a design flaw? Because you and a handful of other people either neglected/ignore the warning signs of impending problems? Neglected and or incorrectly did routine maintenance? That's a bit of a stretch. And good for your buddy being accurate, but I would like to know how he could do a pressure test and all cylinders passed with a blown head gasket? Or did he do the test after replacing the gasket?